Date: 2014-08-28
From: The Birches Lean-to

To: Katahdin
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: scattered clouds

I woke up at midnight feeling nauseous, and several trips to the privy during the night helped only marginally. For dinner last night I'd eaten a bunch of odds and ends from my food bag, including a dehydrated bacon and egg breakfast, which I suspect was the culprit. When ABear stirred at 6:00 am, I was still feeling lousy and was considering my options. The sky looked clear, better than forecasted, so I decided to get up and attempt to summit despite my lingering nausea.I'd planned to eat four pop tarts, a honey bun, and a cinnamon bun for breakfast, but in the end all I was able to force down was the cinnamon bun and a few sips of water, much less than was necessary to make it 5.2 miles and 4000 vertical feet to the summit of Katahdin.During the quarter-mile walk to the ranger station, where I left all my unnecessary gear, including my tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, crocs, and town clothes, I felt my first wave of emotion. I fought it back, knowing I'd need all my strength to get to the summit. The first mile was relatively smooth and flat, but the trail quickly became steeper and rougher after that. I could tell I was not at full strength, though I was still making decent time and passing a few day hikers along the way. At about three miles, the trail reached treeline, the wind picked up, and several large boulders required exposed scrambles, aided by spikes pounded into the rock. There I passed a woman who was freaking out and demanding that she and her husband turn around. I had to stop frequently to catch my breath, but eventually made it to the Tableland, a nearly flat, mile-long plateau that leads hikers to the final climb before the summit. The wind was blowing clouds across the upper half of the mountain, which made it hard to judge my progress. Occasionally I could hear cheers through the mist from above, which I assumed was hikers arriving at the top.At around 10:00 am, three hours after leaving the base, the famous sign appeared out of the clouds, and another surge of emotion ran through my body, one that this time I could no longer suppress. I walked the last few steps to the sign, hugged it, laid my head against it, and wept. The 20 or so people at the summit, mostly day hikers, sensed the emotion of the moment and began to cheer. I fully expected to feel the emotion, wanted to feel it, as a fitting way to end my 2185-mile journey.After a few minutes, I gathered myself and asked a day hiker to take the obligatory pictures of me with the sign. Before today I'd expected to use a low-key pose for my picture, but once I climbed up on the sign, I instinctively raised both fists in triumph.Soon the other thru-hikers I'd be summiting with today began to arrive, including ABear, Lotus, Rambling Rose, and Toto, all of whom showed varying degrees of excitement and emotion. After everyone had their individual pictures taken, we took group photos, during which I felt extreme elation.In the meantime, the clouds began to lift, exposing awe-inspiring views of the knife edge and the lakes to the south that we'd walked past while hiking through the Hundred Mile Wilderness. I declined the beer that was being passed around but took a tiny sip of the fireball whiskey that Thor the Red had given to ABear to celebrate at the top today. I then downed an entire bag of gummy worms, the only thing I could stomach at that time. On the way down, waves of emotion continued to hit me and tears continued to flow. Descending through the treacherous boulder section demanded my full attention and took my mind off the fact that my thru-hike was over.All the thru-hikers except Lotus, who summited with her father and sister and then left with them for her flight home to Atlanta, hitched to Millinocket, where we're staying tonight at the AT Lodge and Hostel. We celebrated today's "AT graduation" at a pizza joint before we disperse tomorrow.I expect to write one or two wrap-up entries over the next several days after I get home and have had time to gain perspective on my journey. In the meantime, thanks for reading and I hope you've enjoyed following along.