Oct 11

Oct 11 The Long Trail + Katahdin 2019

The Long Trail + Katahdin 2019

By 2019, I’d completed 2,100 miles of the Appalachian Trail. With only 90 miles to go, it was time to tackle Katahdin, the final summit. The thought of climbing it scared the bejeezus out of me. I’d heard stories that involved lots of cliff face and not enough rebar. No one told me about the footbridge that was out the forst mile in.

Instead of jumping in on untested legs, I decided to get myself in shape by hiking the Long Trail in Vermont. I figured hiking 275 miles through the Green Mountains might give me a slightly better chance of getting up and down Katahdin in one piece. If I could finish the Long Trail, I figured, I’d have a harder time chickening out of going back to Maine (which had sent me crawling home in pain twice already).

It worked! After completing the Long Trail, I got myself to Abol Bridge two weeks later and pushed through all the resistance and fear and palpitations and terror and got myself up to the top of Katahdin. And, more importantly, back down in one piece.