It has been COMPLETED!! At 9:25 AM eastern time I reached the summit of Katahdin and the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail in Maine. Five months and two days after I began my journey on February 26th in Georgia.
Didn't sleep much at all last night and decided to hit the trail before the Amigos, because I knew they would catch up with me at some point. I left camp at 6:30 and the climb was amazing and really tough. Probably the toughest of the entire trail, with an elevation gain of 4400 feet. On the way up I was in a mist and clouds until the very top, so I didn't have any views and wasn't able to see anything except the trail at my feet. The first mile or so was normal trail and then I put away my hiking poles and I just climbed rocks - hand over hand most of the way. With 2.5 miles remaining it becomes a complete rock climb straight up giant boulders over the spine of the mountain. Then with about 1.25 miles remaining, after the Amigos caught up with me, we hit the "table land", a flat area (slight ascent) above tree line that is covered with rocks. With about a half mile remaining it starts to go up again over larger rocks. there are several false summits - places you think you've reached the top but the trail keeps going up - until finally you see the official summit sign. holy cow.
As we reached the summit the mist and clouds began to clear and we had absolutely amazing views. the bad part is that we had to go right back down the way we came up. oh well. What an amazing hike.
One of the coolest things to happen to me on the trail took place this morning. On the way up and on the way back down I passed a family that I had met in Harpers Ferry, WV. They recognized me and cheered me on as I went up and then congratulated me on the way down.
An absolutely amazing journey. Right now I want to relax and rest; my feet hurt.
When i get back to NYC on August 1 or 2 I will post a follow up message with the best summit picture, and then in about a week I will post a link to many of the pictures I took - after I go through all of them.
a few stats-
total miles: 2178.3 (not including side trails and walking to and in towns)
number of days hiked in shorts: 3 (i don't like hiking in shorts!)
number of days hiked in short sleeves: 4 (i don't like hiking in short sleeves!)
number of pictures taken: 2000+ (i like to take pics)
pairs of shoes: 5 (ugh)
bear sightings: 8 (grrrrrrr....)
moose sightings: 2 (ohhhoooooo)
weight lost: 50 lbs. + (did i have that much to lose?)
number of shaves and hair cuts: 3 (i'm a beast!)
approximate % of days with rain: 65 (ugh!!)
Thank you all for your support. You will hear from me again very soon. I'm going through Millinocket, ME to Bangor, ME to Portland, ME to Boston, MA to NYC over the next few days...slowly and by mass transit, not walking.
later,
L
