Date: 2009-11-30
To: End of the Road
Miles today: 0.0

144 days. That is how long it took me to thru-hike the AT. I started July 1st at Katahdin, and on November 21st, I reached Springer Mountain!!!! To say the least it was mind-blowing. So much has happened on this trip. I would say that I have some of my best ever memories, and my worst from hiking the trail. The trail is in no way a vacation. It is a challenge, adventure, journey, and sometimes a job. One should not hike the trail to take a relaxing break from the "real" world. The trail will frankly, kick your ass. There were many times where I stopped walking and thought to myself, "What on earth am I doing"? Many times I didn't know the answer. I just knew I had to keep going and get a little closer to Springer. While the trail is incredibly hard, it was also the greatest thing I have ever done. The trail brings you back to the basics, to your natural self. It shows you how amazing human beings can be. How someone will go out of there way to help some disgusting looking hiker. On the Appalachian Trail people truly help and care for one another. I have never felt so inspired and with such a love of the human race as I do now. Let's just say that people truly are capable of some amazing things. I'm sure some of you are wondering what exactly a thru-hiker thinks about on the trail. After all we walk nearly all day every day, for 5 months, alone. A thru-hiker thinks about EVERYTHING. I replayed just about everything that ever happened to me multiple times. I thought about the world, universe, what my purpose was, religion, my future, childhood, and everything else in between. When you hike the AT, you better be somewhat comfortable with yourself, because you will be spending a lot of time with yourself. Even if your not, you will learn to be. I feel like I have learned a great deal about myself over these 144 days. I know I have changed a lot, but only 8 days removed from the trip, I am not sure what has changed.       After leaving my friend Smoose's house I entered the Smoky Mountain National Park. Unfortunately my friend Smoose had gotten the Swine Flu, so through the Smoky's I hiked alone. I was pretty sad at first, because Smoose and I had hiked for nearly half the trail prior. However I knew I just needed to keep going. The Smoky's were well... Smoky. It rained nearly every day. One morning I woke up to heavy rain, then walked through heavy rain all day. It was the wettest I had been. So wet that water leaked though my pack cover into my stuff. That night I spent a lovely night alone, soaking wet. Not one of the better memories on the trail. I joked all the rest of the way through the Smoky's that I was walking through a hurricane. When I got to Fontana Dam several days later, I was told that indeed I had walked through a hurricane. Thankfully the rain stopped once I got to Fontana. My friend Smoose decided to drive down there to finish the rest of the trail with me. The next 10 or so days were some of the best on the trail. It was very weird to know that I was so close. Every mile felt like a huge accomplishment. Every morning I woke up I felt like I was just getting so much closer. Imagining being on top of Springer Mountain was impossible. It was a moment I had thought about for nearly 5 months, and within 10 days I was going to be there. Smoose and I spent the night on top of an open fire tower one night, and I have to say it was one of the best nights I had. The stars were beautiful, and it felt great to be so close to the end. After a few more days, I reached Georgia. The last state. It was pretty awesome to reach this point. With only about 30 miles to go, I met up with about 5 other southbounders I had met at different points on the trail. We had two nights together, and were all able to go up Springer together. On the last night, my parents parked near the shelter we stayed at and packed out 7 steaks, potatoes, brownies, Dr. Pepper, and other delicious snacks. It was the best dinner I had on the trail. All the other hikers loved it too. The day I actually hiked up Springer felt surreal. I just couldn't beleive I was about to finish. I had been walking 5 months to get here. 5 months. Every day I thought about this. I almost couldn't handle it. I nearly broke down the last mile. It was here. In twenty minutes I was going to be done. I took a little break about 3/4ths a mile away and reflected on all that happened. When I finally felt ready I went up to the top. When I got there I was greeted by the fellow Southbounders, and there family's. My Mom and Dad later came up. It was pretty anti-climatic to actually be on top of Springer. I felt sort of in shock. But I just thought I would wake up the next day and keep going, even though I knew I was going home. We snapped some pictures, and I entered my last journal entry. Then we walked down to the van and drove home.         