ITS THE JOURNEY, MAN, THE JOURNEY

The weatherman called for rain for the next 3 days so I was convinced to stay in town before heading into the 100 mile wilderness. I planned to do this before so when it turned out to be an awesome day I rationalized that the trail needed to dry out from the day before and I needed the rest. My goal is to be through the wilderness in 6 days and to carry all of my supplies. To do this I will walk up to 20 miles per day. The terrain does not appear formidable, after this break I am eager to get to it. I splurged on a variety of prepackaged Mountain House meals to have enough calories to sustain my final foray. More than food, I’m looking forward to my first good glimpse of Mt Katahdin.
     This morning I talked with a couple who were visiting in town about my travels and realized that I was doing something they longed to do but likely never will. I feel incredibly grateful for the chance to get this far on the trail. Poet, the owner of Shaws told me its not the destination, its the journey. Then he took my picture for his Facebook page, Shaws on the Appalachian Trail. He and his wife were teachers in FL before doing their thru hike and buying the hostel. That’s what the trail will do for people, it shows them they have the courage to follow their dreams, that all things are possible and that its not the destination its the journey.
Well I visited the convenience store twice, Pete’s bakery twice an the historical society museum where someone from Alloway, NJ had just visited.
Its nice to rest but I’ve done Monson and I want to finish, I want to go home. But now I want to walk, just walk.
I doubt if I will have Internet service for the next six days so posting is unlikely. When I do I should have plenty of fantastic pictures from the wilderness which I am told has much variety. I hope people are clicking on the images to get the full screen effect. Thank you so much for helping me to get this far on the AT.