Therese Marie

The following is an excerpt straight from my journal as Shaaades and I, two run weary North Bounders, trudge through the final Hundred Mile section of the Appalachian Trail before the northern terminus: Mount Katahdin. Follow our hilarious and emotional 6-day trek as we come to grips that our six month journey is finally coming to a close. 

Night Five, September 9th, 8:15pm

DAYS ARE PASSING TOO FAST SO IS TIME, god all of a sudden I am leaving camp at Cooper Brook and hiking too fast. My entire world is collapsing in front of me.

Alright. Maybe I’m being a little dramatic.

Reel it in. Here’s what’s shaking me: Piper and Rocket and Kreature and Landlady and so many others are already on their way home. 

I am grappling with the thoughts of losing all my friends. Sure the Trail will still be here, but these people won’t. There probably will never be another moment in time when we’re all ambling around together. All the dear friends I’ve made, the crazy times, everything will become a memory in just 3 days. 

I knew coming out here I’d have a problem with goodbyes, especially to the casual people I hadn’t become close with. Because that’s it, I’ll probably never see them again.

 

Drink it in, time is fleeting. 

All in all, today was really awesome.

The ground was so flat oh my god it was so flat Shaaades and I were CRUISING. And then we got to Antlers Campground on Jo Mary lake and straight chilled. 

Such a beautiful place. We didn’t get to, but I highly recommend camping there. Plus there’s also a two seater privy (needless to say I really wished Katrice and the bomb squad were here so we could hold hands while pooping)

So around 2pm I got up because we still had 12 miles to hike and we had to go we had to crush miles!

“Oh my god don’t get schedie on me now, Lil Wayne,” Shaaades said as he looked up from his fantasy football news. “There’s a Bears game tomorrow.”

Football. Always football. So I ran off because I can’t hike like a beast and I was getting antsy from sitting so long.

Then we realized that Katahdin is getting closer.

Every time we get a peak of her she’s bigger and bigger. I don’t quite know how to explain how this feels. I’m still ignoring the fact that the hike has an expiration date. 

Around 6pm, we had to stop for dinner.

There was nowhere to stealth camp, we were behind schedule, but more importantly we were so hungry. So we parked our butts right in the middle of the trail next to a creek and slowly picked at our meager rations.

Remember how I said I don’t think I have enough food? I don’t have enough food. I’m not going to starve. But that whole eating-half-of-the-calories-that-you-actually-need means I am getting really really REALLY cranky.

After the lovely streamside dinner, we headed forward to find camp before the shelter in the darkening world.

I took off before Shaaades could clean up his meal. And then somewhere in the middle of it all I just lost my mind. It went off on a tangent of missing people, everyone, every person who had summited, everyone who was about to, everyone I hiked with. I got to feeling so sentimental it was almost unbearable.

I took off hiking fast and eventually crashed into this beautiful lake.

It started lightly raining and in the height of all this emotion, all I could do was laugh. 

I wished you could be here with me watching the quiet world dampen and darken. 

So, now all is well.

The trail always saves me in the end. There’s always something redeeming out here just around the corner. I love that. No matter how difficult of a day or time I’m having, the trail or the friends I have redeem me by the end of the day. I am so fortunate out here.

We’re all cozy in our tents and yeah, we’re hungry (actually like really hungry god we do not have enough food) but the night is warm and quiet and beautiful.

Until the next time,

Fly on!

Lil Wayne.