Hi Everyone, today is Saturday, August 18. I DID IT, I completed the Appalachian Trail as a Thruhiker, yesterday, Friday, August 17 at 9:30 A.M. I summited Mount Katahdin along with "Metric" and "Sticks" who were a few minutes ahead of me. We were joined shortly by "Gorp", "Hawk", "Peeper", and "Gumpy". We celebrated in grand fashion with yelps  and cheers.  Some day hikers came along behind us and gave us congratulations and watched our celebration.  Also finishing today, (but arrived at the summit after I started my climb down - they were hiking up with family members at a slower pace) were "Teflon" and "Sparrow".  It was a grand feeling to finish and words cannot convey the emotions.  However all I could think of on top of the mountain was the scene in the movie of "Forest Gump", when Forest is running in the desert and stops and turns to the crowd behind him and says "I'm tired, I think I'll go home now." - that is  how I felt.  Since my last blog entry on August 9, I will give you the update of events.  I had planned on finishing on August 15, but Denise had August 17 off from work and suggested that I finished on that day.  I thought it was a grand idea.  I was stuck in this weather pattern of rain and pushing off my finish date by 2 days allowed me to take an extra zero day in Monson and sit out day 2 of 3 days of rain.  Plus it would allow me to slow down and take 5 days to go through the 100 mile wilderness instead of 4 days and give me a chance to enjoy the hike through the wilderness rather than just hiking to finish.  I am glad I took the extra couple of days because it gave me added rest before I started the 100 mile wilderness section, and I had a wonderful experience of enjoying the last section.  I left Monson and hiked a short 15 miles and held up before I had to go over the 1st of my last 2 mountains (Chairback Mt). The day was muggy and I was soaked from sweat. I started bumping into the last of south bounders and a lot of flip-flopper's (flip flopper's are north bound thruhikers who decided to get off the trail and fly north to Katahdin and start the hike south). On day 2 it rained and going over Chairback Mt was a very slow hike because it wet and slippery (only fell twice).  The next 3 days were a mix of extreme mugginess and rain.  Needless to say that I, and all of the other hikers, developed an extreme case of "hiker funk" (foul body odor).  I tried to bathe in ponds and streams every night but my cloths and gear were constantly wet and smelled as bad or worse than my body.  On my 5th day in the 100 mile wilderness, I bumped into "sharky" who was heading southbound.  I last saw "sharky" in Gorham, NH - he completed his northbound thruhike 5 days earlier and was now heading south to complete a southbound thruhike (this is called yo-yo).  I was getting a lot of congratulations from flip-flopper's and section hikers.  Although this felt good, I was cautious and getting a little superstitious that a premature acknowledgement of completion of the trail would cause me some reason not to finish.  I began to walk more slowly and navigate every step through rocks, roots, and mud with caution so that I would not break a leg or ankle, or cause some other injury that would keep me from finishing.  The last night on the trail at the Birches shelter (reserved just for thruhikers) we were all sharing the same feeling that we are all so close and feeling paranoid that some injury would keep us from finishing.  After the 100 mile wilderness I came out to the Golden Road at Abol Bridge on the Penobscot River at the Abol Bridge Convenience Store and Campground.  This is just outside of Baxter State Park. This is the unofficial marshaling area before thruhikers make the last 10 mile hike into Baxter State Park.  We stop here to resupply, and for most, spend the night and hike the 10 miles into the park, then once in the park start up Mt Katahdin the following morning.  It took me forever to fall asleep Wednesday night because I was so excited to get to this point and couldn't stop thinking of my last 10 mile hike into Baxter and then the 5 mile hike up Mt. Katahdin.  At 6:30 A.M. on Thursday morning "Teflon", "Sparrow", and I were waiting at the Abol Store to open at 7:00 so we could get a hot breakfast.  It started to rain (down pour with thunder and lightning).  We sat under a canopy at picnic tables for a couple of hours eating breakfast and having coffee when "Metric " and "Sticks" arrived, followed by "Hawk", "Peeper", and "Gumpy".  By 10:30 the electrical storm had stopped and the rain slowed from a heavy down pour to a steady rain.  I had itchy feet, and knew I'd be wet no matter what, so I decided to hike out to the Birches.  I was soaked, and the trail was full of water in sections.  It was a grand last ten mile hike (even with the rain). I followed the Penobscot River for 4-5 miles and the trail was flat and no roots and rocks to navigate.  Eventually the trail became muddy, rocky, rooted, and just one big puddle inches deep.  I slowed down so that I would not injure myself.  I arrived at the Ranger station by 2:00 P.M. checked in (I am thruhiker #203 to complete) and then went to the Birches Lean-To and settled in for the afternoon and evening.  Everyone else started trickling in.  