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!

I would walk 1,000 miles, then I would walk 1,000 more....

Conversation between two hikers on the way into Glencliff, NH at the end of two 20+ mile days:
me: "I think my feet are starting to revolt"
wookie: "My whole body's revolting"
I laughed for about 5 minutes, either from delirium or actual funniness, I'm still not sure which. We then made it to the hostel, and promptly shared a 1/2 gallon of moose tracks ice cream, which makes everything better :)
The above anecdote seems to epitomize my journey thus far- everything hurts, then you get to camp, hang out with awesome people and eat something- it always makes you feel better no matter how crappy things are.
We (CC, Freefall, Circ, and our new addition: Uncle Kevin) are currently in Caratunk, Me. We will be in Monson on Friday night for a hiker feed sponsored by whiteblaze.net-check out their site!
We reached the 2,000 mile marker yesterday, it's spray-painted in the middle of a road- so much for not playing in traffic. We've made it through the whites, the Mahoosics- which contain the alleged hardest mile on the trail (Mahoosic Notch only took about 1.5 hours to get through), and just finished up the Bigelows. The only thing to do now is not break myself from here til the end. I've made it this far, right? Then it's home to figure out the rest of my life...?
Also, I ate 12 pancakes for breakfast this morning, can't wait for the sedentary life again so eating won't be such a chore- good thing they were delicious.

20 miles to Maine

So, going through the whites, you have options of where you can stay. Option 1: pay $8 to stay in a shelter/campsite. Option 2: Do work for stay at a hut and get leftover food and sleep in the common room. We chose option 2, and it worked for us most of the time, even though the guidebook warns you not have more than 2 people.(we had 4) We folded blankets and swept most times, and most of the 'croo' people were friendly, except one at Madison hut, which I won't discuss further.
We did small mileage days, which meant we could enjoy ourselves a bit more. Going over the presidential range was a trip because you're continually above treeline for 25 miles, which ended up being 3 of the prettiest days of our trip so far. We all got a little sunburnt walking over Mts. Washington, Adams, and Jefferson. Freefall and Circumstance have become part of our group, which is really nice to have other people to talk to. The past couple days, we've gone over the Wildcats and Carter Mtns, which are lovely in their own right as well.
And here I sit, in Gorham, NH, about 20 miles from the Maine border and just under 300 miles to Katahdin. We've got the 'hardest mile' coming up, at Mahoosic Notch, as well as the Mahoosic range and the Bigelow range to go over, then it's mostly flat from there (*wink*)
Maine, here we come!

too much has happened, this might take 2 entries

Alright, last time I left you was in Glencliff, NH. We went over our first above tree line mountain after that- Mt Moosilac (sp?), then down into a notch, and some people who were doing trail magic were nice enough to drive us into Lincoln, where we stayed at a wonderful hostel owned by a gentleman named Chet West.
Chet had the unfortunate incident of having a camp stove blow up on him a few years back. Also, because he was using the stove in his house, the house burned down as well. His whole torso got burned, as well as some of his muscle tissue around his hips. He also inhaled some of the flames, and now only has one working lung. He is very forthright about this incident and is the greatest guy we've met on the trail so far. Chet normally uses a walker to get around, but semi-recently broke his heel and severed his achilles tendon in a bike accident, so he was wheelchairing it when we came through. He bought the house he lives in now with settlement money, and has opened it up to hikers on a work-for-stay or donation basis.
Needless to say, we got vortexed @ Chet's, and ended up spending 4 nights there, though we did slack-pack one 16.2 mile day, and were waiting out weather to go over Franconia Ridge. Thanks again for the ride back Ari!(He's a former thru-hiker)
We left Chet's on a gorgeous morning, then proceeded to hike the 3,000ft, 6 mile climb up to Franconia Ridge. When we got there, it had to be one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen in my life. Being above treeline is an experience. Even while getting nearly blown off the ridge in 40-50 mph wind gusts, Wookie, CC, Freefall, and I stopped to take many pictures and even one video of us leaning at a 25 degree angle into the wind with our packs on.(I wish I could post it)
The man in the mountain may not still be there but the views definitely are!

The sun'll come out tomorrow.....or maybe the next day?

