Success!

Hello everyone!
 It has been one week since Eats and I summited Katahdin!  We climbed the mountain on a foggy, windy, cold day, but we had a great time and finished our hike with some of our friends who we have known since the beginning of the trail.  It was an exciting and thrilling day but also sad as it was somewhat of a reality check that we were in fact coming to the end of our hike. Here are a few summit photos from Thursday:

Both our families were in Baxter to celebrate the end of our journey.  They had planned to hike Katahdin with us, but due to the weather they decided not to which was a good decision because it was a slippery and steep climb.  Both the night before we summited and the next evening we had a big celebration with all the thru-hikers who were at the base of Katahdin.  Here we are with some of our friends the day after we summited:

Brazil Nut, Eats, Jetpack, Twigg, Prescott, & Tigger in front

Well I couldn't just stop hiking abruptly, and my sister Courtney wanted to do some hiking while we were in Baxter, so the next day I decided to summit again with her and my trail friend Brazil Nut.  The weather was much better, and although we did not have views from the top, we had beautiful views most of the way up and again going down.

Courtney and I on Katahdin the next day

Jetpack, Courtney, and Brazil Nut and descending the Hunt

So my family and Eats stayed in Baxter State Park for a few extra days which was a great way to start re-entry into the real world.  We stayed in a cabin at beautiful Kidney Pond near Katahdin, and enjoyed our time canoeing, kayaking, going on short hikes, swimming, star gazing at night and eating lots of food.   It was the perfect way to end our hike.
We last blogged in Monson, Maine at the beginning of the 100 mile wilderness.  I enjoyed the wilderness- it was as beautiful as the rest of Maine had been.  Despite a few nights of pouring rain, the terrain was surprisingly good and I met up with Eats a few days in and we hiked the last four days together.  One of my favorite spots in the Wilderness was a place called Rainbow ledges, about 20 miles from Katahdin.  We got there in the evening, and as we were hiking up we found a HUGE volume of blueberries around the trail and spent an hour just picking and eating them.  But at the top of Rainbow ledges was my favorite view we had approaching Katahdin.  Here are Eats and I enjoying the it:

So now I have been home for four days, and it hasn't really hit yet that the trail is over.  For the first few days it just felt like I was zeroing at a hostel and giving my body a break.  I know that soon it will sink in, as I start to miss people, and the trail and the peaceful simplicity of the woods.

 Thank you to everyone who read our blog and supported us along the way, it was the most incredible journey!!

  Happy Trails, 

Jetpack