Date: 2007-03-03
From: Flat Rock, NC

To: Flat Rock, NC
Miles today: 0.0

Well, a long time has passed since i've added to this journal. Sorry to all my readers for the extreme lapse in journaling. I summited Springer Mountain on March 2, 2007. My Southbound thru hike completed! Since then i've been working and trying to get adjusted to life off the trail. It feels completely different. I remember the Easy Feelin' of the trail and now I just feel like the same ol' me again. The Appalachian Trail is amazing. It is also long. But now looking back I can say that it was a short epoch in this long life. The Trail was not hiked without some pain and struggle, but the simplicity of life on the trail can not be beat! But watch out! All you thru-hikers, because the trail comes to an abrupt end. Once you touch the plaque at Springer or Katahdin or wherever your terminus may be, your life changes instantaneously.I miss the trail.One of the best parts of thru hiking the A.T. is meeting a bunch of amazing people. For one, the thru hiker is of a different breed. Each hiker I met on the trail was unique. Many were the quiet, lonely type. Others always had cool stories to tell. And of course you had the few that were complainers. They generally dropped out somewhere along the way. When every mountain they come to becomes a job instead of a joy.   But the most amazing people i met along the trail were not hiking. They were the people I met in town, or the people who stopped on the side of the road for a smelly hitch-hiker. All of the not-so-cool people just kept on driving. So a thru-hiker really weeds out the imbecils from the gracious, a fact that really helped me experience the wonderful side of people. I remember passing thru certain areas. Road crossings really stood out because they were out of the ordinary...One road was in Vermont, during peak leaf season. It was a long, straight gravel road lined with fall foliage and no traffic whatsoever. It was beautiful! I remember crossing many roads in New York. One of the roads had the Appalachian Trail train stop beside it. I remember walking through the first pasture I came to at the base of Mt. Moosilauke. The pastures of Vermont were amazing. The bogs of Maine were so unique, I just happened to fall in one as well! The stream crossings in Maine were always a good place to stop and take a break. The shelters and privies that the Dartmouth Outing Club maintained were always unique. And the Shelters in Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania were always well maintained. The trail is amazing. And of course, the mountains! Some mountains just seemed to go on forever. The Priest. That is a long climb for us Sobos. Old Blue Mountain up in Maine. Moxie Bald. The Franconias. Whitecap, The Bigelows...so many come to mind. I miss the Trail. In closing I would like to mention a few of the people that really helped me along the way. Chris "Trailboss" D., Storyteller and 46er, Joelle, Jody, Kenny & Beth, Mom, Nana, Tom Jen and Jim, Jaybird, The Reiffs, Aintzane and .... It was because of your kindness that my thru-hike was as enjoyable as it was. And I never walked alone because the Lord kept me and led me by his strong hand.