Adventure Girl Trail Tales: #18 (Fin)

As I mentioned last week, I started this journal on March 4th. That night, the family gathered at a local restaurant to celebrate Adventure Girl’s ‘take off’. After dinner, we surprised Adventure Girl by moving the party to my brother’s house (Adventure Girl’s house).

Sure, Adventure Girl needed sleep, because she was beginning her 2,100 mile hike in the morning. Still, we wanted to celebrate. We wanted her to know we were behind her 100% (from the comfort of our couch).

My family consists of a crazy bunch of kids adults. We spare no expense when it comes to showing our support for one another. Case in point, when three of my sisters arrived at my brother’s house, they came with hiking gear. My sisters were all packed and ready to join Adventure Girl on her journey. They were going to walk with her – side by side. Well, at least as far as the car.

Clearly, these three sisters of mine are not well versed in camping. Though I could be wrong, I don’t think the extension cord my one sister brought was long enough to make it to Maine. New York, maybe; but  not Maine. However the balloons were a brilliant idea. The weight of the gear seemed light as a feather, thanks to the balloons.

Okay, so it was a good thing Adventure Girl didn’t get her hiking-smarts from her Aunts.

The morning of Adventure Girl’s departure, some family members gathered outside her house and watched her drive off into the darkness of early morning.  She was off. Her journey had begun.

Five months later, Wednesday July 27th, she and her Dad made their climb up Mt. Katahdin. Hiking through the rain, wind and fog, Adventure Girl reached the summit – both the summit of Mt. Katahdin and the summit of her journey.

Yesterday, Adventure Girl took time off from her vacation and wrote a final entry in her trail journal.

“I finished! I summited Katahdin on July 27th. The weather was ehhh not the best, but I did have a few views on the way up. They were awesome! Climbing up all the boulders was a blast. The knees didn’t love it on the way down, but I had such a good time one the way up. It was by far my favorite climb, granted it may have been because it was the end, but I still really enjoyed it. The summit itself was socked in. It was pretty disappointing, but the weather could have been worse. It didn’t start really raining until once my dad and I had already made it to the bottom. I was really thankful for that, because coming down wet rocks is no fun and my boots had seen better days. They don’t have much traction left…

Since finishing the trail I have made my way further north (by car this time) to the beaches of Nova Scotia. It is so nice to just sit and relax on the beach. Today is a rainy day though, so I figured it was a good time to update. Rainy days are so much more enjoyable when you aren’t hiking in them. It’s been great seeing family and catching up with all of them, but not being on the trail and knowing I’m not returning anytime soon is a weird feeling. It still doesn’t feel over. I don’t think it will until I’m sitting in my first class in Athens, GA.

One thing I will miss at school is how fast relationships form on the trail when compared to regular life. When you meet new people on the trail you already have a common bond, the trail. Since this common bond is there when you talk to people for a day or two it feels as though you have known them for weeks maybe even months. Its really weird, but in an awesome sense. Especially because you may know a lot about them and their life, but not their real name. There are a bunch of people that I ran across and got to know who I never learned their real name. I now have no way of getting in touch with them again, yet I knew so much about them.

All in all the trail was a great experience and I am so glad I was able to experience it.”

As I read Adventure Girl’s take on how fast relationships form on the trail, I found myself thinking about how fast relationships form in the blogosphere. Perhaps I could convince Adventure Girl to start her own blog. Something tells me, she would excel at blogging.

Thank you for being a part of Adventure Girl’s journey. I hope the memory of her experience will continue to inspire you. If nothing else, remember life is a journey; enjoy your trail.