COMPLETED!

Hi readers, Im all done. Im also very sorry I didnt write sooner but its been one of the most hectic weeks of my life. The trip to Mt. Katahdin was incredibly hard. I got sick off of some bad ramen my first night in the wilderness and it slowed me down some. It's not easy to hike when you are throwing up every couple hours. Because of this I got really dehydrated and with the heat we faced in Maine in the 90s which made hiking even 15 feet a challenge. "One step at a time" is what I had to keep telling myself as my stomach perculated draining me of all energy.
However I perservered and after fording several rivers and climbing the last of the rigorous mountains of Maine, Katahdin, the holiest of mountains to all hikers was in my sights. Katahdin, when spoken sounds like a quiet prayer. I could finally see the fruits of my labor in sight as I neared the northern terminus. It felt like nothing else I had ever felt before, like I was living to my full potential or completing some destined task.
I met my dad in Millinocket ME, famous for being where the discovery channel show "American Logger" is taped. Other than that, it is home to the Appalachian Trail Inn and Cafe run by the wonderful Paul and Jamie Renauld. My Dad was generous and loving enough to come complete the journey with me. For the last five miles up the mighty mountain my dad would join the ranks of us smelly, stringy hikers in our glorious quest of completion. From Millinocket we drove (feels like a first) to Baxter State Park and started at the base of Katahdin. To give you some perspective of how hard the mountain was, my father and I started at 7am and finished(total up and down was 10 miles) at 5pm. It was a long day and a hard climb. The most interesting thing about the mountain is that it seems to be a microcosm of the entire trail. It starts out easily enough crossing streams and idling its way under beech, pine and fur trees. The trail further progresses climbing Katahdin Stream Falls and begins a steep ascent with a few technical climbs. Once you make it finally up above tree line, the trail changes from a slantedly horizontal trail to slantedly vertical one where you feel like you are actually climbing a rock wall. Its a hard and steep rock scramble up to the area known as the "tablelands" which is a mesa on top of the mountain filled with more rocks and short grasses. There is one more climb and then the sign is in sight. You can finally see the sign that marks the end of the trail and the end of the journey. A large rock cairn stands next to it for effect. At the end of it all, I ran and kissed that sign at the end of the trail. The weather was beautiful and clear and all around you could see for endless miles of green, lakes, ponds and distant mountains. At the top, people kept asking where I had hiked from and all I could really answer was "you see that horizon, well the end of that." It was an amazing feeling finishing something I had dreamed of doing since I was twelve. And now that everything is said and done, I really feel that I have been changed for the better.

Pics coming soon, signing off,
HULK