Date: 2017-08-21
To: The End -- Katahdin Summit
Miles today: 5.1

You know how when you are anticipating a big event in the future, and the reality often fails to live up to what you imagined it to be? Well, that didn't happen today. My summit of Katahdan, was much more than I ever imagined it would be. Papaw and his lovely wife planned to pick me up at the hostel this morning at 6:00 am. I was up and ready by 5:30, and waiting by the curb. It was great to see them again. We headed to Baxter State Park for our date with the big mountain. We had a bit of a wait in traffic getting through the gate, but were ready to head up at 7:30. Mrs Papaw even hiked part of the way with us. After a mile or two of nice trail, it headed upward. We encountered a lot of rock climbing most of the rest of the way. It was a blast. I loved every minute of it. It was a beautiful day as well, so we had the greatest views, by far, of the entire trail. My words and pictures cannot begin to express what I witnessed up there. We made it to the top in about 3 hours. I recorded my final steps to the famous Katahdan sign marking the peak and end of my 2,185 mile journey. As I got close, I began to hear people shouting Bazinga! That surprised me because I wasn't sure who was there that knew me. I finally realized it was my two friends from Georgia I met several days ago. They recognized me, then other hikers joined in. Next came a round of congratulations amongst all the hikers and a lot of picture taking. We stayed up top for about 30 minutes, then headed back down. We had a great time heading down as well. We met several hikers still coming up. Some were not too crazy about continuing. It took about 3 hours to get down as well, but we spent a lot of time waiting for hikers coming up. I'm now headed south on I95 toward Virginia. I will visit my Aunt again after I get there, then take Amtrak back to Ohio on Wednesday. What an adventure it's been these last 5 years and 13 section hikes. I owe so much to so many people for allowing me to do this. You don't just leave a cattle farm for 2-3 weeks without a lot of support at home. My Wife and Dad pretty much covered that. I basically typed my Journals and sent them to my Sister and she took care of all the postings. My Aunt Linda and Son shuttled me up through Virginia - New York. I traveled in excess of 17,000 miles to and from the trail in cars, buses, planes, and trains. All these people have gotten me to and from these modes of transportation. The last person I want to thank is Papaw. I was so glad he could summit with me today. He has gone out of his way for five years to help me finish this hike. It's amazing to think that my biggest help out here was someone that I didn't even know when I started. That is the amazing thing about the AT; you developed great friendships very quickly. I have enough memories from this adventure to last the rest of my life. To those of you that think you'd like to give it a try, I encourage you to do so. The trail is going to kick your butt repeatedly, but the good times and good friends are what you will leave with in the end. Finally, thanks to all of you that have followed my journey and offered encouragement along the way. It really does mean a lot when you are reading it in your tent after being rained on all day. This time there will be no next time. Thanks, Bazinga!