I want to wrap up my blogging efforts by thanking the many people who helped with this undertaking. In one of the hiker hostels there was a sign that read "No one hikes the Trail without support." So true. While it is your own legs propelling you forward, you'll never make it without the help of others.

The first people to thank are all the people I hiked and camped with. Even if we only spent one night together, you were part of the experience of a lifetime. I don't want to name names because I would overlook so many great people but I would also be wrong if I didn't thank a few folks by name. First, Mike who got me off to a good start in Georgia and North Carolina. Next, Jogle, whose good humor got me through much of the Deep South. Animal was my steady hiking partner from the Smokies to New Hampshire. I wouldn't have made it without her. Last, Pixie and Holler who caught up to me in Maine when I was tired and bored with the hike. I enjoyed the last days a lot more because of them.

Also deserving of thanks are the many trail angels who make the hike possible. They give food and water to hikers in need, put us up, and give us rides into town when we need it. Some ask for a few dollars but none get rich. I especially want to mention Bob Peoples, the owner of Kincora Hostel in Dennis Cove, TN. For four dollars, hikers get a bunk, kitchen privileges and a ride into town for supplies. When we stayed there, none of us knew how sick his wife was. She passed while I was on trail and because Bob was so well thought of by thru-hikers, the news moved up the trail faster than if it had been emailed. Just a few weeks later, Bob was in Vermont working on trail improvements. The trail wouldn't exist without people like him.

Next, I want to thank the people who supported me through this blog. Whether they sent voice mails, emails, comments, texts or even snacks, they were helped me get up the hills. Four people even came out to meet me. Braz picked me up at the Atlanta airport and hiked the first bit of trail with me. Andrea came all the way from Germany to hike part of Central Virginia with me. And to visit her family. Ken spent a day with me in Shenandoah and Bob dodged birds and copperheads in Pennsylvania with me. Thanks to all of you.

Lastly, I owe my parents all the thanks in the world. Despite the fact that they would much rather I find steady work, they were the best support I could have asked for. They mailed extra supplies, fresh boots and replaced broken equipment so I could keep hiking. They also kept up this blog and encouraged me from Springer to Katahdin. I couldn't have asked for more from them.

I'm staying with my folks now in Colorado while I work on getting employed. I'm applying for Park Service jobs. There are some cool jobs out there. If I don't get one, there is always the Pacific Crest Trail next summer. I'll let you know.

Vegas

Waaaaaaaaay back in one of my first entries I talked about a second grade class I was going to be pen pals with while on trail. After that I didn't write much about them again, but I did follow through and send letters and postcards to the kids. They were wonderful and fun and writing to them gave a sense of purpose to my trip. I wasn't just out for a long walk, I was broadening the kids' horizons. I talked to them about weather, geography, pollution, diet, and exercise but the thing that most caught their attention was my bear encounter in North Carolina. In Maine I got a batch of letters from the class. Several, like Alina said things like "It was funny when the bear ate your food." I'm glad they enjoyed it. Diego and others asked about other animals I had seen. The animals were big with them. Others were taken with my shaved head. Yonna asked me if it grew back. Many of the kids, like Vivianna, were concerned about me. She congratulated me on being almost done but worried because "You have to walk back so you have a long journey ahead of you." Others, like Estefany, worried about the cold weather on the trail. Having lived their lives in Vegas, New England probably sounds terribly cold to them. Ivana was worried that snakes might get my food as well as bears. Gabriela asked if people spoke different languages on the trail and she is right, they did. I met Germans, French-Canadians, Koreans, and one Romanian. All of the kids thanked me for visiting their class and sending them letters. They have moved on to third grade now so my teacher friend is no longer their teacher. I sent her news of my finishing the trail anyway and maybe she will let them know. They are all great kids with real curiosity about the world. They were polite and attentive when I visited and they seemed really interested in what I was doing. Knowing they were paying attention motivated me. I never seriously thought about leaving the trail and one reason is that I was unwilling to tell the second graders that I quit. I wish them all the best.

I don't know if anyone still reads this, but I want to do a few posts to wrap things up and provide some guidance for anybody who is contemplating a thru-hike of their own. Today I am going to do an equipment review.

