Date: 2007-07-25
From: The Birches Campsite-Baxter Park, ME

To: Mt. Katahdin, ME
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Five months ago, to the day, I was sitting in a hotel room in South Carolina, watching the Oscars, too excited to sleep. I was just half a day¢s drive from Springer Mountain, where this all began. Although, it didn¢t really begin there. It began a long time ago. Where it was, I can¢t exactly say. Maybe it was the first time my parents carried me up Mt. Cardigan; maybe it was the first time I hiked it all the way to the top on my own, spurred by the promise of a bag of M&Ms if I did, which later became a hiking tradition; maybe it was when I first hiked Moosilauke, my first 4000-footer; maybe it was two years ago, after finishing a camp trip through the 100-Mile Wilderness, when I started thinking, ¢Maybe I could do the whole thing.¢ Whenever it was, it was all leading up to today.Five months ago, I didn¢t know where I¢d be today. I wasn¢t even sure if I was going to make it all the way. I just told myself that I would keep hiking, and not give in to the temptation to give up. It never even got to be a temptation. There were times when it was tough to leave town, tough to keep walking, but I never really thought about going home, until I got so close that I couldn¢t give up. The past couple weeks, I was ready to be done, but there was no way I was giving up when I was that close.Five months ago, I was clean-shaven, short-haired, and I had no appetite. I was typing this on my mother¢s computer, and a picture of me from the day I left home came up as the desktop. I barely recognized myself in it. I¢ve changed a lot in these past five months, and not just physically. I couldn¢t tell you exactly what¢s changed, I just know that it¢s different.We woke up this morning, and it was a beautiful day. There wasn¢t a cloud in the sky as I walked from the campsite to the trailhead. Professor, Boy and I left the bottom a little after 5:30, when it was still cool. The trail up is one of the most impressive trails I¢ve ever hiked. It starts out almost flat, and then climbs steeply for a while, and that¢s just the warm up. A couple miles in, it comes out above treeline, and then the climbing really starts. It¢s a long scramble over rocks, boulders, and more rocks. There are places where there are rebar handles and rungs driven into the rock; without them, it would be near impossible to climb. A stiff breeze blew, threatening to take my hat away, but keeping the bugs off and the climb cool. Looking out in every direction, it was beautiful. Everything around is so spectacular, so impressive; the ridge the trail follows up drops off sharply on both sides of the trail, and the nearby mountains are craggy and sheer. The views make the climb worth every ounce of effort.We took our time, and cleared the last pile of rocks, a nearly vertical scramble over huge boulders, a little before 8:00. The last stretch of steep climbing is called The Gateway, and when you come up to the top, you pull yourself up a boulder, and everything is flat. You¢re on The Tableland. As I hiked the last few hundred yards to the top, I felt myself start walking faster. I couldn¢t help it; I could see the huge sign at the summit, and it was as if it was pulling me. Professor was a few yards in front of me, and as I started walking faster, I looked up, and saw that he was still the same distance away. He was feeling it too. When I got about 50 yards away, I broke into a light jog, just as Professor reached the top. ¢Let me hear it!¢ I shouted to him, and he let out a yell as he came to the famous sign. I jogged the rest of the way to the top, let out a whoop, and collapsed onto the sign. It was over. Five months of hiking and it was over.We had an absolutely beautiful day to be on top. The sky overhead was clear blue, and there were low clouds hanging over some of the other mountains, swirling in the wind. On top, there was hardly any breeze, so it wasn¢t too cold. We had a great view over the Northern Peaks, out to the Knife Edge, and down to Chimney Pond. Professor and I were the first ones on top, and for a while, we had it to ourselves. A little while later, Boy, Wirenut and Plod came up, then Hornblower and his brother. It was surreal, almost as if it wasn¢t actually happening, or I was watching it happen from a distance.The next people that we saw coming across the Tableland were my parents. They got to the top, and we gave them an ovation, just like we were giving everyone that we knew that came up. I hadn¢t seen them since Crawford Notch, and it was wonderful to meet them on top of Katahdin. I had originally thought I wouldn¢t want to see them until after I¢d come down, but I was glad I¢d changed my mind and asked them to summit today.We were just about to leave, when Scoops and the Garretts showed up, along with friends and family. One of the Garretts had hauled a small bottle of champagne up to the top, so we popped the cork and passed it around. The rest of the guys drank their victory beers (damn my not being of age), and Professor and Boy smoked the cheap cigars they¢d bought at Abol Bridge. I ate my last Snickers bar, and then had a bag of M&Ms that I¢d bought at Abol as well. Hornblower had carried his French horn up Katahdin, and he gave us a little serenade at the summit, the theme from Wagner¢s Siegfried.My parents and I hiked out to Hamlin peak, along the ridge. It added about 5 miles to an already difficult day, but it¢s another 4000-footer, and we¢re probably not coming back up this way for a while, so we figured we might as well. It wasn¢t too bad getting over to it, but it was just a long ways to go. Eventually, we crawled back down the mountain to the trailhead. Scoops, Wirenut, Plod, and the Garretts had already left, but Boy, Professor, Hornblower and his brother were still there. We hung out for a bit, and my mother brought out a cake she¢d made for the occasion. Written on top in icing were the words ¢Congratulations AT Thru-Hikers.¢We drove back to Millinocket, the nearest town, where my parents had a hotel room, and got cleaned up. It was great to take a shower after six days of hard hiking, although I think I ruined the washcloth. I was a bit dirty. We went out to dinner at a wonderful restaurant, and brought Professor and Boy along with us. Hornblower and his brother met us there, and we had a great dinner. After dinner, I said goodbye to those two, who are staying at the campground near the restaurant, then we drove Boy back to the hostel in town, where he¢s staying and getting a ride to Philly tomorrow with Packhorse. Professor is staying at the hotel here with us.It still hasn¢t really sunk in that it¢s all over. I¢m too tired right now to think about it much. I feel incredible, like I¢m on top of the world though. As I quoted in the final register at the ranger station, ¢Until a man is twenty-five, he still thinks, every so often, that under the right circumstances, he could be the baddest motherfucker in the world.¢ (Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash) That¢s how I felt on top, how I still feel. The sense of disappointment, that something¢s missing, hasn¢t set in yet. It¢ll come, I know it will. I just don¢t know when. For now, I am the baddest motherfucker in the world.The Brain