Monson, ME (09/10) to Mt. Katahdin, ME (09/18)

Wow! Its so surreal to be done with the trail and look back on it all! Sorry to those that have kept up with the blog-- I know this last post took me a while, but it also took a while to get back home! :)

Eric and I fell in love with Monson! We ended up staying a couple extra days and we were able to slackpack our first couple days into the 100 Mile Wilderness. Slackpacking is when you hike a day's portion of the trail without a full pack and have rides to and from the trail. The 100 Mile Wilderness is a section (one guess as to how long) right before Baxter State Park... though it isn't really as remote as it sounds. A bunch of logging companies own the land around the trail, so there's a lot of logging roads and tote roads throughout that section that will get you back to civilization. I'm sure at one point, however, it was truly remote. We didn't see much wildlife in that section, though we did hear a couple of moose in rut at night.

Once we finished the 100 Mile, we entered Baxter State Park (our last 2 days). We had been hiking around a very nice guy named T Cat, who was from South Carolina as well, and his dad had come out to meet him for these last 2 days. His dad hiked out hotdogs and fed everyone at the campsite! We crossed over Abol Bridge, which is a famous bridge that Henry David Thoreau use to spend time at. It wasn't quite what I had thought it was going to be-- I had this romantic image of an old covered bridge or something. It was just an old, regular bridge... but it did have an amazing view of Mt Katahdin! Anyways, our last night camping was right at the base of Mt Katahdin. T Cat's Dad had gone out and bought us a bottle of champagne to bring to the top, and a couple of former thru hikers came to our campsite and grilled out for us!!

The day we climbed Mt Katahdin was perfect!! Clear skies, little wind, and not a cloud in sight! We didn't bring full packs to the top-- just some lunch and champagne! It was a 5 mile climb to the top, and it was rather challenging. I think we had so much adrenaline pumping through us though, that we pretty much ran all the way up! We spent a couple hours on top, celebrating and reminiscing of our five and a half month adventure... then made our way back down to the campground to be picked up.

Now that we're all done, there's a lot to figure out and do! I have loads of pictures (about 900-1000) and I really am going to load them onto the blog! I also kept a journal every day we were out on the trail, and am thinking about going back through the blog and filling in the gaps and details... or who know... maybe a book one day! (we'll see)

My mom and Bill picked us up and we went into NYC for 3 nights! Talk about culture shock!! Now, we're back in South Carolina and trying to get things in order for the next chapter of our lives. We definitely fell in love with the hiking culture and lifestyle though, so we're already planning some other long distance hikes we'd like to do- both in the states and abroad. Everyone keeps asking us how it feels to be back in reality, but the Appalachian Trail was one of the healthiest doses of reality I've ever had! Its as real as it gets out there! (Though it is nice to be back in a bed and have access to a shower on a regular basis!) :)

We had such a great support group throughout this entire experience-- from family to friends to strangers to trail angels! We certainly couldn't of had the experience we did without everyone, so I truly can't thank everyone enough! These past few months have been incredible, and its bitter sweet to be done... although, a certain amount of the lifestyle and culture will never fade!