Date: 2003-03-24
To: 60 miles N of Roanoke, VA.
Miles today: 0.0

These are my tender, lingering memories of '01:I HATE THIS! I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS! THIS SUCKS! I HATE IT! I HATE IT! I HATE IT!That said, I really do need to do an epilogue. The Journals deserve one, and all the fine folks who have showed an interest in Texas Jack's adventure deserve to know what happened. Grampy told me once that Trail Guide sat around the fire one night saying "I can't believe he (Texas Jack) quit the Trail, I can't believe it!" Grampy said he repeated that over and over again. Well, neither can I. I swear, it never occurred to me that Texas Jack might not be up to the challenge. One of my neighbors back in Texas once casually mentioned to me that "maybe you should have done this a little sooner in life, 'cause hiking the whole Trail is gonna be hard on your body."I swear I didn't know what he was talking about when he said it, but I do now. If I had been having fun, I'd still be out there, but the last twenty miles or so, every step hurt, my joints were not up to it. It was my own fault, of course. I tried to do to many miles, too fast. I know it doesn't sound like 10-12 miles a day are much, but, for me, it was. My knees were killing me. Technically speaking, I believe it was the interior cruciate ligament attachment. (Just in front of, and below the kneecap). Grampy and I and Pack Slinger and Bog Monster left Shaw's Boarding House in Monson, Maine, after taking a zero day and I realized that I wasn't going to be able to climb over and up and down the mountains we had coming up. I had masked the pain with Ibuprofin and Advil for more than 70 miles and things were getting worse, not better. Maybe if I had taken 2 or 3 weeks off there at Shaw's, maybe I could have gotten back on the Trail again. But I already knew that there was no way that Texas Jack could reasonably expect to finish in 2001. I had already used up my allotted time and money and if I lost 2-3 more weeks and kept walking, I would still not finish by the middle of October. Grampy could do it, but I would be so far behind that an "01" finish just wasn't in the cards. I hated to leave my friends, and the Trail that had so become a part of my life. I had seen other folks with tear-stained faces when they had to quit, and I, too, bawled like a baby. I couldn't do it, and I cried. Now, it's been a month and a half and Grampy still drops me a postcard, or email, or sometimes even calls to tell me that someone we knew had asked about Texas Jack. Sometimes, I'll go to the website and find that a wonderful person whose life briefly touched mine has stoppped by and offered a quick "Hello, Jack!" I even saw a 1/2 page write-up in the local paper about a girl from Rockwall, TX, who hiked the whole trail in exactly 4 months. Folks! That's flyin'! Da lady's feets be smokin' she goin' so fast! Anyway, Grampy & I had met her once, so I sent him the article 'cause he knew her, too.I send my sincere "Thanks" to all of the fine folks I met along the Trail. Some, like myself, have gone home. Others are still out there, hiking. I'd like to thank Three Packs, Tumbleweed, Hammock Hanger, Snowman, Quixote, Pork Chop, Postal Worker, MiLiCri, Five Bears, Fluffhead, Stovetop, Contrary Mary, Miss Janet, James Dean and his son Mole-Asses, Aloha Ann, Max, Old Tom, Hawaiian, Bug Bites, Urah, Swagman, Gimp and Gump, Crispy, Shepherd (who almost got hit with a lightning bolt!) and so many, many others.But most of all, I'd like to thank the wonderful friends and family of Robert Fowler of Connecticut, who welcomed me with open arms and made me "one of the family". Thank you Grampy and Donna. I am so sorry I couldn't have been there til the end. It was a wonderful, wonderful, adventure while it lasted, and the best part, the absolute best part...is...that Texas Jack still has 1,254 miles yet to hike and, his adventure is...                                 to be continued: