Getting closer
As I lie in my tent tonight, I can’t help but think about how I’ll feel when I reach the top of Katahdin and have my photo taken at the iconic sign. Lately I think about that moment often. We all do it. We are already estimating the day when it will happen. What will the weather be like? We are hoping for a perfectly sunny day, neither too hot nor too windy.
Our little trash group of hikers is less than 250 miles from “Momma K”; 249.6 to be exact. You could say we’re still a long way away, but it’s about two and a half weeks of walking… very close, actually.
We talk about what we’ll do when we’re done. The young people on our team will return to their jobs or to university. My friend, Wind Walker, is about my age and retired from his business before hitting the road. I retired at the beginning of January. We are both at a transition point in our lives and hope to have more time to do what we want. I’m hiking in flip flops, which means that after I reach the top of Katahdin, I’ll still have 1020 miles to hike on the southern half of the AT. It will be hard to get home for just 3-5 days, before hitting the trail again, with the goal of finishing the entire AT by mid-October. I miss my home. I miss my family. I miss my boys (cats). I miss my friends. But I set out to do this whole journey and I will always regret it if I don’t finish it. So I will continue walking to Katahdin and then to Springer (at the south end).
Keep walking! Acorn
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