Date: 2015-11-19
To: Reflections
Miles today: 0.0

I am sitting with St James at the Miami airport waiting on a delayed flight.   It will be our 13th anniversary this week and a fun vacation is in order. St. James really deserves a break from working hard and supporting my hike these past six months. BonBon and I were texting and she said it was the perfect time to complete my journal and, with her usual BonBon wit, mentioned that "my fans were waiting." BB and I flew home from Bangor on October 1 and were greeted at Baggage Claim in Orlando by St. James and SuperMark a/k/a Studmuffin a/k/a BB's husband, Mark. It was great to meet Mark in person, but super hard to say bye to BonBon. St. James and I talked about the hike and future plans on the way home.   I also did a lot of thinking during the flight. At 600 miles, I am pretty sure I am done. I mostly loved and occasionally hated the AT. There has been so much written on the rudeness of hikers and disrespect for others' property. I have seen this.   Dogs and people pooping along the trail and not burying their waste; people smoking in shelters; hikers blaring music from speakers while hiking: but this was really a small minority.   Most hikers are fun and quirky and caring. They share battery power for phones and meals and "Vitamin I". They share their boundless enthusiasm The trail is a place for huge swings of emotion. There are incredible highs, but also lows that sneak up on you just when you least expect it. Having a hiking buddy or two is the second best cure for this. But the best cure for me was to let those tears flow. Likely they have been cooped up inside a long time and the release is really healing. Some of my biggest misconceptions or errors in judgement were:1. I would get to a place by Virginia where 20 mile days would be reasonable. I never underestimated the difficulty of the AT. But I did overestimate my "hiking legs" and, more importantly, wind power development. I got stronger, but not as strong as I had hoped. 2. I switched my usual sock liners to toe socks that were thicker and traded out the insoles for Superfeet. The combination caused blisters which could have been prevented 3. I made my "Katwalk" meals too big. Half a meal was perfect in the early days. And I made wayyyyy too many fruit leather. 4. Double zeros - they give you too much time to think. I knew this before my hike started, but ignored those little warning bells going off like crazy. 5. My initial pack and tent. I love to "shop local" - but if you are new to this backpacking stuff, you may be better off with the tried and true gear. 6. Not taking time in the morning for a cup or three of tea. Having a hot beverage while packing up, really made the task more enjoyable. Also, as I have Crohn's, this made it easier to manage and not always be looking for an appropriate place to PITW. 7. Not trying to start up again with BB after Grandbob was injured. It turns out that she wasn't doing huge miles and so what if I was the last into camp. Stuff I got right:1. Making my own meals. The variety was awesome and welcome at the end of the day. Many of you have asked for my recipes and I will include links in a subsequent post. Please know that quite a few are from "Backpacking Gourmet", so I can only list my favorites. 2. A hot cup of decaf tea in cool weather or a Propel water "cocktail" when I got to camp made trail life civilized. 3. Shelters work best for rainy nights; otherwise I prefer my tent. 4. Mountain Harbour has the most amazing breakfast on the AT. 5. I'm glad I didn't bring Finley (my doggy). He would have been worn out and I can't imagine some of the "downs" with him. 6. Trying again (and again) after injury. It is amazing how fast the mind forgets the pain and remembers the awesomeness. 7. Being with BonBon at the end. It gave me time to reflect and celebrate my hike. 8. It was the journey of a lifetime and I regret none of it. I can't conclude this without an enormous thanks to all of you for reading this journal.   The number of people who reached out to help were amazing. I especially want to thank my brother-in-law and sister-in-law for hosting me in Maine and my husband, daughter, cousin Elizabeth and many friends for their support. I wish the class of 2016 Happy Trails - especially to Neon and One Light - and look forward to providing some trail magic.