Date: 2006-09-15
From: Best Value Inn, Millinocket, ME

To: Mt. Katahdin and HOME!
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: overcast clouds

WOOOHOOO!!!!This is what we've all been waiting for: I saw a MOOSE!!! Yep, Dad and I were driving to the Park this morning and a big bull moose was walking along the road. He disappeared into the woods after we startled him.Oh yeah, and I summitted Katahdin!We started at 6:40 am, giving ourselves plenty of time for what we expected to be an extremely difficult hike. I give Katahdin all my respect, but it wasn't as bad as we had anticipated. Some steep bouldery sections where we had to shimmy and push ourselves up, but it was actually a very nice climb. The weather seemed like it was going to clear up, but it in fact got more cloudy as we climbed. I have no regrets at not waiting for a clear day.A mile from the summit it finally started to hit me. My thru-hike miles to go...one...then less and less with each step. I can remember Lindsay's and my pride the first day, then at our first 100 miles, then when I hit 1,000 miles... until it was easier to count down my "to go" miles than add up how many hundreds of miles I had hiked from Springer. And there I was with only steps to go. It was my last chance to remember exactly what it felt like to be doing a thru-hike, because forever after I'll just be looking back on it. I took mental photos in my head...what my feet sound and feel like on the ground with each step, how my poles click, what the wind feels like and how the scenery looks. The independence I feel at being alone walking on a mountain.I kept looking up, partly hoping to see the summit because it's my natural reaction as I climb, and partly dreading it. Then I saw the end of my hike, bodies through the fog hanging out at the peak. Half-steps to slow the trip down, double-steps to get there. Everyone cheered as I neared the summit, and I saw familiar faces smiling at me. Montreal, Trashman, Mulligan, Gloworm, Mapman, Robin. Those people knew just what that moment meant to me, just what I'd gone through to get myself there. And of course, the tears came when it was time to touch the sign. I couldn't hold them back. Every time I had cried on the trail flashed through my brain. The first maildrop from my mom, decorated with care and love. Sobbing at the wretched bugs in New Jersey, when my cat died in Massachusetts. The first time I spent a night alone in a shelter, terrified of ghosts and bears. Meeting up with Donkey and Mouse again after a month apart in New York. Losing my wits in that Pennsylvania Rain. Seeing my father hiking on the trail to finish my hike with me. And all those days alone when I'm not sure just what made me cry...something beautiful, something sad I was thinking about while I hiked, a moment of desperation or a time when I had overcome a challenge. We took pictures, cheered on others as they reached the summit, then headed down for the descent. After nearly 6 months on the trail I had perfected the art of butt-scooting down descents that I'm not comfortable with. We made it down by 3:40 pm and headed home to New Hampshire, which is where I find myself now.I'll certainly write a follow-up email or two once I've settled in a bit. My mom had balloons and banners up welcoming me home, and even a poster she'd blown up of Jangles, Mouse, Shasta, H-Bomb, Baro, Leon, and me on the front door. I can see those guys every day now! It's been a long day.Time for bed (not my thermarest!),Chardonnay