Date: 2019-12-03
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Miles today: 0.0

Well it has been three months since I completed my thru hike on 8/31/2019. I figure that is enough time to provide proper post trail feedback and officially close out this journal for this adventure. It was a really good feeling to arrive at the Raleigh/Durham airport and see my family (my son, wife and mother) to greet me when I set foot back in North Carolina. I had no problems settling in back at home. The immediate and constant issue that I had to deal with was hiker hunger. During my time on trail I had lost approximately 72 lbs. I did look like someone that had been starving in one of those concentration camps seen in WWII photos and videos. I knew from reading other journals and YouTube videos that most that return from the trail gain all their weight back and pack on additional pounds as a bonus. I don¢t want to return to my original weight, so to help me with that effort I joined a local gym and have continued long walks (7-10 miles) four to five times per week. The only problem with the longs walks is the flat land where I live in the eastern part of NC. As of this last journal entry, my hiker hunger slowed after three weeks and I have gained back over 20 lbs. The weight gain has slowed but not stopped. I have more work to do to keep that under control. I also had multiple doctor and dental visits to take care of when I returned. For the first two months back, I felt like I was either at a doctor¢s office or a dentist¢s office. I still have more work to be done on a dental implant. I had the tooth extracted a few months prior to starting my thru hike, and the surgeon felt that putting in the implant just prior to me starting my hike might be risky should I have complications while on the trail. So, we waited for my return to proceed with the implant. Everything is healing well as of this time.Approximately three weeks after returning home, my wife and mother threw me a celebration party. It was very nice. We had a house filled with family. I had heard from my wife and mother that several people had questions about my hike that they could not answer. So, I thought that would be a good setting to get questions answered. For those that know me well, they know that I am not a big talker. However, during this session, I would not shut up. A few family members stated they had never heard me talk so much for as long as they had known me. I enjoyed sharing my hiking journey. On a similar note, my wife and mother had contacted the local newspaper about my hike. They had never heard of anyone taking on such a journey and thought that the newspaper might want to interview me about the hike. Well they did. It was a full page in the paper with a few of the pictures that I shared. These smaller towns must be desperate for news, I guess.One of the questions that I get routinely is, ¢will I do it again?¢, or ¢when is my next thru hike?¢. I don¢t think that I will ever do a hike of that length again.  That was too long to be away from home. I could, however, see doing a shorter thru hike of 200-300 miles, that might be 1-2 months in duration. That is more reasonable. I plan on joining Tank and Physical during their section hike in NC in early 2020. I met Tank and Physical when they were hiking the same section in Georgia. They also took me to breakfast, resupply and a town trip one morning when I was in Pennsylvania. Tank also picked me up and helped me with a town visit at his place when I entered New Jersey. These guys have been really good friends.My favorite part of the thru hike was meeting all the great people and visiting the smaller towns along the way. The mountain scenes were great, but the people made the adventure. I think about the fact that in the 189 days that I was on the trail, I stayed in a different location each day, except those days when I took a zero. I also ate my meals in different locations each day.  On the trail I saw wildlife such as porcupines, moose, loons and pine martens.  I don¢t see such animals in the area where I live. In my earlier journal entry, I mentioned seeing an otter-like animal crossing the trail. I could not think of what it really was, except to describe it as otter-like. When I saw my guest book, someone asked if what I saw was a pine marten. That was it. I knew what it was, but I had never seen one in person before. That was an unexpected discovery on the trail.I have thought about the hundreds of people that helped me along the way. I wanted to thank each one individually, but I know that I will overlook some. So, I want to say THANK YOU TO ALL. It has truly been a great adventure and I am so glad that I made the decision to take on this goal back in 2015 when I overheard my father telling my brother in-law that he wished that he could have joined him back in 2001-2003 when he did his hike of the AT. As I have stated previously, I did not want to reach my father¢s age and make the same types of statements wishing that I were younger so that I could attempt a thru hike.I will single out one person that has helped the most during my hike and that is my wife (¢Mama Smurf¢). She was the one person that I was in constant contact with before, during and after the hike. She has been with me every step of the way, from afar. She has been my support system and has actually been the one to edit and post all my journal entries and pictures into Trail Journals. I could not have done it without you. I love you.Happy Trails,Papa Smurf