CLOTHING--I always carried two lightweight T-shirts, a thin long sleeved shirt, a pair of shorts, one pair of boxers and three pair of running socks. Everything was synthetic dri-fit material so it dried relatively quickly. When it was cold, I added a wool hat, thin gloves (actually lightweight ski glove liners), a fleece sweater, and convertible pants. I also swapped out a couple pair of running socks for wool socks. I always had a rain shell (I replaced an LL Bean shell with a Golite. The Golite was much better) and a cotton baseball cap.

If I were doing it over, I would swap the fleece sweater and rain shell for a heavier rain jacket. Two items for one so I could save some weight. I would also spend the money on a dri-fit baseball cap. I could have gotten rid of one of the T-shirts but really...the smell. The thin long sleeved shirt was the best peice of clothing I had. It was a Patagonia Capilene zip-neck. Patagonia calls it a base layer but it was only that sometimes. More often it was a light second layer, and when the temps dropped it was a warm middle layer between a T-shirt and the fleece. It was versatile and durable as could be. It survived the entire hike.

SHOES--Mostly I hiked in North Face Prophecy trail runners. They were light and comfortable. They were not waterproof but they dried quickly. There was no ankle support but that wasn't called for on the well-maintained AT. I got about 800 good miles out of each pair. I had them broken in before the hike started. For New Hampshire and Maine I used a tougher pair of Merrell hiking shoes. They were heavier and I missed my North Face. The Merrell's wound up falling apart even faster than the North Face. The only down side to the North Face was that the laces were skinny, wore through and were tough to replace. Have replacement laces lined up before you leave if you use a similar shoe.

COOKING--I carried an MSR Pocket Rocket camp stove. It came with a titanium pot and I brought one long-handled spoon. It was light, easy to buy fuel for and never gave me any trouble. I saw lots of MSR stoves on the trail. I kept my food in a roll-top waterproof bag. For water purification I used a Katadyn Hiker Pro pump filter and it stunk. It clogged, it broke, it was slow on its best days. On the other hand, every filter I saw did those same things. The chemical purification tablets were lighter and more convenient but I didn't like the idea of putting iodine or chlorine in my body for 5+ months. So I kept the Katadyn filter and I would do it again. I'd gripe about it for the whole hike too.

TENT--Its hard for me to advise on this. Like so much in choosing equipment, you have to compromise between comfort and weight. I had one of the heavier tents I saw, an MSR Zoid II (4 pounds), but I'm 6'2" and don't fit in the ultra-light tents. I was a bad sleeper and felt like the roomy tent helped with that. If I were doing it again though, I would search for something lighter.

SLEEPING GEAR--I loved my Big Agnes bags. The winter bag was a Big Agnes Lost Ranger 15 degree bag. It had a pocket for the sleeping pad to slip into which seemed to make it even warmer. I forget the name of the summer-weight bag I used but it was just a light version of the Lost Ranger. I used a Big Agnes inflatable sleeping pad with both bags. For a backpacking pad it was a little heavy. Again though, I was a poor sleeper and it sure was comfortable. You make compromises.

PACK--This is the only thing I would change drastically. My Osprey Aether 70 was very comfortable but a little on the heavy side. I could have shaved a pound without sacrificing comfort by going with the slightly smaller Osprey Atmos 65. I also liked the Golite brand packs. They looked a little less comfortable, but they were a full three pounds lighter.

MISC.--I carried the Appalachian Trail Companion and it was OK. Still, things change and its worth making a phone call before you rely on a hostel it lists. I also carried maps but some didn't because the AT was so well marked.

I used 98% concentrated DEET for bug repellent. It was good for mosquitoes but worthless for blackflies. In tick country I sprayed Permethrin on my clothes. I swear by that stuff. I was getting ticks every day before I got some. I never had a tick after starting to use it. I'd do a testimonial for them.

I carried a silnylon pack cover to keep everything dry in the rain. It didn't work that well in a hard rain, but nothing else did either and at least the silnylon was light.

I carried my water in a Camelbak 3-liter reservoir. If I were doing it again I would use the lighter Platypus version of the same thing. The down side to the Platypus is that they develop leaks and everyone I knew with one wound up replacing it. Still, they sure were light. I also carried an Aquafina water bottle to mix drink mixes in. I carried two bottles when the temps were high and I might need extra water.