Well, we're officially out of Vermud/Vermont and onto the (hopefully) less muddy places ahead. So, last time I updated, we were in Dalton, Mass. Since CC wasn't feeling well, we took a half day off, then Slack-packed 23 miles from North Adams back to Dalton. It was a beautiful day, little did I know it would be the last beautiful day for a while. After slacking, we met back up with Enoch, Moc, OD, Bea and Kbomb. We hiked with them from N. Adams to Manchester Center, where we met up with Freefall and Wookie, then took a zero @ Freefall's parents' house. Her mom cooked up a storm and we went canoing, it was great!
After that, we meandered our way back onto the Long Trail/AT. This is a high-use thoroughfare, so much so that some of the shelters charge usage fees in peak season. From about 5 miles into Vermont to about now, it has rained at least once a day, if not the whole day. There were also a few thunderstorms that made me move faster over the ridges. The ridges have also gotten progressively higher, preparing our muscles for the greuling steepness of the Whites (or at least it looks that way on the profile maps).
Back to the point- I HATE WET FEET! Since the beginning of Vt, my feet have only stayed dry outside of my sleeping bag for a total of 2 hours, and that was yesterday. There were a few days that just about every other step I took, the mud suctioned it so I nearly lost my shoes, thank goodness I tie them tight. Though it does make for some fun puddle jumping in the beginning, walking through a stream/waterfall/trail gets old after a few hours. I did have 'it's raining men' stuck in my head for most of the past week though....
Oh, and about 6 days ago, someone informed me that Vermont has already gotten it's average rainfall for the month of August. Yes, that is this month.
But now we're in New Hampshire, and everyone's been saying it's time to get to work, as I think 'If this is the work, what have we been doing the past 4 months?!' Apparently, the rule on the trail is, we've now done 80% of the trail but only 20% of the work. So, with only 450ish miles left, it's time to work hard through the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the southern part of Maine. I've got my cold weather gear back, a couple new pairs of socks, and a good attitude- bring it on!

Note to Aunt Deb and Uncle Don- We hear the Leaf season in Vt this year won't be very spectacular because of the exorbinant amount of rain they've gotten. That is all.

"They have a pool? No thanks, we just did laundry."

So it's been an interesting past few days, coming through Ct and Mass. We'll be in Vt. by the end of the week, somewhere around Bennington by Friday for a big hiker feed.
Connecticut became a vortex to us, we were afraid we'd never make it to Mass. Sprout's friends were so nice, and they had a pool and a puppy, which helped:) We finally tore outselves away from that, then we ran in Connecticut Mike, who lives in Salisbury and was taking some time off the trail for his birthday. We refuted his offer to take us in for the night, and hiked on into a torrential downpour with massive amounts of thunder and lightning. We finally make it to Massachusetts, and run into Mike again, who proceeds to take us BACK to Ct. for a bonfire and beer at his friends' house. After that, we FINALLY made it out of Ct. permanently.
Onto Mass., which has the largest population of misquitos I've ever seen in my life. I had to practically run down a couple of hills to keep ahead of the swarm. Then we got to Goose Pond Cabin/Shelter, which is right on a lake and the caretaker makes BLUEBERRY PANCAKES for everyone in the morning. Such a lovely place, even with the mosquito population eating us alive. My one friend claims he's become anemic from so many bugs sucking his blood.
Yesterday, we had quite the rain/hail storm. So bad, in fact, we had to ford our first river-it was about mid-thigh deep and running rapids. All made it through unscathed, though the bottom of our shorts did get damp and the Orangedust's dog had to be carried. And with the marble-sized hail floating in the elongated puddle that used to be the trail, it made for some interesting hiking. Though my feet did get nicely exfoliated from the large amount of dirt that got into my shoes from the puddles.
Onto the Green Mountains of Vermont!

New York, New York...onto CT!

As I sit here in a friend of a friends kitchen outside Kent, CT, I'm currently thinking back on the last week and pondering how I made it this far. The rocky PUDs (pointless ups and downs) of southern NY state nearly killed me, and breaking in a new pair of shoes did not help at all. We were looking forward to the Hiker feed, then it was misdated. Thank goodness for trail angel Paddy-O, who brought us COLD chocolate milk and pastries from the local dairy. There, we met the lovely Orangedust and her little dog Beatrice Opal, as well as Gumby, Sherlock, Catfish and Mike. At the Monkery the following night, we ordered food and met up with Moccasin, Enoch, K-bomb again, as well as meeting Sprout and Chopsticks. Also, CC broke his Chaco and got stung by a wasp AND a hornet walking through the marshes.
Though it's been getting hotter and buggier the past few days, hiking with these people has been great. Yay girls on the trail! Of course, the swimming holes and delis didn't hurt:)
From our experience in New England so far, the hospitality and kindness abounds. We got a ride to our hotel last night from a nice older guy whose girlfriend recently passed away. Last night, we walked down to the grocery to get dinner, and the owner invited us over to his house for beer and talking (thanks Tom!). He was SO nice, I learned the new game of Washoes (horseshoes w/washers, kind of) and he gave us a ride back to Kent this morning!
Only 720 miles left on this strange little trip...what a ride it's been. We should be into Vermont in about a week or so then onto the white mountains of NH and beyond!