After a lot of thought, I decided the end of my AT hike would be in Monson, ME, which is about 115 miles south of the northern terminus of the trail. There were a few reasons for this. 1) It has been a very wet season. Hiking in the rain every day is fun for a while, but it starts to get old. Also, the trail in northern Maine is basically one long bog. Playing in mud is a lot of fun, and I definitely got a lot of laughs out of it, but after a while, you get to where you just want to be able to walk on solid ground. 2) The river fords were getting dangerous. 3) I had the opportunity to go to Acadia National Park and play on mountains by the sea! 4 and most importantly) I was done. I had a blast, met some really great people, saw some amazing things, and now I'm just done.
What's next? Heading for a bike ride along A1A (Florida's Atlantic coastal highway) for a couple weeks, then flying out to Denver for a wedding. Oh, and while I'm out there, I might as well hike in the Rocky Mountains, right?
Here's a few pictures to wrap up the AT trip. As promised, a moose picture is included.
