Date: 2013-03-03
To: Family Fun
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

I grew up with a small family. While other people talked about their seemingly 10+ aunts and uncles and their 1,000,000+ cousins, my brother, sister, and I grew up with three close cousins (that number has now grown to include two more from the west coast!). The Capps. There are three of them and three of us. We're each respectively 2-3 years apart, spanning a total of 10 years.We grew up visiting each other, making the trek from Vermont to Maine and back again in order to share summer adventures that included endless hours of Spud, all things Nickelodeon, camping in the backyard, attempts to pull all-nighters, buying mountains of .25 candy, creating the Crayola coloring contest, reciting lines from Ace Ventura, and always laughing (typically at each other's expense). But the commonly accepted, absolute favorite shared experience, was the annual trip to Acadia National Park in Maine. Our parents are all avid day hikers and they put us on the trail from an early age, either on foot or in backpack. We have countless photographs capturing just our feet, big and small, encircling the summit plaques that are scattered around the park. First were the years of following our parents, making sure there was always an adult up front and one in the back to keep track of the six of us. Then there came a summer when the kids finally took the lead. We walked amicably enough until the summit was in sight, and then it was every man for himself to try and scramble up the cairn at the top to be the first to touch the summit sign. And now it's a place we amble together and reminisce about years gone by. Long before Leave No Trace entered our vocabulary, we littered the trail with the shells of sunflower seeds and fed pieces of cheese and crackers to the birds at the top of the mountain. At the end of a hard day's work, the kids were each rewarded with a bumble gum cigar while the Dads smoked real cigars.So, it seems only appropriate that two of these cousins should join me on the Trail. Steven, my youngest cousin, is better known as Moose on the AT. In 2011, he started the adventure (and I lived vicariously through him), making it into Virginia. He has talked about getting back on the Trail ever since and was eager to begin conspiring with me this winter. Kevin, closest to my age, is the most recent addition to our hike - deciding last week to give two weeks notice and throw himself in. YES!!!I am looking forward to walking with my cousins for so, so many reasons. For years we've joked about the fact that at some point, we're going to have to start planning some of our own vacations. In Acadia, our families have rented two cottages for years. Two years ago they splurged (and we helped) and The Cousins got our very own cottage. This year, the parentals are off to Italy rather than Acadia - somehow the cousin contingent was overlooked So here it is: the most ultimate vacation (if by vacation, I mean time away from work doing something incredibly mentally and physically challenging) planned by the second generation! It will be a comfort to have a piece of home along for the ride and I'm sure will make those first few nights a whole lot less lonely. They also come equipped with wayyyyy more backpacking experience than myself, so I look forward to learning from them until I'm not such a newb. This is such a unique opportunity, and one that will surely bring us closer. We have many people rooting us on, but only the three of us will truly know what life is like from day to day. And yet we'll each have our own interpretation of this shared experience - each seeking a different kind of emotional, physical, and mental change or challenge.Ultimately, HYOH. Kevin and MOOSE are beasts on the trail and I know I may not be able to keep up with them for long. Any of one us could drop out due to injury or losing steam. So I'm grateful to start out in good company and will see where the Trail takes us!