2022 Appalachian Trail Thru-hike

20

Jul

2022

Day 125 the last day

I hiked 18.6 miles today. Let’s go ?, I finally got it done. I finally summited Katahdin after hiking 2,194 miles it seems unreal that I did it. When I got to the top of Katahdin, there were a lot of other people there, but I just kinda stood there looking at the sign almost in disbelief. I had a lot of fun going up Katahdin even though it was the closest thing to rock climbing on trail in my opinion. I started at 3am this morning and got to the base of Katahdin at 8:30 then started up at 9:45 and got to the top at 12:15 and got down by 3:15. If my math is correct that’s five and a half hours which the ranger at the bottom told me it takes most thru hikers about 7 hours to go up and down. It was 4.4 miles coming down Katahdin then I walk 2 more miles to go get my pack which I had kept at the bottom of the mountain. I also had told Judah and Eaton the wrong address so I had to hike another 5 miles to get to them so my day turned into a 30 mile day, oh yeah a 50 mile day followed by a 30 mile day that’s how it’s done. But now I am done so it doesn’t matter how tired I am which I am feeling surprisingly half decent. Disclaimer: having lived only a little over 4 months from being born March 18th at 1pm to my passing away?? on July 20th at 12:15pm I have not learned much on the art of writing wills so this is the best I can do. This is the last will and testament of Mixed Up I, with the power given to me by no one, hereby will dump all my stinky belongings though few onto Carson Moser and to him will I give all my gear to carry as a burden as I did for so long a journey and distance. To Carson Moser I also deem it necessary to bestow upon him all my memories the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly, the struggles and the joys. The good, joyous times I had he will remember as his own memory the hard. miserable times I had he will remember also. To him I give all my pain, sorrow, suffering and after math of such a long arduous journey. However to him also I give all the joyful, glad, fun, and growing experiences along the path I tread. All that I learned I give to Carson and hope he uses it for the good and to help others along the way. I Mixed Up have officially declared myself deceased and I hope that in my short life time I may have shone some light and joy to everyone even though it may have been just little bit. It’s been lit and it’s been fun and it’s been literally fun?. But the time has come for the last goodbye so this will be my last post I’m glad I went out with a bang but here we are at the end. So I’m glad I could go on this trip and hope you all enjoyed following along with me and thank you all for your encouragements and prayers I couldn’t have done it without them. But the time has come so peace out, live life to the fullest and have fun. I hope we all are looking forward to tomorrow.

+4

19

Jul

2022

Day 124

I hiked 52.8 miles today. I started hiking at 11:20pm and I got 2 miles done before midnight so technically I only hiked 50.8 miles today. I got my 50 mile day in though it was a long day it took me 21 hours on the dot. I started out hiking in the rain so that fun to do in the dark. I got another little side goal done too I took 102,356 steps in one day I wanted to get over 100,000 steps in one day and I did it. I can’t believe tonight is my last night on trail most likely it’s insane that I’m one day away from being done. I’m planning on summiting tomorrow and getting done. I’m 18.6 miles away from being finished. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.

+1

18

Jul

2022

Day 123

I hiked 13.2 miles today. I did a short day today to set up for my fifty mile day tomorrow I’m planning on starting at 11 pm because the shelter I’m planning on going to is 52.8 miles away so I’ll hopefully get close to 2.8 done by midnight. It’s supposed to rain all night tonight so that’s gonna be fun hiking in the dark and rain. Not even a mile after I started hiking this morning I had to walk through another river but I was okay with that hopefully it’s the last one. I saw Katahdin today off in the distance it’s now 71.4 miles away and the finish line is in sight. Today is the 4 month marker for me I think it’s been to long but now I’m almost done. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.

17

Jul

2022

Day 122

I hiked 29.9 miles today. I slackpacked today so I’m back at Shaws hostel tonight. I passed 2,100 miles today that’s the last hundred mile marker I’ll pass. I have less than 100 miles to go it’s kind of insane to think about how close I am. For the first and most likely last time I hiked south today just because that’s how this hostel does it. I got a large meat lovers pizza tonight when I got back it was just what I needed and maybe some fruit but the gas station didn’t have any?. I saw a beaver today I was walking down the trail and I had just passed a pond when I saw a beaver chewing on a tree so I made some noise to get it to move but it just stopped chewing for a little bit and started again so I shook a tree near me and said something then took a step closer and it stopped chewing and saw me and started running straight at me I didn’t know what to do so I just stepped out of the way and it when right passed me and went straight into the pond. Scariest moment on trail I almost got attacked by a beaver but with some evasive maneuvers I survived?. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.

