Date: 2009-05-02
To: Conclusion entry 
Miles today: 0.0

Conclusion Hey all¢¦.its been a few months since I¢ve been home now and the first few weeks have been pretty wild. I must say that for weeks I thought of the trail constantly. The trail has left a huge impression in my mind. My priorities have shifted and I have slowed the fast pace of life down the best I can to suit me. My time on the trail was amazing. I don¢t think there has been a day that has gone by in the last four months that I haven¢t thought of the trail at least once. I find myself going off into daydreams of different experiences I had been through from Maine to Georgia. I guess a part of me wants to keep that feeling of freedom and adventure with me all the time. Nothing wrong with that idea! The most I do miss about the trail are the hikers who experienced the trail with me and the wonderful people whom I crossed paths with. Who wrote me words of encouragement in my journal. Who put me up in their homes being a total stranger to them¢¦those are the folks I will remember forever. It¢s nice to now have a strong connection with the hikers who hiked the A.T. before me and also with the thru hikers who are to hike the trail for years to come. As for today¢¦I finally found a job after four months of completing my thru hike. Yahooo¢¦gas money. It had been a real trip for the first few weeks upon returning home. After being on the trail and subjected to all weather conditions (weeks of rain, heat, snow, freezing temperatures on Roan Mountain and the Smoky¢s, etc.) , after surviving off of lipton packages, ramen, peanut butter, tuna packets, and other foods that we hikers carried for hundreds of miles, after crapping in the woods no less than hundreds of times..haha, after getting up early in the morning and having nothing on the schedule but hiking until nightfall¢¦after retaining the memories of the hundreds of mountain peaks in my mind¢¦..after the incredible feeling of hiking up to the summit on Springer after 2,175 miles¢¦.Then suddenly sitting in the living room in front of the television with a full fridge of food in the next room and a bathroom nearby while I had nothing to do was quite the bazaar feeling. I had this incredible urge to do something. Anything. Just being in society was a trip. Cars moved faster¢¦didn¢t need a headlamp when it got dark¢¦and so many stores and restaurants¢¦.everything at my fingertips. To be honest¢¦I just sat on the computer for a few weeks reading all about the trail. The places Ive been¢¦places I want to hike to. Lately Ive gotten pro active. Im joining the local hiking club and hope to do some trail maintenance in the near future (remember future hikers..stop at Kincora¢s hostel in Tennessee and do some trail work and you¢ll get a Tennessee Eastman hiking and canoeing club volunteer patch for your backpack), Ive been up hiking on the Appalachian Trail at Wind Gap, Pa. and will be doing a little trail magic this year as I try to catch the Nobos and Sobos coming thru Pennsylvania when I can. I know my future has lots of hikes in it and I know I shall retain the hiker lifestyle until the end of time. Its instilled in my soul now. Its what makes me happy to do. Its what makes me feel alive. I wish the best of luck to all future hikers of the Appalachian. If anyone has any hiking related questions you may contact me at   Bearwalker2008@hotmail.com   Peace all - Rick J. Carbonell ¢Southbounder 2008¢