Date: 2009-09-17
To: Knock Knock. Who's There? WAGS!
Miles today: 0.0

Dear readers,As mentioned at the end of my last entry, I was in Georgia this past weekend. I was in Gangsta withdrawl -- it had been three weeks! Actually, her husband was throwing her a surprise party, a trail-a-bration, if you will, and insisted I fly down as the grand finale. With our huge emotional goodbye in the AT Cafe in Millinocket feeling only days before, I hopped on a plane to spend the weekend in Georgia. UGA was having their first home game, and I'd finally get to experience some SEC football, too!I got picked up at the airport by one of G's good friends and arrived at her house early in the afternoon, after friends had been surprising her left and right for the past 18 hours. Anxious and so excited, I rang her doorbell. Her friends all insisted she be the one to answer it. She obviously knew it was another surprise, but I think I was the last person she expected to see. When she opened the door, I received the blankest expression anyone has ever given me for about two seconds. It was followed by a lot of jumping up and down, screaming, hugging, and teary eyes. Then came the questions. How did you get here? How long have you known about this? How long are you staying? It was AWESOME. By far, the best surprise ever! It was also the hardest surprise to keep under wraps for the days leading up! I was busting at the seams wanting to spill the beans every phone call I had with her once I had booked my plane ticket.We ate some good BBQ, donned Georgia tattoos, played some corn hole (in which the girls basically dominated the boys), and hung out on campus for some pre-game tailgating before heading to G's home to watch it on television. It was a grand ol' time! Georgia and Michigan both won in the final seconds (I had 'em flipping between the two at commercial breaks). Ohio State and MSU both lost. Yes, it was a wonderful day of football. The next day was spent on the couch, recovering, with all the Sex and the City episodes we could want (Gangsta owns the entire series on dvd!). Monday was a bit more exciting, though. We took her pups, June and Cash, and went on a day hike where it all began, the AT.We parked at Unicoi Gap and did an easy hike to Blue Mountain shelter. We got there faster than expected and the hiking seemed loads easier than it had in March. Gangsta unfortunately got stung about 8 times by a yellow jacket nest June disturbed as she ran down the trail, but I escape untouched. Once we ran hundreds of yards down trail to escape the stinging creatures and the pain and swelling had subsided we laughed that she made it all the way to Maine without getting injured or stung, yet here we were 1/4 mile into our day hike and she was attacked by bees. Luckily, she was not allergic. That girl's such a badass, she walked past the nest three more times on our way back to put a note north and south of it alerting future hikers of the active nest.There were leaves on everything this time around and the sun was out. It was pretty except due to foliage, there were no pretty views! I guess there are benefits to hiking in March... It was strange seeing Blue Mountain shelter again, completely deserted. I remembered the exact spot where my tent had been set up. It was our 4th night on the trail. It's where the Goonies all hung out together for the first time. It's where I met back up with Gangsta after our brief meeting on Springer days earlier. She started with 3 friends and pushed a few miles ahead of me the second day. She pulled a short 4th day, allowing me to catch back up to her at Blue Mountain. Our first picture together was taken there. We flipped back in the register to March 19th and laughed at what everybody had written that day. Back then, I was still Amy; she was still Nevena. Weird. It was amazing to see how many names were in that register from the days around when we were there that we didn't recognize... all people who had dropped out. It made us realize how large the dropout rate really is. It was quite a surreal feeling being there. March felt like days ago yet also lifetimes ago. Before leaving, we snapped a photo, re-enacting our very first one taken together. We smiled when we realized the date was September 14th - exactly 6 months to the day we met on Springer. Ironic. Another weird feeling was that we were simply day hikers. And we looked like day hikers. The few people we passed or chatted with had no idea that three weeks ago we had been atop Katahdin after completing the entire trail. I felt like I was slackpacking, except I wore Keen sandals and had no trekking poles. I felt awkward and off balance as I hiked over the rocks without anything for stability. And yes, my knees still hurt. Gangsta and I fell into typical hiking mode, chatting about anything and everything, the serious, the funny. It was just like old times. "Old" being three weeks prior. I felt like a thru-hiker at heart, yet I was aware that that day I was not one, nor did people perceive me as one. I missed that feeling. At the end of the day, though, we got in G's car, drove home, had a great home cooked meal, showered, and slept in a bed. That was pretty nice, too. The Georgia section of trail is really great. It was a stretch I was actually missing post-trail, even before I knew I'd be flying down to Georgia. It's unfortunate that new thru-hikers don't have trail legs yet, and often have many other challenges going on, new gear, bad weather, and a roller coaster emotions, that prevent them from really being able to appreciate that stretch of trail. At least that's how I felt looking back on it. I'd love to do the Georgia section again, right now!The next day, after a fantastic 4 days together, she dropped me off at the airport and we parted ways one more time. Emotions were kept in check a bit better this time. It wasn't the end of something grand but rather the beginning of something new; a long distance friendship, complete with surprise visits, funny cards via snail mail, and lots of instant messaging and emails. The friendship of Gangsta and Wags lives on, just in a different form. Enjoy the posted photos.Happy Trails,Wags*Final entry coming later this week*