We all got into dry cloths and proceeded to eat enormous amounts of food that we packed in from the Abol Store (subs, chips, etc), then we all had lunch, we proceed to cook supper (chili, hot dogs, etc).  We sat up until 8:30 remembering the events of the last 5 months and sharing stories.  We had a lot of laughs.  We all went to bed and were up by 5:00 and all on the trail by 6:00-6:30.  I can't tell you how fast we all hiked up that trail.  I completed the first 1.25 miles in 20 minutes and completed the 5 mile hike to the summit in 3 hours.  I went up the Hunt Trail (the AT trail) and came down the Abol Trail.  "Hawk's" father was waiting for him at the base of Abol Trail, and told me that Denise just drove by a few minutes ago on her way to the Katahdin Stream Campsite, and he gave me a ride so I didn't have to walk the 2 miles down the road to meet up with Denise.  I was so Happy to see my lovely wife.  We celebrated our reunion, had lunch, shared lunch with another (flip flop) hiker, I took a bath in the brook, changed into street cloths and we started the 5 hour trip home.  I am so grateful to everyone who supported me in this little adventure.  I am especially grateful to all of the trail angels who gave me soda, food, rest, rides, shelter.  I am grateful to my extended family who along the way came out to pick me up and host me at their homes and camps.  And most of all I am grateful to my lovely wife Denise who encouraged me to take advantage of this window of opportunity in my life to continue on with a thruhike; her coordinating of getting me new and replacement gear, her managing the home front alone and doing all of my chores, enduring my absence, her words of support and encouragement when I was emotionally spent, her rescuing me in Andover and nursing me back to health when I was sick.  I could not have done this without her.  I love you Denise -
Thank you so much.  I hope all of you have enjoyed following this adventure.  I will post the last of pictures in the next couple of days.  I will have to delete some old pictures to make room for new pictures. 

Hi everyone. Today is Thursday, August 9. I made it to Monson, Maine yesterday.  Monson is the last town before Baxter State Park and the beginning of the 100 mile wilderness. I am taking a zero day today and will resupply and head out tomorrow (in the rain) and begin the 5 day hike across the 100 mile wilderness.  I will arrive at the entrance of Baxter State Park and on day 6 hike the 9 miles to the Birches Camp site and then on day 7 will hike the 5 miles up Mt. Katahdin and complete the thruhike and hike the 5 miles back down and be done.  I could finish on the 15th but Denise will be picking me up on the 17th, so I am slowing down for the 17th.  It will be nice to have a steady pace and not rush.  Although I, like everyone else, am ready to be done.  I cannot thank Denise enough for driving the 2 hours up and 2 hours back to Kennebunk to come get me when I was sick - taking care of me and nursing me back to health - and then driving me all the way back to Andover.  She is my saving grace on this hike, (never mind everything else she has done for me). Since I have been back on the trail I have been feeling much better.  About 3/4 of the hikers have come down with this virus, and it was so bad that the Maine Board of Health was out in Andover taking samples to isolate the strain of virus.  This section of trail from Andover, ME to Monson, ME has been magnificent.  I hiked from Andover to Oquossic and was picked up by Denise's sister Celine and her husband Dale (they were vacationing on Mooselookmeguntock lake) and they brought me to the camp cleaned me up and fed me.  We had a wonderful evening.  The next day I hiked over to Rangely and hitched a ride in and did laundry ( one set of cloths soaked from rain the day before, and second set of cloths soaked from sweat).  It has been hot and muggy and the cloths get pretty rank with sweat and don't dry out in the evening.  I then hiked to Caratunk and was picked up by my sister in law Cathy's sister Ellen and her husband Ron and they brought me to their camp on Moxie Lake and they cleaned me up and fed me.  What a great spot they have - it is like a slice of heaven.  I got to look across the lake at he next day's hike over Pleasant and Moxie Mountains.  The hike from Rangely to Caratunk was the most magnificent of the whole trail for me.  This section has the reputation for being very difficult and discouraging to thruhikers.  This range includes Saddleback Mt, Crocker and Sugerloaf Mt's, and The Bigelow Mt's with East and West Avery Mt's.  Even though it was hot and muggy those 3 days, the breeze on the mountain tops kept me cool.  It was some of the most exciting climbs and views on the whole trail.  And, I did not find these climbs tough at all. I only have 2 mountains to climb, one about 2000 feet and one about 3500 feet.  The rest is flat terrain and rocky, roots, and muddy.  Today I am taking a zero day to re-supply and rest (I will miss a day of rain).  Friday and Saturday I will be hiking in rain.  For the most part I have been lucky and have not had much rain at all for 2 months.  I won't be able to update until I finish.  I hope that later today I will be able to upload a bunch of pictures - if not I will do so when I am finished some time after the 17th of August.

