whoa. WHOA.

"That's almost as good as all-you-can-eat foodbag night"-Moc
Ah, it's most definitely the simple things in life that are the most rewarding.
Well, folks, I'm done. I finished my thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail on Monday, September 22, 2008. At the moment, it's still overwhelming to think it's over, yet I have this urge to hike more.(*gasp*) We'll see how that turns out.
Our day on Katahdin couldn't have been more beautiful, it had almost no clouds and we almost got sunburnt again. I'll figure out how to post pictures here, so you would get more of an idea. On our way down, we could see Cadillac mtn., which is in Acadia NP along the coast of Maine.
I'm not sure what else to write so I'm going to make a few lists, which'll hopefully explain how I feel a bit better.
Thing's I'll miss: having something to do every day, living outside, knowing you have everything you need on your back, the awesome people, the views from the tops, the challenge, the inside jokes, not seeing someone ahead of you for a month but still knowing where they are, the sun, running down mountains, zero days, commiserating, the twix bar, peanut butter, and cheese diet, finding foods that you'd never combine off-trail actually taste quite delicious when you're hungry(mac + cheese +peanut butter + chocolate protein powder, anyone?), getting to know people so much faster ("hi, i'm Neon, the privy's that way, the water's that way, you can sleep next to me in the shelter."), trail magic!, random acts of kindness, being somewhere new and different every day, simplicity, the feeling of accomplishment after your first big mileage days, the shower after not bathing for multiple days

Things I won't miss: Not having anywhere to go inside during inclement weather, running over mountains during thunderstorms, smelling bad because I haven't showered in 5 days, sore muscles, sore joins, getting sick and still having to hike, carrying too much on your back, chaffing, losing your appetite for food because you need to consume so much of it, uphills, the people who snored in shelters, mud, being so worn out I'm not coherent anymore (that only happened a couple of times)

Things I'll try to never take for granted again: ice, hot water, the indoors, the beauty in just about everything outdoors, people I love, the kindness of strangers

Thank Yous go out to: Dad, Gretchen, Mom, Aunt Debbie and Uncle Don, the Post Office workers along the trail for only losing one of my packages, the hundreds of people who put out trail magic for people they don't even know (we really do appreciate it!), everyone who put out water in NY, Freefall, K-Bomb, Enoch, Moccasin, Orangedust & Bea, Sprout (and her friends in Kent, Ct), C.C. Rider, Circumstance, Butters for entertaining me with his cartoons, Uncle Kevin, all the older people out there on the trail('If they can do it, so can I'), anyone who owns a hostel along the trail and runs it properly, all the people who picked us up while we were hitch-hiking, and that's all I can think of right now....sorry if I missed you.

I'll see if I can post some pictures up here soon, stay tuned!