More than a week later, I still don't know what to think. I am starting to get back into the swing of things. Somethings are still weird. Having a pantry is pretty amazing. Also a warm place to stay every night, for free is nice. I feel a bit at a loss for what happened to me over those 5 months. I know I changed, in some ways it is obvious, but in others it is not. It's like at this point I only am looking at the close up version of what happened to me. The obvious ways I changed are, I like taking my dog for long walks, I dislike tv and commercials, I've only taken a few showers, I go to bed a lot earlier and wake up earlier, I eat a lot more, and other things of that nature. I think it will take some time for me to truly figured out how the trail changed me. The picture has yet to zoom out. Hiking the Appalachian Trail is a life changing event. I would recommend this to everyone. The great thing about the AT is that anyone can do it. Anyone. You do not have to be an athlete. You can be in the worse shape of your life and come out and do this. It takes a lot of willpower, commitment, and perseverance, but this is not an impossible task. I am far from the first person to do this. I would, once again, like to thank my parents for all they did to assist me. They truly made this trip possible, and without them, I don't know I would have made it, or even been able to start it for that matter. So to Mom and Dad, Thank You. I would also like to thank everyone I met while hiking the trail, and say congratulations to hikers who were able to walk the entire thing this year. I hope this was interesting. And of course a big thanks goes out to all the readers of my blog. This trail has come to an end and I am happy to be home. But who knows, maybe in several years I will be tackling the Pacific Crest Trail, a 2600 mile long trail that stretches through California, Oregon, and Washington. Take care everyone and happy holidays!Bests and Worsts of the ATBest night: Camping out on top of Mount Moosilauke NH with my brother. It was incredibly clear, and the sunset and sunrise were amazing. A close second was with Smoose on top of Wesser Bald fire tower NC.Worst night: The night I camped in North Adams Mass. It was raining and my tent collapsed, in the rain. Enough said.Best dinner: Of course the dinner my parents packed out. Another good one was the when me and two other soutbounders packed out steaks, and a pineapple.Worst dinner: Every other dinner I had on the trail. On in particular was three pepperoni and cheese bagels along with about 4000 calories worth of little debby snacks. A warning to potential thru hikers. If you eat about 10000 calories worth of little debbie snacks a day for a month, you my die from a heart attack.Best Shelter: Toughie, But for me the Eckville shelter in Penn gets the vote. It was enclosed, had electricity, and a shower. Not to mention you could order pizza.Worst Shelter: Blue Mountain Shelter in GA. It was soaking wet after walking through a day of rain. Not fun.Best day: The day I went over the Tinker Cliffs, Mccaffe Knob, and Dragonstooth in a day. This was in central virginia. All of these are very cool rock cliff type areas. I was with two other sobos, and we had an awesome day doing this. Worst day: The next day, when we walked 22 miles in the pouring rain, on top of an exposed, windy ridge. It was 35 degrees. A close second is when i got lost coming down lehigh gap in PA in the rain. I eventually stumbled upon this huge road, and some guy picked me up and told me I was 3 miles away for the AT. Oh and it was raining. Third was when I walked 22 miles on severely blistered feet. It was so miserable I almost got off the trail that day.Best town: Monson, Maine. Probably because it was my first town, but it was so much fun. It met a ton of sobos, and we all just were hanging out and relaxing. Not to mention it was all you can eat taco night. Worst town: Not many. Port Clinton PA comes to mind because there was no resupply there. Best Hostel: Green Mountain House in VA. For 15$ you get, a shower, bed with sheets, laundry, ton of breakfast food, huge tv, internet, and not to mention all the ben and jerry's ice cream you can eat. Best State: As far as the views go, hands down Maine. It was absolutely spectacular. New Hampshire was amazing also. I really enjoyed every state outside of PA.Worst State: Maine was easily the hardest state on the AT. But Pennsylvania just sucked. There were so many rocks, nothing interesting to look at, weird towns, and my feet were being murdered by the shoes I was wearing. I swear I will never hike in Pennsylvania again. Best View: Mount Moosilauke. It was just so crystal clear. You could see for miles in every direction. A close second was through the Roan Highlands in TN. We went over these cool bald mountains, with clouds lying in the valley. it looked like the mountains were poking through the clouds.Worst Climb: Hall mountain in Maine. I mean wow. It was so steep and so long, and I thought I was going to keel over and become a permanent addition to the forests of Maine.Best trail Magic: I was nearly in Georgia, and I stumbled down a hill and saw a huge tent. When I got down there, a guy had a grill rigged up with hotdogs on it. I had several. He also had some pepsi, and cookies. It was pretty awesome. Worst Trail Magic: Well this one time..... Really I hope you didn't think I would actually do this.Scariest Moment: The night after it was so cold and raining. I was worried I was hypothermic, and one guy we were with was very hypothermic. It was pretty concerning.