we finished the AT!!! YAY!!!! It was an amazingly beautiful day, and we were accompanied only by our fellow thru-hikers.We exited the 100-mile wilderness the day before, where upon Roxi Roxtar was picked up by a local kennel as she is not allowed in Baxter State Park (we did however bring someone else along to take Roxi's place and assure her some glory atop the mountain!). The rest of the day was spent leisurely hiking 10 more miles to the base of Katahdin past roaring waterfalls and glass-covered ponds. Our last night on the trial west punctuated by a feast of epic proportions consisting of ramen noodles with tomato and cheese sauces as well as veggies... yum! We awoke early on Thursday and started up the trail around seven in the morning. The climb was very steep and involved much hand-over-hand bouldering and rock-hoping. It was however magnificent in scale and color; the leaves are in full bloom in Maine! At 11:05 EST, TrailDogs summited Baxter Peak on Mt. Katahdin, tapped the sign designating the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, and officially became Thru-Hikers!
It has been a dream two years in coming, and after everything that you all have done for us, we have done it: hiked from Georgia to Maine. Its done now; no more walking to do. Tomorrow morning we wake up and start unpacking completely: washing and drying clothing and gear, dividing up what belongs to who, storing gear away for the long term, attempting to reintegrate into regular life...
We'll probably be seeing most of you in the coming weeks. We need to say hi to our families and friends!! We will however be preparing and then hosting a slide show, hopefully with-in two months from now. We will be sure to publicly announce the slide shows, and there should be one near you.
For now, we are done! Huge thanks go out to the families that hosted us, the friends that took care of us, and all that simply followed our journey! We hope to see you all again soon!
~TrailDogs
6 comments:
Congratulations on a geat job. I truly enjoyed your writing and look forward to seeing your slide show. Don't be surprised if I stop in the animal shelter one of these days.
Jasper
So, so cool! Mucho congrats! Look forward to seeing you smelling of soap.
Love,
Mom
Way to go. We are proud to know you. Please come & visit.
Robin, Cam & Isabelle
Vancouver, BC
Canada
Guys,
Just wanted to include some of the comments I received when I let everyone know you made it.
-David; Ranger Doug; Pete's Dad
This is amazing. You proud Dad you. For years one of my dreams had been to do what your son and his friends have done.
He writes well too. The blog entries are both informative and evocative.
When you said you were going hiking with Ben in the White Mountains, I had no idea that it was part of an end-to-end on the Appalachian Trail.
Wow
Christopher Duncan
Amazing...
Bravo!
Rick Spraycar
FANTASTIC!!
Dave and Rae Slingerland
On examination of the photos in the link I noticed that Pete is conspicuously absent, that can mean only one thing: he must be the photographer, opposing thumbs not withstanding.
Pass my congratulations to the weary travelers.
Bill Walsh
Great picture and words - and yes as your friend Art said, it was a dou effort. I hope they will come and talk with the parish about their trip, Gwyneth
thanks!! for sharing...
its been a great blog to follow...
I'm so excited for them to be able to take the time to do something like this in our fast lives...
a lifetime of memories!
see ya later
Marcia
Nice job for every one involved!
Hey Hey, the Cubs are trying to make the playoffs...if they don't blow it.
Sam
You should be proud of Ben! Congratulations!
Tom A.
Hi Ben!
Last evening your dad told me that you made the end of the trail on Thursday. Congratulations on a major accomplishment!!!
Take pride in the fact that you set a big goal, and completed it! Life is a series of goals, and this A/T hike will serve you well in future. I'm also sure that your family and friends are proud of you.
How many pairs of sock, shoes, etc. did you go through on the entire hike? When you get a chance, it would be interesting for your readers to hear some of the details of your hike.
Hope you are refreshed and back to a more normal lifestyle as you read this!
Let me know when you plan to be at Freehold. I'd like to see you.
Congratulations!
Tom
Great job!!
Catman 2006 9-21
From honesdale now Il.
I was wondering where you guys were behind me, and it's damn cool seeing that the both of you finished. I see that Tom Dooley did in fact find a way (even if it's faked!) to get Roxi on Katahdin. Fun times on the trail...
Beatbox
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