Date: 2009-12-27
To: Springer Mountain!!!
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Dear friends,I apologize GREATLY for having left everyone in the dark for so long. It¢s been an almost TWO weeks since we¢ve summited and even longer since I¢ve written. Yes, we finished. On December 15th we climbed up the last mountain on the trail (well, last for us Southbounders) to the official southern terminus plaque on Springer Mountain. As you all know, our finish was somewhat unorthodox and completely unlike what I expected¢ in the month before the end I got ridiculously sick, drove to and from the trail a total of four times trying to hike and see Josh, took two massive rounds of antibiotics, and ended up getting Josh sick as well. But wait, that¢s not all! Shortly after the last post Josh and I took a ¢short blue-blaze¢ (as Lightweight put it) to CANCUN. That¢s right, we postponed summiting Springer to fly both of our sick, coughing selves to Mexico where Josh¢s parents were vacationing at an all-inclusive resort. They had promised to take us with them if we came back before their departure when we were somewhere in Vermont. But as fate would have it, we couldn¢t/didn¢t hike fast enough. Well, seeing as how were both sick they offered to fly us out within 24 hours to recoup in the sun, that is, if we agreed to skip another few days of the trail. Let see¢¦ freeze our butts off in the mountains (Josh was already growing icicles on his beard by this point) when we were both fighting illnesses and I was only half way done with the antibiotics¢¦ or relax on the warm beach at an all-inclusive resort at no charge to our dwindling bank accounts. Done and done. I had already missed three weeks of hiking and Josh was downright miserable between the cold and his cold so we only had to think about this for a few minutes before we decided to tack the days missed onto my (and now his) ¢need-to-finish¢ section.I won¢t tell you too much about the resort as I don¢t want to be the recipient jealous death threats. It was fantastic and by the time we flew back my cough was 90% gone and Josh was much better as well. We went back to finish hiking 48 hours later.And so that¢s it! The crazy adventure we embarked on almost 6 months ago ends even crazier! I am at peace with how the end of our hike turned out now, though I was quite bitter that I had to keep getting on a off the trail since Tennessee for a long time. Really, I have to accept that there¢s nothing you can do about getting sick other than take care of yourself! (In fact, I¢m kicking myself for not having gone to the doctor two weeks sooner when my mom insisted I go. If I had, I may have been able to get back on the trail faster and for longer.) And I accept my limitations with winter hiking. I love winter, I love the cold, but the cold does not love me. I am amazed and thankful for having gotten through SO much of the trail with no major hereditary Angioedema symptoms that its acting up towards the end with the onset of bitter cold is acceptable, not to mention completely expected given ALL of last year¢s trial hikes.Please stay tuned for post-hike posts and updated pictures. I know Josh and I both have some serious reflecting to do. And of course, we¢ll update next spring when I go back to finish most of Tennessee/North Carolina¢¦ within the calendar year of course, this is going to be an official thru-hike  la Bob Peoples, so help me!Enormous thanks to everyone we met on the trail. Every friend, relative, and stranger who granted us anything between a smile and a full night¢s stay at their home must take credit for helping us to complete this incredible journey. We most definitely could not have done it without your help. Expect a summit photo shortly.Anya aka Smokin¢ Loon