[at-l] I summited October 21

[MedusaJ at aol.com (MedusaJ@aol.com)]

Hey everyone--

I don't know if you remember me, but I lurked for a while last year, posted for a while this year, made an emergency cry for help in March on the way out the door for my thru-hike, thru-hiked this year, and summited on October 21!!  I've been faithfully getting my at-l digests all summer, rarely reading one, and now that I'm back in email civilization I've been catching up and excited to rejoin the fray with a year's worth of experience under my belt.  So thanks to you all, especially for the expert advice.

I only remember a couple of my early questions--rain gear:  I used my dad's 46-inch wait Kmart special bright blue rain pants from Springer to Katahdin and my water-resistant Sugoi biking jacket, bright orange, the whole way (both can be seen in my pictures on trail journals, including one where a thru-hiker named Syracuse decided I was advocating for that team during March madness), instead of forking over $200 bucks for Marmot or whatever, and I was very happy with that decision.  I'd never travel without my Kmart rain pants--they're super-lite, kept me warm when wet and cold and windy, weren't hot when used over ultra-short-shorts for bug protection, and dried in about two seconds.  Even though I had to sew them up about twenty times (one time while zeroing at the Friary in NY) and my mom refused to let me waste postage on mailing them home.

I did fork over for the Petzl Tikka, and everyone was right about that, too.  No holding flashlights in the teeth for thru-hikers--a surefire way to spot sectioners.  I'm thinking of getting my dad one for Christmas.  Even though I traded out, unintentionally, with another drunken thru-hiker at Trail Days for the four-LED Petzl model (what's that one called?  I forget).  I think everyone lost their headlamps that weekend--all twenty outfitters in Damascus were sold out of headlamps.  Pretty funny.

Anyway, sorry for rambling on about gear.  The thru-hike was, obviously, amazing--Katahdin was beyond words--my life has been changed, mainly by the addition of a trail and life partner, whom I met, oddly enough, at Partnership Shelter, and who successfully turned my six-month thru-hike into an eight-month thru.  I did better, though--I doubled his four-monther.  :)

I don't know if anyone's been reading my trail journal--it still has some gaps, but I've been doing better at keeping it updated lately, and I still have Maine to transcribe.  I've just successfully posted two rolls of film, so, not to toot my own horn, but go take a look.  (I did the disposable camera and Walmart CD method and was very happy with it, despite my occasional wish to be able to take random pictures digitally that I could later delete.)  I'd also welcome, privately, any criticism on the journal.  My trail partner, County, and I are seriously thinking PCT next year, and I want to be equipped for better journal-writing.  Or publicly, I suppose, if you think it'll help others, and I don't mind constructive criticism.  (Jan, I'm talking to you...)

Speaking of Jan, I met her coming into Erwin, which was a wonderful surprise, and saw her and Stumpknocker again at Trail Days.  I'm not sure I ran into any other listers--Hoplite passed me, I think, at Rainbow Springs and never looked back.  Anyway, I'll shut up now.  But I'm happy to be back, if not happy to be done.  County's trying to talk me into a winter thru-hike of the Long Trail...  We'll see.  But I miss the trail already.  Of course.  I missed it on the way down Katahdin.  But it's great to be within an online hiker community, at least.

I'd love to get to the PA Ruck, if time and funds permit--does anyone go down from Maine or the Northeast?  Or is there a Maine Ruck?  In the meantime, email will have to suffice.

Thanks again, everyone--
Marzipan (nee Melissa Jenks)