Date: 2003-09-11
From: The Birches at Katahdin Stream Campground

To: Baxter Peak of Katahdin
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: broken clouds

The day had arrived. I set my alarm for 5:20am so I could be ready, or at least nearly ready when Pa arrived at 6:30am. He wanted to hike Katahdin with me and the members of the group were leaving between 6 and 7am. Or trying to anyway. I thought I was feeling better, but still, not feeling that great. Just one more climb, body. You can do it.Sitting at a picnic table eathing breakfast, Tom came over and asked what my wildlife count was on this hike. I thought it seemed strange for him to ask, but answered anyway. He couldn't believe I hadn't seen a bear. We chatted a bit, then he walked away. A minute or two later, I looked at my pack, which had been right behind Tom, and there was a little stuffed bear. I started smiling and said to Tom "You should've said 'You probably wouldn't know what a bear looked like if it was sitting on your pack!'" He started laughing and I jumped up and down saying "I saw a bear! I saw a bear!" I immediately decided the bear would be going to Katahdin too.When Pa arrived I loaded my pack into the trunk. The pack had the items I was not going to take with me. A garbage bag held the items I was taking. I borrowed a sweet-looking, pastel, funkadelic daypack from the ranger station and loaded my snacks, clothes and water into it. I was almost ready to go; only one last thing to do. As Hotdog, Pa, and I were standing at Pa's car, and Thirstyboots and Tom were walking up, I put on the final touch to my hiking clothes: a long, pink and white, tropical print skirt. With my blue t-shirt and pastel funkadelic backpack, I was styling for sure! Okay, I wasn't styling, but most were laughing, and that's at least second best. We took some pictures then started the trek. The others had already straggled northward. It was 7:15am.Pa did really good, for not being in the shape we were in, and for having a bum knee. I didn't care about the pace, and wanted him to take it easy so he could go all the way up. He made it above treeline, and through about 3mi of the 5 to Katahdin, and said he was going to wait for us there. We had just come to a steep, bouldery part and he said he'd had enough. Hotdog and I tried to convince him to come a bit farther, as sometimes the mountains look steeper than they really are. He refused, and 10min later, we knew he'd made the right choice. It wasn't a place that those with a fear of heights should go.Hotdog and I continued up. And it was UP! There were huge boulders that we climbed over and around, making our way to the Tablelands. When we reached there, the trail was nearly flat for about a mile. I wasn't sure I wanted to go any farther... just because it meant The End. But I did. The walk was nice until right before Katahdin, and there was an occasional cloud that coverd the summit, then blew off of it. It looked like the summit was a busy place this morning! When the clouds cleared off the summit, I could see a lot of little ants standing near the ant-sized sign, and milling around the ant-sized rock cairn. Once I got to the top, I saw that the little ants were my friends, and others, enjoying the beautiful day, and the end of their hikes.When I saw the sign, I had no strong feeling. Only that I'd reached the top of a mountain. I thought I'd be emotional, and shed a tear or two, but it didn't happen. I was happy to see my friends and join their celebrations. I was glad they enjoyed my skirted appearance. For the next hour or so, photos were taken: arms raised; thumbs up; with Hotdog; with the whole gang; with no one; with the Flag; with my bear. Coffee had champagne, which he shared. Don Quixote had Mountain Dew, which he shared. I got laid. Not THAT kind of lay!! Aloha had a Hawaiian laei (I have NO clue how to spell it!) for me. I gathered several of my friends together and handed out candles. "Because this was a piece of cake!" It wasn't really. It was hard work, but breaking it down to it's simplist, it is just a matter of putting one foot in front of the other and following the white blazes north. How difficult is that?A few people were carrying ashes of loved ones and scattered them on Katahdin. It is very touching to me, as it is a very beautiful place in this world, and I'm sure the spirit of those loved ones appreciated the thought. I let a tear or two fall at these moments, and when I thought about Ted "Soleman" Anderson (www.trailjournals.com/soleman). I often missed him along this journey, and sometimes I still wonder why it had to happen. Why did Ted have to be taken from this earth so soon? I thought about his wife too, and hoped and prayed that she was doing okay. Hotdog and I got out the Flag Ted was going to carry from Springer, and took pictures of it. I wanted Ted to be with us. I thought about the victims of the events on September 11, 2001, and of those who have given their lives so that I have the freedom to follow my dreams. These are the heroes in this world. THEY are the ones who have done something amazing.Around noon or shortly after, everyone started straggling back down the mountain. I wanted to stay forever. The view was awesome, especially of the Knife Edge and Chimney Pond! Perhaps someday, I'll hike north from Katahdin.The hike down was uneventful. But that's a good thing, considering how steep and rocky it was. We met Pa where we left him, and he congratulated me before we made our way down. We caught up to Don Quixote and the four of us hiked to Katahdin Stream Falls together, chatting all the way. At the Falls, we saw Ma and Mrs. Hotdog waiting for us. Don Q went on while the rest of us chatted, and slowly made our way to the Campground. I was getting tired. Sleepy tired. I still hadn't eaten much and wasn't feeling great, but didn't care too much during the hike. As I approached the end of the day's hike, and the end of The Hike, I wanted to be feeling better. I wanted to celebrate with my friends.Coming to the "thruhiker's table" that Ma and Mrs.Hotdog had set up, I saw a huge "Congatulations" sign for Hotdog and I. It had the starting and ending dates, all the states we walked through, our names and trail names, and 'TED' in one corner. How cool! Mrs. Hotdog is quite creative! Behind that was a table full of goodies: beer, champagne, sandwich fixins, cookies, chips, soda. All a hiker could ask for! It was great to have a place to hang out and unwind after the day's hike. But it was short-lived, as we had dinner reservations in about an hour and a half, and it was a long drive to Millinocket, where most of us were staying. Plus, some of us needed showers.Dinner was a lot of fun. Attending were: Hotdog and Mrs. Hotdog; Thirstyboots; a Wench; Pez and Heather, who summitted today and we dragged to dinner; Coffee and Matthew; Aloha; Old Corpus; Gutsy; Don Quixote; Mama and Papa Wench; Tom and Mrs. Tom; Vermont Pete. We had a room to ourselves, and I had a good time visiting with everyone, and joking around. I didn't want my time with these people to end. But I was tired. And I know everyone else was too, if not from the day's activities, then surely from the previous weeks or months of being on the trail.I said goodbye to Coffee, Gutsy and Don Quixote but am planning on seeing the others tomorrow, as many of us are staying another night in Millinocket. Some are meeting for breakfast at 8am tomorrow, but I am making no promises to be there. I want to give myself time to recover from this stomach thing, and sleep in, if I can.I don't think it has hit me that the journey is over. I have told myself over and over that that is the case. Or maybe I do know, and the magnitude of this adventure will strike me at a later date. It doesn't matter, I suppose. The journey was fantastic, and I will never forget it.