[at-l] 4 years and 2 days ago today ... (long)

[mizwaterfall at yahoo.com (Nina Baxley Rogers)]

Went through a bunch of boxes this weekend and found
my AT journal ... I didn't inflict my daily journal on
anyone while hiking, so I'll inflict a day's worth
now. :)

20 June 2000

I am TIRED! The Big K kicked my butt. It chewed me up
and spit me out. But I'm still walking. Actually, I
think the mosquitoes and black flies are more
maddening than the boulders. Let's see ...

Woke up early this morning and met a man named George,
who introduced me to his son, Greg, who is a
southbounder like me. I started the hiked about 10
minutes after George, Greg, and Lucy (George's
girlfriend), but soon caught up to them, then pretty
much hiked with them the rest of the day. Greg kept
ahead on the way up, with me several feet behind him,
and George and Lucy several hundred feet behind me.
Greg was such a great kid--he would stop at intervals
and wait for everyone to catch up and take breaks.
Greg just recently graduated from Swarthmore with a
degree in biochemistry.

Katahdin was SO HARD. The first mile or two were
OK--the first mile up to Katahdin Stream Falls was
downright easy. After that, the trail got more
bouldery, and more bouldery, and more bouldery ... I
couldn't believe all the rocks. At least they weren't
loose like on the Pinhoti Trail. But this mountain was
not made for short people to climb it. Some of those
boulders were HUGE! Greg had to help me up and down a
few of them. Such a nice kid. He hiked onto Daicey
Pond this afternoon and plans to fly through the
Wilderness, so I guess I'll never see him again.

Right now I'm sitting and talking with Sarah and
Sarah, two students from Brown University who are
thru-hiking. They're also planning to hike to Abol
Bridge tomorrow, so maybe we'll hike together some.

OK, now I'm back in my tent. The bugs were just TOO
BAD.

I really like the two Sarahs. They're young but seem
very mature. I wish I'd had their confidence and
courage when I was barely 20. At least I have it now
that I'm 30.

Katahdin. The greatest mountain. What a mountian. It
was such a challenge physically and mentally. Up, up,
up, it went, and it wasn't your typical uphill walk in
the woods. There was no real trail for much of
it--just boulders with blazes painted on them, and a
few cairns. Much of the trail was a real rock
scramble. It would have been much easier if I were
taller. Sometimes I'd step out toward a rock, and my
leg would just dangle--not long enough. I used every
part of my body--my legs, my arms, my shoulders, my
butt--to creep my way up that mountain. Much of my day
was spent gorilla-style, walking with my hands AND
feet. But the boulder scrambles were fun, in a sick
sort of way!

On the way up, we were passed by several
southbounders. One guy, Luke, is from Georgia. Two
guys, Brian and Scott Wood, are keeping a journal on
Trailplace. I knew them right away when I saw them. I
said, "Y'all must be the Rhode Island brothers from
Trailplace!"

We finally got to the top. That last stretch seemed to
take forever because we could see the sign at the
summit. I kept wanting to yell ahead to Greg, "Are we
THERE yet?"

What a feeling when I got to that sign. What an
awesome feeling. The "approach trail" had kicked my
butt, but I was still walking, and I reached the sign.
Now, I thought, I am a thru-hiker. No longer a
dreamer. I've been a dreamer for 10 years. Now I'm the
real thing. Lucy took my picture, and I know I had a
huge smile on my face. It was a beautiful day--there
were a few clouds, but the sky was so blue, and you
could see forever all around the mountain.

The trip down was as tough as the trip up. George,
Greg, Lucy, and I stuck together as we descended the
boulders and Greg had to help me out a few more times.
I fell at one point (my leg wasn't long enough to
reach the boulder I wanted to reach), but wasn't
hurt--just a little shook up. On the way up, a sudden
gust of wind nearly blew me off the mountain. That was
scary.

Once we reached the tableland, I became thoughtful and
was flooded again with so many emotions. I thought
about my grandfather and felt that he was with me,
that he was watching over me. And of course I started
crying because I always cry when I think about him,
even though he's been dead for nearly 20 years.

Another emotion--love. Love isn't really an emotion,
but it's something I felt a lot of today. Love for
everyone I've ever known. Seriously. I thought about
how much I love my family, how much I love the hiking
club people, how much I love the Doc Team at work, how
happy I was to have "adopted" the family of George,
Greg, and Lucy today, especially because I've been
missing my dad and mom so much.

Once we got back to the campground, I said goodbye to
Greg, then started making dinner. The bugs went from
bad to worse. On my way back to drop my food at the
ranger station, I saw the two Sarahs sitting at a
picnic table. I talked to them for a while, then went
back later to visit with them some more. They're
reading poetry every night. I recited "I'm Nobody!"
and some of "Tintern Abbey." Turns out they're big
fans of both Emily Dickinson and Mary Oliver, just
like me! Their uncle, who thru-hiked in '93, brought
us some B&J Chocolate Cherry Garcia ice cream--YUM!

I'd write more, but I'm very tired. Tomorrow, Abol
Bridge. 5.2 miles down, and 2161.9 to go.

=====
Hike Louisiana!

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0881505986/qid=1073309993//ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i0_xgl14/102-8182420-0202529?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

http://www.hikelouisiana.org


		
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