Date: 2018-12-12
From: Hawk Mountain Shelter

To: Springer Mountain, GA
Miles today: 8.1

Today is my last day on the Appalachian Trail and the end of my 10 year season of thru hiking and adventure. I really believe I am to move on to something new. My knee is not the issue but confirmation that this is the time to pursue something different. I am not young but I am not the preferred age for a knee replacement. Even if I had the knee replaced it would not change my decision. I just got 2,000 miles out of the bad one and am ending on a high note. Can't wait to tell the doctor. A hiker came in late last night. He was 37 year old Hot Dam from North Carolina. We talked some while he made his dinner. He said he wants to be on the trail at 8 a.m. to finish. It was cold all night almost as cold as last night. I was in no hurry and did not want to disturb Hot Dam so I waited until 8 then started moving. I got my coffee then started to pack up. Hot Dam said "I guess I won't be on the trail at 8!" I headed to the trail at 9:45. Unknown to us Mantis camped nearby in his hammock. I said hello and told him I'll see him up the trail. It was cold out but I warmed up fast. The trail was good with a few blotches of snow. Mantis caught up to me quick. We congratulated each other. He's probably about 18 years old. I told him I was proud of him and anyone who stuck to completing the trail as most quit. He said he was meeting his dad today. I wished him well. A minute later he disappeared over a hill. I felt a bit sad knowing I'll never see him or any of the other hikers I've come to know on the trail. I came to Long Creek Falls and went back to see it. Beautiful. I camped here in 2012 coming in on the Benton MacKaye Trail while doing the ECT. Hot Dam came in as I was going out. He caught up again and we congratulated each other then hit fists, the thru hiker handshake. Then he disappeared in the distance. The trail was on an old road now following several creeks through rhododendron thickets and pines. I was taking my time planning on finishing at sunset but as the trail climbed up Stover Creek and Davis Creek I saw more and more snow. It became breezy and colder. The sun did not come out fully today but was lingering behind thin clouds. I did not want to be cold and it was becoming apparent that there might not be a sunset. I had too much time on my hands so I decided to just push it to Springer Mountain. I crossed a forestry road and had just .9 to go. The trail was packed down and icy due to heavy use. Not too far in, the trail became littered with ice that fell off the trees. The hiking was slow and cold. The summit, at 3,782', was in the trees with a vista looking west. No one was around. Snow had been brushed off the bronze plaque marking the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. At 2:30 p.m. I stood at the plaque finishing my 4th and final AT hike. I knelt and gave thanks. I was cold and tired. This was a tough hike especially the last two weeks or so. I felt no emotions as in the past. I think I was simply exhausted. I left the summit following the blue blazed access trail to Amicalola State Park. I was heading to the shelter two miles away. The trail was not as compacted as the last section of the AT from the forestry road but was covered with broken ice that had fallen off the trees. It was difficult walking. When I arrived at the shelter I was still in the snow so I continued. I was done with the snow and ice. I saw a campsite was listed in the book in two miles. But that campsite turned out to be on a snowy cold mountain top so on I went. The trail still was covered in broken ice five miles from Springer. Fallen branches caused short detours. At one point I thrust my trekking poles into the ground and stopped with my head down. After a race sometimes the runner collapses. He programmed his body and mind to just get to the finish line. Then he collapsed. The fatigue caught up to him. I made it to the finish line. Perhaps the fatigue is catching up. Just after 5 p.m. the trail dropped in elevation and the snow and ice disappeared. I had water for tonight but wanted more for coffee in the morning. I kept going and going. About 6 p.m. I ordered a halt. I saw a campsite and stopped. The horizon to the west had some orange colors but not brilliant though I was happy to see it. It was a calm beautiful last night in the woods. After I got in my last set up tent for this journey I heard a Barred Owl. I've heard them frequently along the hike but not for awhile. How appropriate to hear one on my last night out. I also heard coyotes at distance. And I can hear the sound of a highway a few miles away. Civilization awaits me. It will pounce on me in the morning. Sweet peace and thank you to all. Now the tears flow. I am so blessed.