+4

16

Jul

2022

Day 121

I hiked 9 miles today. I wasn’t planning on doing a short day today but then I hiked to a town and there’s a hostel here called Shaws hiker hostel and I decided to stop for the day. It was super nice cause I got here at 9:30 so I had most the day to kinda walk around town, rest, eat and recover a little bit. Right when I got here I got two grilled cheese sandwiches then about two hours later I got a Reuben sandwich and now about an hour ago I had a cheeseburger and they were all very good I also had four bananas, lemonade, orange juice, and a soda. I’m gonna slackpack tomorrow then a short day the next day then on Tuesday I’m gonna try to do fifty miles just to get that goal checked off then the next day I plan to summit Katahdin. I’m super stoked that the end is so near I’ll just be happy to be home and not always thinking about how far I’m going to go the next day. I know I need to focus on right now and enjoy these moments it’s just hard to when the end is so close. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.

15

Jul

2022

Day 120

I hiked 31.7 miles today. Today was interesting to say the least. Right after I left the shelter I came to a creek where I had to take off my shoes and wade across it. I then came to the Kennebec river which is some 400 feet wide so your not allowed to ford it also because there’s a dam nearby so the water level constantly changes I guess. So there is a guy with a canoe that ferries or canoes hikers across its the easiest 400 feet on trail?. Later I had to take off my shoes two more times at different places and one of them was practically a deep bog that came up past my knees at one point that was kinda frustrating because it slowed me down and I was already gonna get into camp late so I didn’t get here until it was almost to dark to see. But I made it through all that with Gods help, I had to quote Bible verses just to stay calm I’m not sure what it is but I get super emotional about the littlest things right now like having to take my shoes off and walk through water. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.

+4

14

Jul

2022

Day 119

I hiked 13.5 miles today. First day back on trail was kinda dreary. It started out fine but after a couple miles it started raining then rained the rest of the hike. Taking five zeros at the beach with my fam and cousins was so nice and refreshing. I did a short day today to ease back into it and hopefully I’ll be back to normal tomorrow. I felt very slow and kinda crappy at the very beginning of today but then I started feeling surprisingly good. I’m hoping to do some big miles here the next week or so and get this done. I hiked past a couple lakes today and one of them had a cool little sandy beach with a lot of people there and most those people are at the shelter with me tonight. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.

+1

8

Jul

2022

Day 113

I hiked 19.5 miles today. Not much happened today while I was hiking I saw two snakes and I hiked beside a lake that looked really nice and I was tempted to go swimming again. I was slackpacking again today and I am now on my way home with mom and my two youngest sisters. Tomorrow I’m going to beach with my family for multiple days then I’ll get back on trail and finish it up. I have a little less than 170 miles to go. My body is ready and needs rest and recovery so this vacation will be good for me. I probably won’t post on here for the next couple days as I will view them all as zero days off trail so just a heads up. I’ll probably try to get back on trail by Thursday so I’ll start posting again then. I’m definitely looking forward to tomorrow.

+2

7

Jul

2022

Day 112

I hiked 32.2 miles today. Mom and my two youngest sisters came up this morning so I slackpacked today and I’ll do that again tomorrow. It was a tough day today I had three different big climbs that were all pretty steep. But I still managed to finish it in 12 and a half hours. I passed the 2,000 mile marker nearer the end of the day today, oh yeah. That means I have less than 200 miles to go. These mountains got nothin on me. However that was not the most exciting part of the day. About 1.5 miles from where mom was going to pick me up I was hiking along with my head down looking at the ground making sure I don’t trip over anything then I looked up and 50 yards in front of me standing in the middle of the trail was a moose as soon as it saw me it went crashing into the woods sounding as if it was tearing down trees as it went. But right when I had seen it I stopped in my tracks and my jaw dropped a little bit I had been looking forward to seeing a moose for a while and now I’ve seen one, yes let’s go. It did have small antlers but they weren’t very big but the moose looked really big it was really cool. The only downside is that I didn’t get a picture of the moose? but it was still super cool to see. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.

+4

6

Jul

2022

Day 111

I hiked 26.4 miles today. The day started out rainy and foggy but then slowly turned into a nice day. It feels good getting this many miles done in a day it’s tiring but nice. I passed a couple different lakes and ponds today I was so tempted to go into the one it had a sand beach and the water looked nice but I decided to move on. It’s just now starting to dawn on me that I’m actually getting kinda close. Tonight I’m staying at a cool little hostel that’s close to the trail it’s called the hiker hut and that pretty much what it is but it’s super cool. The owner of the place heated up a pasta dinner and gave me some bread and butter and also a cookie and Gatorade. I’m not going to complain about that. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.