From the Edge
Alright folks, I’ll be totally honest. The daily journaling has gone by the wayside this past week. So we’re gonna do a more normal style recap for this one. It’s also gonna be a wee bit short because my eyes are ACTIVELY closing as I write this. But I’ll do my best.
Maine is such an interesting state. On the one hand, it’s one of the prettiest on the entire trail. I mean it is truly STUNNING out here. It’s lush and green, with lakes and ponds and rivers and mountains. It’s kind of exactly what I had pictured when I thought in my head of the Appalachian Trail. We’ve swam in lakes, forded streams, rock scrambled, had flat open ground, literally anything you could ask for, Maine has it in abundance. It’s truly wonderful.
And talk about WILD. This is the most “out there” that I’ve felt on the trail since way back in the beginning. No town, no roads, barely any civilization to be found. It’s just you, your thoughts, and miles of woods. It’s kind of nice to be back in something like this, but also somewhat jarring after like 1000 miles of feeling so connected, or at least adjacent to civilization. Don’t get me wrong, you can certainly find civilization, but it all feels much more remote.
Now you may be thinking, “Eitan, Maine sounds great! Why did you call it ‘interesting?’” Well here’s the thing; Maine is great! It really is. BUT. I’m tired. Everyone going north out here is. And the further we go along, the more ready I’m feeling to be at the finish. Am I going to be incredibly sad once this journey is over? Absolutely I am. But at the same time, I find myself looking forward to parts of life off trail. Comfortable beds, daily showers, not having to walk 20 miles a day whether or not I’m feeling good, these are all things that I am incredibly excited for.
So yeah, it’s kind of a bitter sweet feeling to be here. 5 months is a long time. And I’m definitely ready to go home. But I also don’t want to be, in a way? I definitely am still loving it out here, and there is part of me that wishes it could keep going. But I think more of me is just worn out after 5 months, to be completely candid. And that’s ok! Those feelings can both exist at the same time! And I don’t have to choose one to be “right” or “wrong.” They’re both right, because I feel them.
So yeah, that’s where we are. Right now I’m sitting at a hostel, preparing for the last stretch of trail: The Hundred Mile Wilderness. Talk about remote, this section is the single most remote part of the entire trail. We have to have food shuttled in from a hostel cause there’s nowhere else to get it. Starting tomorrow, it’s one straight shot to Katahdin.
And it’s one more week. One week from today we’ll have reached the final summit of our journey. That’s an absolutely surreal feeling, and I’m sure it’s only going to become more so as we get closer and closer to the end. The good news is we only have like 3 more hard days of hiking, and then it’s smooth sailing right to the end. So yeah, that’s where we’re at. This is gonna be my last update before the end, I think. We won’t have basically any service in the next hundred miles, so I don’t think I’ll be able to update again before we summit Katahdin.
This one has been a bit of a strange update for sure. I’m kinda just rambling here at this point. But I am incredibly excited to enjoy these last 100 or so miles. And I am also incredibly excited to go home and rest. I will see you all again next week!
Oh, and don’t worry, here’s some pictures of how pretty Maine is!






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