Getting Back On That Grind

We finished the trail… what now?

On October 13, 2024, I took the final of nearly 5 million footsteps on the Appalachian Trail. I spent 6 months and 3 days living in the woods. The forest was calm, serene, quiet, and it was home. The home I had left would never be the same… so what was I to do about it?

First thing’s first.

Crammed on the fully-packed bus to Bangor, Maine.

We had to figure out the cheapest route to get from Mount Katahdin to Ferdinand, Indiana, the town of 2,200 people that I called home. Funny, my hometown has as many people as the A.T. has miles. That’s not a lot of people but man it was a lot of miles! The journey to Indiana was a pretty fun one, I’ll admit. Pepstep’s parents were able to drive us from Baxter State Park to Millinocket, and after a couple more nights in the hostel, we took the bus to Bangor. My parents had booked a rental car in my name for me, but there was a bit of a conundrum when we arrived. The clerk working at the counter asked for a credit card in my name, and since I hadn’t needed it on trail, I didn’t have it. Thankfully, Kaboost was with me.

 “Are you married?” the clerk asked us.

 “Um… no,” Kaboost said, hoping that wouldn’t ruin our plans.

 “Hmm let’s see… domestic partners?” the clerk questioned, hoping to find a loophole as much as we were.

 “What counts?” I asked.

 “Do you live together?”

 “Uhh… in a tent?” Kaboost said, and we all laughed. Thankfully, that was enough proof of our newly decided domestic partnership, and we were on our way to Indiana.

A rare moment of everyone being awake (even Ketchup… although he looks nearly asleep)

Shoved in the backseat were Spark, Ketchup, and Cheeto, and in the trunk of the little car, a Tetris game of giant backpacks. We first drove to the Canadian border to drop off Cheeto, who planned to hike the Long Trail. Then we drove to Albany, where we stayed the night in a hotel. The next morning, we dropped Ketchup and Spark off at the bus stop that would take them to NYC. Sitting there in the parking lot, we blasted Pink Pony Club one last time together. I knew I was going to miss the spark that Spark brought into our lives, and I was going to miss all the off-the-wall and sometimes (rarely) on-the-wall conversations with Ketchup. I felt like crying, but really just wanted to soak in the happiness of that moment singing together.

At the BBQ joint with Dunkaroo, Double D, Kegstand, and one of Dunk’s college friends!

Kaboost and I were alone now, and homeward bound… at least for me. As we drove through Ohio, we realized our route would take us minutes from where Dunkaroo lives, and Kegstand and Double D were there too! We stopped by and had BBQ with them before driving the rest of the way to Indiana.

Home, Sweet Home.

After talking it up all the time on trail, I of course had to take David to Holiday World in Santa Claus, IN!

Kaboost and Starlight were officially David and Kaiyah. It felt weird using government names again after such a long time of using our trail names. Even now, nearly 4 months back into the real world, I catch myself almost calling David “Boosty” or am caught off guard by him calling me Kaiyah instead of Starlight. We’ve spent more time using trail names during our relationship than our real ones, so no wonder it feels so natural!

When David left Indiana, I felt so sad. I knew I had to get a job as soon as possible to at least make a little money for my bills, but all I wanted was to immediately leave and go be with him. We hadn’t figured that part out yet, but I knew I was going to go crazy missing him if I stayed in Indiana for too long. We went from spending 24/7 with each other to being states apart for weeks, and that change made every day feel like a week to me.

Double Arch at Red River Gorge, KY.

Art Museum date in Raleigh, NC.

Christmas festivities in French Lick, IN.

Luckily for us, everything worked out the way it should, as it always has for us so far. He met up with my dad and I in mid-November for a short backpacking trip at Red River Gorge in Kentucky. For Thanksgiving, I took the Greyhound to Raleigh to visit him for 1.5 weeks. I was able to fly back home thanks to his family helping me pay for a flight… I’ll never take the Greyhound again! He came to Indiana for Christmas and spent about a week there before we packed up all my things and drove to Raleigh together. Since then, I’ve been living with his mom, and he’s been living with his dad.

A New State to Call Home.

Sometimes I feel like I miss him even more now that we live so close together but only see each other once or twice a week. We applied for our own place though, so any day now we will have our own place and it’ll have all been worth the wait. It’s finally all coming together, and I couldn’t be happier. Well, maybe we could be happier once the weather is perfect for hiking again…

NYE celebration in downtown Raleigh (there was an acorn drop!!)

Trees, trees, trees, trees, trees

Trees, trees, trees, trees, trees, trees, trees

Trees, trees, trees, trees, trees

– Old Blue Mountain, a haiku by Ketchup & Starlight