End of Trail, Thanks AT!!!

L to R: Fancy Pants, Hawk, Jukebox and Jackrabbit,

Front: Big Hungry and Me!

July 2014, End of Trail

Leaving Monson, ME to enter the 100 mile wilderness, we ran into a high creek due to the hurricane dumping a good amount of rain. It was about 3 o'clock already and some section hikers needed some help drinking wine, so I decided to wait out the high water and help them with the excess of wine. The next morning the water had dropped about 6 inches and was much safer for crossing. The rest of the 100 mile wilderness was great, mostly flat. It wasn't much of a wilderness too, plenty of hikers and roads and tree cutting commotion going on. The only thing that was wilderness about it was the lack of bridges over creeks and rivers. (There was a random metal staircase going up a small hill. There were a few of us that stopped and took pictures, like what the heck is this doing here? It was completely out of place and not necessary. It did create lots of laughs and talk for the night though.) Exiting the 100 mile area, there was a restaurant where I reconnaissanced my plans for the last 12 miles of the trail which was also no dogs allowed.
Now I don't care what people think about this one, and most, if not all, people agreed with me. I walked 2000+ miles with my dog and they are trying to tell me I can't do the last 12 without her. That's a bunch of bullhonkey. I decided I am not doing it without her. It's either to the top with her or I'm not gonna do it. So we embarked on 7 relatively easy and not too worrisome miles in terms of running into a ranger. Then, I had to check in at the bottom of the mountain so I tied her up in the woods, checked in, then went back for her and tossed her in my pack. Once we got a bit up the hill I had some reports of no rangers ahead, so I took her out and it was smooth sailing from there. Going up I kept looking at Big Hungry and realized how much I needed her this trip. I was getting a little emotional thinking of how great of a dog she is and how she fills a hole in my life. I love Big Hungry!!!
When we got to the top, the weather was great and I had a victory beer in celebration. All in all this hike was great, the medication I needed, I would like to say. The people were great as usual and I couldn't have had a better time. On to the next journey from here. Thanks for everything AT!!!