Date: 2019-01-04
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Well, it has been about four months since we finished the trail, and I thought maybe it is time to work on my final entry. I think I've avoided putting in a final entry because it means that the adventure is over. But, although the adventure is over we can start thinking about what our next adventure may be.When Alan hiked in 2011 I entered his journal for him and "followed" his adventure by reading and entering his journal entries and also reading other hiker journals and blogs that I would find when searching the names of hikers he would mention. It was never my dream or plan to hike the Appalachian Trail, but after following along on his and other hikers' adventures, I started to think that maybe I would like to someday hike the trail.The original plan was to hike in 2016, however, I had been dealing with bursitis in both my hips for a couple years and we had also decided to build a new home. By 2018, after much physical therapy and finally Platelet Rich Plasma injections in both hips, I felt that I might be ready to attempt a thru hike. Our new home wasn't finished, but it was completed enough that we felt we could start our hike in March.The hike was a lot more difficult than I had anticipated, but also very rewarding. Once we reached the "halfway point" at Harper's Ferry, I began to think that I could actually make it to Katahdin. And then, once we reached Vermont I felt like we were on the homestretch, and I was ready to be finished. Although we had hiked all the 4,000 footers in New Hampshire, as well as hiking many other trails in New Hampshire, the Appalachian Trail in New Hampshire was a major challenge for me, as was the trail in southern Maine. There were many times along the trail where I questioned if I had "any business being on the trail". Thankfully, Alan was patient, and talked me through the difficult "ups and downs" of the trail. There were even times where we walked hand in hand along rocky sections that made me nervous, and times when he took my pack so that I could make my way up or down a difficult section of trail. I couldn't have done it without him, but more importantly I wouldn't have wanted to hike the trail without him. We had several people ask us if it was difficult spending so much time together every day for so many months. For me, and I know for Alan as well, we enjoyed our time together.As much as I was ready for the hike to be over as we neared the end, now I truly miss the trail. I miss the simplicity of the hike. I'm not saying it was easy, I'm saying there is a calming simplicity that comes with being out in nature everyday with just one task, which is hiking. You have everything you need in a pack on your back. There is no decision on what you will wear for the day, you don't have to deal with the paperwork that constantly needs attention at home, and you know that all you need to do is get up, eat, and start putting one foot in front of the other until you decide to stop for the day and set up your tent, do a few chores and head to bed. Each day brings something new whether it be the hikers that you meet, the views that you see, the challenges you endure of just the beauty you find along the trail.I didn't thinkit would be difficult getting back to life as it was before the hike, but thatis a new challenge. The simplicity of the trail is gone, and now you are backdealing with the hustle and bustle of everyday life. After having just a packwith everything you need on your back for 6 months you come home to a housefilled with too much ¢stuff¢.  It isdifficult to explain, and I¢m probably not doing a good job of it. If you readother hikers final entries they may say it better. For example, Gbolt¢s trailjournal entry after he completed the trail tells about trying to adjust to lifeafter the trail.Since finishingthe hike I have said that I don¢t think another thru-hike is in my future. Notbecause I wouldn¢t enjoy it, but because being away from family for that longis difficult. So, as far as future hiking adventures go, for me, it will besection hikes. Although, never say never¢¦