I carried a light pair of flip-flops to wear in camp, although most people went with the slightly heavier crocs.

I started with a Swiss Army knife with about 15 tools that I never used. I eventually went to a lighter one with a blade and a pair of scissors. That was all I used anyway.

I found a light toothbrush and used travel size tubes of toothpaste. I carried multi-vitamins and sometimes glucosamine. I used REI's ultralight rope to hang my bearbag. I kept TP in a ziploc bag. Pony up the extra money for the soft kind. Speaking of, I carried Body Glide for anti-chafing. My first aid kit was a pair of tweezers and some antibiotic. I started with more stuff but I never used it and it sat in the bottom of my pack and eventually mildewed so I pitched it.

The lightest the pack ever weighed in at was 26 pounds. The heaviest was 34 pounds. I preferred the 26 pounds.

Dave McNeill (Vegas), Northbound AT 2008. April 16 to September 26.

164 days, 2176.2 miles, 250 named peaks, 90000 feet of vertical gain and loss over 14 states.

Thursday, September 25

If I had a more enjoyable day of hiking, I don’t remember it. I spent last night in the shelter while Pixie and Holler pitched a tent nearby. It was a nice sleeping night but I am really too excited about finishing to sleep as much as I should. I feel energetic anyway. I saw Holler walking to the privy this morning so I jumped out of the shelter and sprinted to the privy full speed. I passed him, laughing out loud as I did it, and did my business while Holler stood outside calling me some rude names. Fun, fun.

View of Katahdin from Golden Road


I did the first few miles at a relaxed pace and entered Baxter State Park, home of Katahdin. I sat around waiting for Pixie and Holler to catch up and watching the hunters drive through with their moose in their trucks. Moose hunting season started here on Monday and I didn’t know it. No problem though. Hunters don’t like to go too far from the roads because they can’t carry a dead moose a long way through the woods. You might think that I am against hunting because of my love for hiking and nature, but I really don’t have a problem with it as long as it is well regulated. I’ve seen places where animal populations are allowed to get out of control (deer in Shenandoah, bears around the Smokeys) and it isn’t good for the animals or the people. Anyway…

Fall Colors Cover Trail


Holler and Pixie quickly caught up and we got ready to move on. Just before we walked off the road a couple who had thru-hiked last year drove by. They said they wanted to cook burgers and serve beer to any thru-hikers who were entering the park. We thought that was a great idea so we walked down to their campsite and helped build a fire for grilling. It turned out to be one of the best instances of Trail Magic I had. They grilled burgers and dogs, served plenty of beer, wine and whiskey and had cookies and brownies to munch on.

Trail Magic Campfire


When I got there, I thought “I’ll stay until 1:00…that will leave plenty of time to get to the base of Katahdin.” Then it was “2:00 still leaves enough time.” At 2:00, the thought became “I’ll leave at 3:00 and hurry.” Around 4:30 I finally left. Several other hikers had drifted in, including Peach, Fuzz, Sparky, Stubby and a hiker in a Santa outfit. He came in with regular hiking attire and a Santa hat, but put on the whole costume for the party. He plans on climbing Katahdin in the suit.

Trail Magic Fun


I practically ran to the Katahdin Stream Campground, arriving a little after dark. I wandered around the large public campground trying to figure out where I could stay and stumbled over Babu and the National Geographic crew. They let me share their big site and top off my water supply from the gallons of water they brought in. They also offered me a ride into town after the next days climb. With all that taken care of I drifted though the campground looking for hikers I knew. Sadly, I missed Barfight. She summitted earlier in the day and had just left with her father. I spent some time talking to Forecast and Moonshadow, a couple from Massachusetts. They were about my age and had dreamed of doing the trail with their friend Greg for many years. Every year something came up that prevented them from doing it. Last year, Greg died and the other two hiked this year carrying some of Greg’s ashes to scatter on Katahdin. They always sign Greg into all the registers. I thought that was a great thing and I’m glad I had the chance to tell them. It was a party atmosphere at the campground and I was up too late again, but I’m sure I’ll be energized going up Katahdin.

