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.
September 8, 8:25pm
I AM A NEW WOMAN!
I have been rejuvenated and brought back to LIFE everything is AMAZING the world is my OYSTER and WE ARE GONNA MAKE IT!
Why?
Because the sun is shining and we saw Katahdin today.
We made it up White Cap easily – I have Shaaades to thank for that, actually. We talked about Breaking Bad and books and he even humored me as I ranted about how I don’t like the Harry Potter series. So those 5 miles flew by.
And we got to the top and the sun was shining and Shaaades immediately dumped his entire bag out and got to drying everything.
Then we found out Karim Hunt CRUSHED it this week and scored 40 points for every fantasy player who played him KARIM GET THE MONEYYY.
The sight of Shaaades, Blueberry and I atop White Cap was one of happiness, solace, and rebirth. We all felt anew, fresh, dry, content.
And right around the corner, as we walked down, lay the mother of all mountains: Katahdin.
Man this picture doesn’t even do it justice. When we first got up we wondered where she was. “Man I can’t ever tell,” Blueberry said. He’s got a point, because everything looks the same after awhile. But when you turn that corner and see Kathadin, there is no doubt in your mind. “Oh, THAT’S Kathadin!” I said aloud.
For one second the reality of our situation broke through: we’re in the Hundred Mile and we’re almost done.
But then we flew down the mountain because the terrain is finally better and I feel like we actually have a chance. We’re going to make it.
In the last 3 miles I made the big huge terrible mistake of thinking about food. Have I told you how depleted my food bag is? It doesn’t look good for our hero….I’m really thinking I don’t have enough, so I’m starting to ration out the food, but that means I get really hungry at the end of the day.
So these last 3 miles were absolutely torturous (though they were flat) because I was endlessly envisioning:
- Baklava
- Pierogis
- Chicken and cheese enchiladas
- Pasta covered in red sauce
- Chicken and apple sausages
- Ranchero soup
- A Chinese buffet
- Yogurt with honey and walnuts
…it got pretty intense. By the time I fell into camp the first thing I did was make a rom bomb because I couldn’t take it any longer.
On another note my back chafing had gotten completely out of hand. Look at this. This explains why I haven’t been able to sleep and have been yelping in pain when I put my pack on.
Well I should go because a gross array of bugs are beginning to settle on the outside of my tent. Some man said there was a chance of rain tonight, and I’m praying that doesn’t happen because it’s already extremely cold and I need to get some sleep. The cold kills me even though I’ve got a 25 degree bag.
Brrrrrr baby let’s get cozy!
Until tomorrow! Sleep tight, my heart aches with excitement and forlorn.
fly on!
Lil Wayne
Therese Marie 
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