Date: 2005-09-27
From: Mt. Katahdin

To: Final destination 1
Miles today: 0.0

And there she was five o clock!! I (touk) had just walked out unto Abol bridge, it was 8:00am chilly, starvation laced but a beautiful hazy day for a hike.. Similar to how the previous rainy day was a buggar of a day for a hike.. etc.. I looked over my shoulder and for a good three seconds my heart was exactly in the smallest part of my hyperventilating windpipe... Katahdin..uhh// mountain.. large one.. rather like the one we have been dreaming about..uh/   Ohmydearmagicelfgypedcrazyhazysugardippedhallucigenicrameninspiredeyeballs its KATAHDIN!!!!!!!!   Not the small blue peak in the far off distance I had seen 220 miles back.. Which had practically ended my thruhike THEN as WELL with the whole heart dislodged and stuck in a really wrong place thingy.. Not the fantasy sun and shadow washed mountain that appeared over the pine trees in the distance back at that icy lake three days ago which had ended our fears about her existance and had made our knees stop in their motion,..look up at us as they decided to take rather a frightningly emediate seated break and tell us... "yo thats cool and all that its in sight but.. yo we like.. hate this whole "shocking your system to the point of OUR jelliquidation yo"... To which we mentally reply like always.. "shut up units! Your CLIMBING that and there will be no trouble about it or you know what will happen... a YOYO!"No.. This was forty times the size of that mountain seen on that day and forty trillion times more real.. In fact, it was so looming that to my 2,160 mile long trail crazed senses there were words shouting out from highest peak of that mountain and it caused my eyes to contort at how loud it was and blink frantically.. I can't recall exactly the words but I'm sure that mountain called my name and had some quick loud shouts of motivation and accomplishment laced with rather appropriate strong swear words... I thaught she wouldn't exactly be a petal off a daisy but really.. she surpassed my pansy expectations and dreams.. Katahdin... """Katahdin""".. The moment a face was put to that amazing name..After the four seconds I had resumed my amble and my heart had found its way back where it belonged.. The camp store for the Abol bridge loomed into sight with the awesome Shlitz beer sign above it and a truck outside with a couple slouchy proud looking chubby hunters and a dead moose hanging its tongue out at me in the back... Cuppa Joe jumped out of the door with a cup of joe.. hey trailnames are just sort of stating the obvious for a few people and the whole.."you are what you (drink) eat" can really be freaky true out here.. After a brief "oh my word did.. you see??".. "yes.. uh did you.. hear??"... I looked over to have Mouth bound up with his ten pound camara and show me a grand picture of a moose that Cuppa and him had been blessed enough to get a peak at that morning before the whole mountain affair stole the romance out of the glorious moose sighting they both had been dreaming about... and before the first moose seen on the thru hike was seen dangling macabre hoofs (whose tracks in the mud on the trail kept us hiking in hopes to see the cause for days) hanging over the bed of a truck with Maine plates, NRA stickers and a shlew of moose urine reeking camo wearing gun bearing hunters... The funny part was when Mouth looked up and said.. "nice picture eh??.. the moose is still accross the pond over there if you turn around".. *emediate feeling..homicide*..   My FIRST ****LIVE**** WHOLE MOOSE SIGHTING!!!!!!! so far the day had been pretty full.Fact or fiction: Little Debbies iced honey bun has 640 calories, 300something calories from fat and is everything thruhikers tastebuds dream of????.. Fact.I ate two or three with coffee waiting for the looploop to show up... Gypsy finely showed up with a shload of other hikers.. Limbo, Sandy, the Sequins, the Brothers, etc.. and we all hooted and hollered and risked life and limb avoiding semi trucks taking pictures from that single lane bridge of the majestic beast and all her beauty.. (with katahdin behind me...haha.. just kidding) Meanwhile about four dead moose laden truck beds showed up to weigh and register the kill.. Moose are pretty amazing creatures... its only a sLiGhT bit disturbing to see the creature you've been creeping around maine for two weeks in hopes of catching a glimpse of... dead and hanging on a scale.. but it was cool nonetheless.. congrats to all the lucky hunters out there!We were rather zoned...after all.. we made it.. we were there.. we summit only the next day.. Tonight was the last night spent on our thru hike..in fact... tomorrow we would have thru hiked.. no longer be thru hikING but actually BE THROUGH HIKERS/////... bejeepers.. no words..