I've added some more pictures.  I ran out of space on Picassa so I need to clean out some old pictures so I can add another 50 pictures.  Probably will not happen until I finish the hike.

Hi everyone. Today is Tuesday, July 31.  I have struggled with this violent illness for the past few days.  I was up all night  Saturday sick - took a turn for the worst.  Denise made the 2 hour drive and came up to Andover Sunday morning and picked me up and brought me home so I could recover.  It is now Tuesday and I am feeling better and will go back to the trail tomorrow morning, Wednesday, August 1.  I am a little discouraged because I was making good time and thought I'd be done by the 10th; and people I've been hiking with are finishing up this week and next.  I am just grateful that my trip is not at an end and that I am able to go back to the trail and continue on. I have only about 250 miles left, and will complete the trail by the date I had originally planned on finishing - August 15.  I will put in Andover, re-supply in Stratton, maybe stop in Caratunk, and re-supply in Monson before I enter the 100 mile wilderness, and then Mt. Katahdin.

Hi everyone, today is Friday, July 27. Last week I got caught in the Gorham NH, vortex.  I ended up spending 5 zero days there.  I got off the trail a week ago Tuesday and zeroed on Wednesday.  On Thursday I went pack to Pinkham Notch and hiked forward to Gorham NH.  I thought this would take 2 days but I was able to complete this difficult section in one day.  Since the next section between Gorham NH and Grafton Notch in Maine is 31 miles and one of the most difficult and slow sections on the trail I couldn't hike forward or slack pack in one day (Friday) so I took another zero day.  I stayed in Gorham because Denise came up for Saturday and Sunday and we had a nice weekend together. I left Gorham NH on Monday morning and held up after only 17 miles because of looming thunderstorms.  I was in the shelter on top of Mt Success that night and a wild thunderstorm came through, and it rained all night.  The next day, Tuesday, I climb down into to Mahousic Notch.  This is considered the most difficult mile on the trail.  It was, It took me 2 hours to climb over,. around, under, and between these boulders.  What made it even more difficult was that everything was wet and I fell 14 times.  It was a slow laborious day and I only completed 10 miles. Wednesday and Thursday were better hiking days but I had not been feeling all that well.  There is a virus that has been hitting both southbound and northbound hikers between Gorham NH and Andover ME.  On Thursday about noon I jumped off the trail in Andover, ME because I had not been feeling great, the weather was lousy, I needed a shower, and needed to do laundry.  This morning, Friday, at about 3:30 I woke up ill and have been making multiple runs to the bathroom. I got the virus and feel miserable and keep vomiting, etc.  I am a little discouraged, because I keep seeing people who I passed in New York going by  me.  I feel like I'm falling behind.  It is now 6:30 and I am feeling a little better and have been able to eat Ritz crackers and drink Gatorade, and so far  so good I can keep it all down. Hopefully, in the morning I feel better and have enough energy to hike out.  It is suppose to rain Saturday and Sunday, but I need to get going and hike on.  Hopefully I can get out tomorrow and hike into Rangely for Sunday and meet up with Dale and Celine (who are spending the week there).

