Total Miles: 2,096.4
Miles This Week: 42.8
Location: Abol Bridge to Mt Katahdin and Monson, ME to Caratunk, ME
The Good: I summitted with my trail family like we’ve been planning for a month. I thought I would be sad like I was when I hit the 2,000-mile mark that wasn’t actually 2,000 miles for me but I wasn’t. Katahdin isn’t the end of my hike but it was the end of my time with this group and what an end it was. There were two quotes at Lake Shore House that really got to me as I was letting my knees rest and preparing for my section alone.
“We may not have it all together but together we have it all.” That describes the Octopus spot on.
There was also a painting of a mountain sunset reflecting off the water that read:
“Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by failure… than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.” – T. Roosevelt
We have bled for the trail. We have laughed until we cried. We’ve cried until we laughed. We were brave enough to try and stubborn enough to succeed. I will love this motley crew for the rest of my life.
The Bad: I’m southbounding my last section that I skipped when I jumped around for my ankle. It has been amazing to get to say goodbye to those behind me that I wouldn’t have seen again. It has also been lonely but it’s a poetic loneliness that I can deal with. I started the trail alone and I’m ending the trail alone. I’m at peace with this. As if mother nature could sense my feelings, it’s been cold and raining ever since I set out alone, but I’m kicking up the pace next week to finally be done. Houston, here I come!
– Cyndi Loppers
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