A Long-Awaited Return to Katahdin

I still vividly remember the first time I summited Katahdin, at the age of seven. My parents had hauled me to the summit to sacrifice me to the gods. Now, I know what you’re thinking. “How could a parent sacrifice their child in this day and age?” Well, you see, the new iPhone had come out and in order to afford it they would need an unprecedented crop yield and this could only happen if the gods were on their side. It’s a lot more understandable when you know all the facts; I still don’t hold it against them to this day.

Obviously, they were unsuccessful as I’m still here writing this post. Somehow I managed to wiggle free before they could do the deed and ran off to live in the wilderness. After a few weeks of scraping by I was taken in by a family of bears that raised me as one of their own. Throughout my youth, or cub-hood as we bears refer to it as, they taught me all the necessary skills for survival that I now hope will translate to a successful thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail.

While that might not all be entirely accurate, it’s far more interesting than the actual story – dirty dude in his early 20s doesn’t know what to do with his life so he decides to run off to play in the woods for a few months. When adult responsibilities come knocking he quite literally runs for the hills. Not nearly as entertaining but that’s where we’re at.

The past few months have been filled with all sorts of logistics planning and efforts to trim the last few ounces off my pack, and it’s all seemed far off until recently. I fly to Bangor on Aug. 7 and it’s all downhill from there (except for the bits that are uphill).

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Comments 2

  • Emma Rosenfield : Jun 25th

    Love your post! Cheered me up, actually. I’ll be starting SOBO July 7, so I’m sure we’ll overlap! Look forward to meeting you 🙂

    Reply
  • Hannah : Aug 20th

    Nice use of a semi-colon! Color me impressed.

    Reply

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