Hello everyone. Today is Tuesday, July 18.  I am taking a zero day in Gorham, NH.  I climbed over Mt. Moosilauke, through Kinsaman Notch, and over the 2 Kinsman peaks (very difficult climb over the Kinsman's).  This was one of the best days on the trail because when I summited Moosilauke, it was the most awesome view and reminded me of just how spectacular the White Mountains truly are.  That climb reinvigorated me for the trek across the White's and gave me a huge psychological boost.  The weather has been consistently hot in the high 80"s and low 90's and muggy (sometimes it is breezy to cool things down a bit) thus making the hiking a little more difficult.  I had planned on only hiking 10-12 miles a day through New Hampshire, but have done some big mile days including a couple of 20 plus mile days.  From Crawford Notch to Pinkham Notch was a blast and a glorious trek across Mt's, Lafayette and Garfield.  It was sunny that day and I could see forever.  In the White Mountains the Appalachian Mountain Club owns and operates a system of Huts that is like a hotel system for hikers spread out through the mountain range.  Thruhikers may stay and sleep and eat for free in exchange for a little work (give a talk, wash dishes, etc).  I have stayed at two of the Huts ( Zealand Falls Hut and Mitzpah Hut).  It was fantastic, they fed use huge amounts of food including a turkey dinner one night, pasta dinner the next night, and eggs-sausage -pancakes-coffee-juice for breakfast. On Monday, July 16 I crossed over Mt Washington, Mt Jefferson, Mt Adams, and Mt Madison.  It was cloudy all morning, but the clouds kept breaking so I had some fantastic views climbing up Mt Washington. After lunch I headed across the rest of the range and had the most difficult stretch of hiking on the whole trail so far.  After climbing over Mt Jefferson I was on the western side of Mt Adams and a rain storm with 30 plus mile per hour winds came in and  beat me up all afternoon.  The mountain is nothing but a huge rock pile, and each step is from rock to rock, and hop to hop from boulder to boulder.  This becomes extremely taxing when the rocks are wet and slippery and the wind is pushing you in a different direction than you want to go.  Basically I got the SNOT KICKED OUT OF ME. I was never so happy to be done with a day of hiking and I was so sore from my toes to my hips that I couldn't fall asleep until after 1:00 AM that night because of the constant throbbing pain in my lower body.  However, I wouldn't change the challenge of that hike because it was a real test. I actually want to go back and hike that section in the opposite direction on a non windy, sunny, and  cool fall day.  Yesterday morning the group of us that had been hiking together since Crawford Notch (Scout, Doc Dave (from South Berwick), Switchback and SID (stands for Stuck In Drive)) all decided that we needed to get off the trail and recover from crossing over Mt's Adams and Madison.  So after a 2 hour hike out to Pinkham Notch we had breakfast and waited for our shuttle to come pick us up and bring us to the Hostel in Gorham NH.  Wise choice for all of us, because yesterday was filled with heavy rainstorm and severe thunderstorms.  Lightning, exposed mountain ridges, and hikers with metal hiking poles just don't mix well.  The rest of the group have taken off this morning to continue on and hike the next 21 miles across the Wildcat Mountains.  I have chosen to zero today.  Gorham NH is 21 miles from Pinkam Notch by road.  North of Pinkham notch, the AT goes right through Gorham, so hikers can jump off the trail in a couple of spots and come into Gorham on either side of Wildcat Mt.  The group of hikers that I have been hiking with for most of the trail are a day ahead of me and zeroed in Gorham today because of the weather, so we all got together last night for supper.  It was a blast and there were a dozen of us "hiker trash" thruhikers having dinner at Mr. Pizza (nice restaurant in Gorham) toasting our accomplishments and swapping stories (this is probably the last time I'll see mouse and dutchman unless I can catch up with them).  After I finish my hike Friday, July 20, I will only have 298 miles to the summit of Mt. Katahdin.  I will be in Maine next week.  At this rate I will complete the trail sometime between August 10 and August 15, God willing and the Creek Don't Rise, barring injury, illness, weather, or any other unforeseen event.  I am at a computer that has limited band width and can't upload pictures.  I will try to get to a library by this weekend and upload recent  pictures.

Today is Wednesday, July 11.  Well since I took a zero day in Manchester Vermont I have felt much better.  The aches and pains are gone, I think mostly as a result of a new pair of shoes that Denise brought to me in Norwich, VT.  The replacement shoes I had did not give me the proper fit and support and was the cause of my aches and pains. When I left Manchester it took me another 4 days to get to Norwich.  I was a day short of hiking into Hanover, NH.  Denise came up to Norwich for the weekend and I was picked up 23 miles short of Hanover on Friday.  From Friday afternoon through Sunday morning I visited with the lovely Denise, her sister Celine and husband Dale, and the baking queen Sarah who is at King Arthur Flour for her CIA internship.  We had a fantastic time visiting, sightseeing, and dinning.  On Sunday, Denise drove me back to the point on the trail that I exited on Friday.  From there I slacked packed the 23 miles back into Hanover, NH.  I have completed Vermont and am now at mile 1785 in Glencliff, NH; only 399 miles to go. Today, I took a Nero and am eating, eating, and eating and getting some rest before I start the big climbs in the White Mountains.  Tomorrow, I will climb Mt. Moosilauke and go through Kinsman Notch, and come out at Franconia Notch.  I will resupply and head for Mt Lafayette (second highest to Washington).  I will be taking my time through New Hampshire.  It will be in the 90"s the next couple of days so the climbing will be slow.  I'm talking with a couple who just came in from slack packing and I'm getting the low down on how to slack pack through the White's as much as I can.  Hope I can make it work.