Five biggest surprises on trail:

1. How crowded the trail is, especially at shelters or campgrounds.
2. How “un-wilderness” many sections of trail were. Even the 100 Mile Wilderness had dirt roads and float planes bringing in hikers and hunters.
3. How tough New Hampshire and Maine were. Much tougher than anything else.
4. How few people hike the whole trail. The vast majority have skipped at least a little section one way or another.
5. You can hike 2171 miles and still be surprised you are actually finishing.

All's well.

Katahdin Stream Campground. Today – 12.4 mi. Total – 2171.0 mi. Remaining –5.2 mi.

Friday, September 26, Summit Day

I woke up early today, around 6:00, to the sound of the National Geographic people getting their equipment ready. They are following Babu up with a heavy looking load of cameras and gear. There are three of them to haul it. Looks tough. I lay in my bag trying to wrap my mind around the enormity of having hiked the Appalachian Trail.

When I graduated from college I thought that it wasn’t really a big deal. Anybody with time and tuition can do it. I ran a marathon thinking that would be impressive but once I got into the training I found that any healthy person who is willing to put in lots of training time can run one. I got my Masters degree last December and thought it just took effort and the ability to write a complete sentence. The AT was different. First, I had to be in good physical shape and avoid injury and illness. That takes luck and some good sense. Second, the trail takes a great deal of mental toughness. No matter how much you like backpacking, there are days that make you want to go home. I overcame those days. Third, a thru-hiker sacrifices a great deal. We leave family and friends behind, quit our jobs and spend our savings. Last, it is a very intense project. I was in college much longer, but there was lots of down time. I really only spent a few hours a day on college-related activities and there were long summer breaks in between. The AT absorbed me completely for the 164 days I was out there. It took over every part of my life, 24 hours a day. Finishing it was every bit the endurance challenge I anticipated. It was also an outdoor experience and a chance to meet great people.

By 6:30 I was up and so was every other hiker. We left our overnight gear at the ranger station and started hiking up with light packs. Between that and the knowledge that we were all headed to a town for a shower and restaurant meal, it felt more like a day hike than the end of a thru-hike. I lingered at the campground until 7:30 and went up the mountain. Its really a nice mountain to finish on. I followed Katahdin Stream up for a while then hit some difficult scrambling up big rocks. I caught most of the people who left before me on that section. The last mile is a gently sloping ridge to the summit. I was walking with Babu’s partner, Rue. Babu had lagged behind so National Geographic could keep up with him. We could see the summit clearly for the last mile but had trouble convincing ourselves that we were that close to done. It seemed impossible that the long trail was that close to ending. “Is that it? I think so. It could be beyond this summit. I think that other part of the ridge looks higher. Can you tell? Is that Santa and Achilles sitting there? Yes…this must be it! Maybe they are just resting? Does that look like the summit sign? Maybe…”

Rue stopped ten paces short of the Katahdin sign and hesitated. I had an impulse to stop as well and soak up the moment but all I’ve done in the last 164 days is walk forward and that habit is hard to break. I walked to the sign, put my hands on the edges and gave it an awkward but whole-hearted hug. I high-fived Santa, Rue and Achilles then we took pics of each other near the terminal sign. After that, I sat on a rock where I could congratulate the other hikers as they came up. Kyanite and Sunkist came up with lifesized pictures of her beagles. They weren’t allowed in the park so she had the big pictures made so they could be in the summit photos. Sunbeam and Brown Bag packed up celebratory champagne for us. Forecast and Moonshadow were next. They went off by themselves to tend to Greg. Holler and Pixie came up and finally Babu, trailed by the National Geographic camera. They asked the rest of us to move aside so they could get clear shots of Babu summitting, but after they did that they let us celebrate. We took more pics and drank champagne and then I walked down with Rue.

Pixie and Holler approaching summit


Vegas with the last blaze on the AT

Kyanite celebrating with champagne


I estimate that 1/3 of AT hikers were women. Here are the five that summitted with me - Pixie (left), Sunbeam, Moonshadow, Sunkist, Rue


Summit picture with fall colors and Dave (Vegas)


Babu with National Geographic cameraman


Summit group on September 26, 2008


My hike is over. All's well.

Millinocket, ME. Today – 5.2 mi. Total – 2176.2 mi. Remaining –0 mi.