Well, he did it! Derek scaled Mt. Kahadin, touched the sign, posed for a quick photo or two and then scrambled down as fast, yet as cautiously, as he could over the treacherous outcroppings of slippery rocks. It stormed his whole time on the mountain, with 50 mile per hour wind gusts and sideways rain. He was, he said, genuinely afraid.
My husband hiked the last 100 miles or so of the AT with him, including Mt. Katahdin. Four other people joined them -- Derek's friend Cheeze (from Wisconsin), Lonah (that's loner but with a Maine accent), Halfway ('cause he hiked half the trail last year) and Retro ("cause of his twenty year old hiking equipment). Is Derek happy? Yes, of course. Happy to make it through relatively unscathed. Happy to finish what he'd set out to do, a journey lots of people begin but only an estimated ten percent actually get around to completing.
Now he has to reacquaint himself with walking horizontally over land again instead of over land that slopes, twists and curves precipitously up and down and around again.
The photos were all taken in Maine. Most of them feature Mt. Katahdin but some were taken a few days before Derek reached the summit.
7 comments:
Have I said I think this is one of the coolest things I've heard of, especially your husband joining the hike at the end.
Not something I'd EVER want to do, but very, very cool. You must be proud and relieved!
Thanks, Becky. I'd like a chance to take in the scenery without all that up and down and around the mountains business. It's great exercise and all and he met so many neat people hiking the trail for so different reasons, but I just wouldn't want to take that long a walk.
Derek has hiker's hobble. I guess his leg muscles are so tight he has trouble walking across flat land. It's going to take him some time to readjust, believe it or not.
Wow! This made me tear up, Stella. What a stunningly beautiful memory and what an amazing sense of accomplishment. This is the sort of thing that just gets better with time. Everytime Derek thinks about this journey, it will bring something new to him...and to you.
I hope he takes time to write more about it. Thanks for sharing this journey with us. And those fabulous photos!
Wow, thanks for sharing, Stella. What an amazing experience he'll always have with him. So cool.
Those pics are great- what an amazing journey! I've enjoyed reading about it.
I don't know if anybody is interested, but Derek posted his pictures on the web at the following address.
http://picasaweb.google.com/DerektheRed
There's a lot of them but, even if you give them a cursory glance, you sort of get a feel for the trip he had. He took in great big slice of America, a sprinkling of history and a whole lotta fun.
Wow, wow...on so many levels. Congrats to Derek...and may I say that it speaks volumes that he would want to share that last 100 miles with his father.
Shane wants to do the Camino de Santiago...it runs from France to Galicia, Spain. We lived on the Camino for nearly three years and, seeing them trek along the river, it's hard not to yearn for a pilgrimage of your own.
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