Date: 2010-09-23
From: Katahdin Stream Campground, Baxter State PArk, ME

To: Erwin TN
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

I¢m returning to the trail on Thursday, 23 September departing from the Katahdin Stream Campground in Baxter State Park Maine with my hiking buddy ¢Take This Bread¢, or ¢Bread¢ in abbreviated hiker speak. This has been quite the year; as I was a NOBO but I have now switched to being a SOBO. I got off the trail earlier this year due to my Uncle Johnny¢s poor turn of health then his passing shortly thereafter. To make matters much worse, my mom came to NC from CA to see him one last time and she fell ill with a heart attack then she too later passed away. I had no motivation to continue the hike let alone anything else at that time. I did however get a few calls and emails periodically from my new hiking friends EZ Hiker and Bread whom I met on the AT earlier during my NOBO attempt.   I can remember Bread telling me in the Smokies that if I didn¢t finish my thru-hike it would always be haunting me as unfinished business. Bread was correct, as I would pass outfitter stores and think ¢what if¢, or I find myself constantly reading the trail journals of other hikers I¢d met to view their progress with envy. Or Diane would remind me of my hike when we¢d be out to dinner ¢Ron you can¢t keep eating everything in sight like your still on the trail¢. A couple of my friends from the ¢Another Pitcher¢ group (my friends that I socialize with, and play volleyball and softball), went to Peru for a hike and their hike had me thinking of finishing my AT thru-hike as well. Then in early August my wife Diane and I were talking about my thru-hike attempt and she suggested if I really wanted to finish I should try again before it was too late as opportunities don¢t come along that often to take the time away from the real world for an adventure (Diane you¢re the greatest!!!!!!!). As it happened, Diane and I had reserved a cabin in Maine during September for my previously planned NOBO finish. In addition to meeting me after my hike, Diane and our daughter Heather were/are scheduled to run in the Bar Harbor Half Marathon on September 18th. Also Bread had emailed me wondering if I wanted to hike VT, NH and ME with him, and I said I¢d consider if we went SOBO and he graciously agreed, so the hike was on! Now all I¢ll have to contend with are the weather and injuries in my attempt to reach Erwin TN before the weather closes in. It will be nice to hike with Bread since we have a similar pace and we got along well. Bread¢s going to hike some of sections with me he didn¢t already finish this year, so I will be on my own for large portions of the hike, but I¢m happy to have a partner with me especially during the ME, VT, and NH sections which are pretty remote. I¢m praying the winter weather will give me a reprieve so that I can finish my hike. I¢m certain the winter weather will be closely on my heels for the duration of my hike, although I¢d rather hike in the cold (downside heavier gear) than the heat and hungry bugs of summer.So while we are in Bar Harbor we¢ll be taking in some short hikes in Acadia National Park, which is one of the most beautiful places on earth to hike, or just to visit. Diane and I will be picking up Bread in Bangor where his wife is dropping him off then driving back down to Martha¢s Vineyard. Diane will be driving Bread and I to our campsite in Baxter State Park then returning to Bangor and departing the next day to Memphis. As Diane says, ¢I¢m making Ron walk back home from Maine¢. Then Bread and I will camp the evening of the 22nd, and then hike Mt. Katahdin (weather permitting) on the 23rd. Obviously the downside to the marathon hike is leaving your loved ones, forgoing the comforts of home, and missing your friends. But I feel much more capable and knowledgeable this time out, and weather permitting I¢ll be letting gravity ease me down the trail since as everyone knows, it¢s all downhill going from north to south.