Date: 2008-01-24
To: The rest of my thanks...
Miles today: 0.0

I'm sorry it took so long to finish my list of thank yous. But here they are...in chronological order for the most part. To Melk, Young Eagle and Ronin for spicing up the rest of my hike from Pearisburg on out. Thank you for all the games of Hearts and Mad Gab, the jokes and concern. You guys were great traveling companions and I can't really say more here other than you made my hike. "Stand by Me" will always remind me of you guys. To Lurch at the Holiday Motor Lodge for all of the extra towels. To Enterprise Rent-a-Car for the slackpacking mobile that got us through our Daleville Doldrums. Wolf, thank you for sharing delicious dark chocolate with me near McAfee Knob. I remembered you becasue of it. To the Roanoke County Library for letting us spend lots of time on the computers. It helped me plan my wedding. To BigBy, for coining the phrase, "hiking is hard" while pointing out that the AT is a six-month-long bear fight. To W.B. for the Red Lobster gift card - amazing gift. Amazing surprise. To TalkerMan, for always being so excited to see me. You always reminded me why I loved the trail. Thank you for being so generous and helpful. You and Mrs. TalkerMan are great people and we are all better off for knowing you. To SweetWater, for always having a smile. And for being honest when you didn't feel like socializing. You knew how to hang tough! To SNP, for having waysides and taprooms. It's a devilish blessing. To Ben. And Jerry. To the restaurants of the northern states, for actually serving vegetables that are not fried. To Google and Sunshine, for your great attitudes. And, when none of us felt like hiking anymore, thank you for sharing that - it was so good to know that feeling was normal. To the creators of spelunking. To the folks who gave us a ride into Front Royal - it was so nice of you to offer. I hope you have many great hikes ahead of you. We REALLY appreciated your help. Cobweb, Mayo, and Tuna Bag for having great senses of humor and being willing to sit in the woods for about an hour trying to create a human 1,000. I had a great time when we were all together. Wish we could have kept up with you guys! But...still you will always be the B Team. To SixTwo - thank you for making the roller coaster bearable and, actually, pretty fun. It was awesome to see your little convertible filled with all of our gear. That was AWESOME trail magic. It was a pleasure having lunch with you that day too. To Hopeful and RegWing, thank you for making the Blackburn Center such a great place to stay. It was so relaxing there and I enjoyed every minute. It was really nice to run into folks from Michigan. To the ATC, Myron Avery, and Benton MacKaye. You guys are/were incredible. Thank you for all you do. To BonePac '06 and Jennel - thank you for an amazing hostel. And thank you for journaling about it too, it is really interesting to learn about the creation of an AT hostel. To the caretaker at Quarry Gap Shelters - you really make that place feel like home. I would actually like to stay there again. Thank you for caring that much. To Vickie at the Doyle - you really make the experience a good one. Truly. Thank you for helping hikers. And to the man from Michigan at the Doyle that bought us lunch - we really appreciated it. Really. To Mate', Coach, and Genesis - thank you for entertaining us with your awesome music. Thank you for asking questions like "would you rather"... "what magical power would you want"...and for making us laugh. To EngineMan and Carol in PA - thank you for the trail magic. And, EngineMan, thank you for driving us to town to resupply and get ice cream. That was a HUGE surprise and it was such a great feeling. To Mountain House, for making the Mountain House Raspberry Crumble. This. is. heaven. To Young Eagle's friends - thank you for taking me to Target to get new shoes. It was a small deal for you but a HUGE (make or break) deal for me. To Gadget, thank you for slackpacking me and the rest of the A-Team while we were in your neck of the woods. It was great to see you again. Thank you so much for the hospitality and the fun! To Melk's Aunt Tomaso. What can I even say? You were amazing to us, to me. THANK YOU for having a picnic with us in Pennsylvania. Thank you for taking me to the emergency room - I can't thank you enough for this. It was really nice to have someone around who had the means and the willingness to help. Thank you for hosting us in your home and giving us rest. Your potato salad is amazing. Thank you for slackpacking us in PA, NY, and CT. Deep gratitude. To the mayor of Unionville, NY - thank you for your generosity and hospitality. You are an inspiration to hikers. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us, making us listen to "I will win", and feeding us. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I hope Unionville knows what it has in a mayor like you. And to Butch, thank you for not allowing us to turn down the mayor's offer. It was definitely one of my most memorable nights on the trail. To Yellow Snow Man - thanks for spicing up our hike. To the owners of Heaven Hill Farm near Vernon, NJ. Your place really was heaven to me. I'd wanted fresh fruit and vegetables since Georgia. To Phil and Erin - thank you for letting me visit and wash my smelly clothes. It was so great to see you guys and share pancakes with you. You have a great place there in Willow. To Hop-Along for helping me up a rock after the Lemon Squeezer. To the Maker of the blueberry patch on top of that hill in Harriman State Park. I think that's what heaven must be like. Minus the blue hands. To Melk's parents - you guys were amazing. Thank you for taking such good care of me when you had the chance. For your help slackpacking, for mailing me a new pair of socks and my trekking poles. For making us laugh and for the tasty (and beautiful) cookies. It was so nice to meet you both - I can see where Melk got her good qualities. I truly can't thank you enough. To Melk's Uncle Bert and Aunt Vivian - THANK YOU. Thank you for opening your home to strangers and making sure we were so well fed and taken care of. Thank you for slackpacking us and making sure we were where we needed to be. Thank you, Bert, for helping to pick me up from the airport. I am amazed by your kindness. You are great people. To my family, for joining me in a "welcome home party"? when I came home for a few days in August. It was a little early but it was really nice to see everyone. Thank you, Dad, for arranging it all. To the fire chief in Tyringham, Mass., your small action of letting hikers stay at the pavilion makes a huge difference. It was one of my favorite nights on the trail. Thank you for your kindness. To the man named Jack in Vermont (near Stratton Mtn.) who took Melk and I into town for hot dog supplies. Nice man. Great gesture. To BlueBird in Manchester Center, for the ride into town. You were so excited to help! To the taxi driver in Manchester Center, Philippo, thank you for reminding me of home and making me feel strong. To the little elves of White Rock Mountain in VT. The countless cairns up there really lightened my mood and made me smile. Really a neat thing to see. To the people who made the Inn at Long Trail exist. That place is a hiker's dream. To Baltimore Jack, for again giving me advice in Hanover. You're an AT encyclopedia. To Scratch, Coconuts, and Cat - it was a true pleasure to meet you guys. What fun. I wish you were NOBOs. Thank you for taking my shoes to town. To the folks who brought the water to Moose Mountain Shelter - such a kind thing to do and so necessary. To Eden Express, thank you for sharing Hexacuba Shelter with me. I'm glad I didn't have to stay out alone. To Phat Chap at the Hikers Welcome Hostel in Glencliff. Big help. To Melk's friends, Ryan et. al. You grow fabulous tomatoes and it was so nice to meet you. To the brother/sister/friend trio from VT that gave us a hitch in NH. You guys were cool. To the croo at Galehead Hut in the Whites, for letting us all work for stay on a scary day. To RockDancer, thank you for all of your support at Crawford Notch. You were there to help when my pack broke. Without your help, I would have been majorly lost. As only a veteran hiker can understand, you really saved the day, saved my hike. And thank you to Rob at Ragged Mountain Outfitter for sewing my pack in ten minutes - as opposed to the standard two weeks. You were too gracious to even accept a tip. To the croo at Mizpah Springs Hut for letting us do work for stay and giving us the privacy of our own room. This really gave me a good feeling that I needed in the Whites. To Pat Philbin - for the coupon for Ben and Jerry's ice cream! You know this was a big deal! To the City of Gorham, NH for having a genuine Italian store - pizzeles and all. Almost as good as my grandmother's. To the person who put the sign at the Maine state crossing. It brought me actual joy. To the folks who drove us to Bethel, ME. You saved us from starvation for sure! To Snakecharmer, Chaco, and Candyman - thanks for being such great company at the end of the journey. I'm glad I met you guys in the knick of time! To the folks at White House Landing - thank you for creating a trail to get there, and a boat ride that tops all others. You have a great place. Thank you for having wine and ice cream. To the folks I spent my last few days on the trail with - all of you - thank you for making them so memorable. I'm so glad I got to summit with each of you. To Eric, for all of your support. For mailing me things at a moment's notice. For slackpacking me in Virginia and Pennsylvania - you helped me so much - and thank you for the chairs and surprise lunches. Thank you for all of your visits, for your curiousity, for your understanding, and for actually hiking with me. Thank you for shuttling my friends to and from a million places, taking us to the movies and the hospital. Thank you for concern. I'm sorry it was like nine degrees in the Smokies.To David Ray, for all of the postcards and support. Each of them re-motivated me and energized me. Thank you for all of your kind words. It was a small action that went a HUGE way. Singlehandedly, you taught me about the kindness of strangers. To Derek - thank you for transcribing my journal. It is something I will always treasure and I owe it to you that it even exists. Through you, my hike was enriched by being able to communicate with strangers. To those I may have forgotten - I apologize but know that you made a difference. Specifically, those who signed my guest book. Every message was read and every message helped me in some way.I am also very thankful for all of the gear I had with me. For my PocketMail to help me write my memories, my camera to capture the images I never wanted to forget, and for my sleeping bag which surely is the reason I am still alive. ....I'm sure my entries are coming to a close as I finally wrap up the remainders of my hike. I do still have a few things I want to record for my own keepsakes but for now I just want to mention one thing...As my parents and I drove away from the trail on October 6, my mom gave me a small gift of congratulations. I was really touched. This gift, although from my mom, reminded me of all of the people I didn't know who helped me along the way. It's amazing how many people come together to support one person's hike. The biggest thing I will miss about the Appalachian Trail is the kindness of complete strangers. At the risk of sounding negative - I just don't think I'll ever see that side of the world again. And I was a little sad about that. But I'm glad I was able to experience it, if even for a short seven months. People really are great.