I think I've reached that time. Firstly, since coming off the trail, life has been pretty damn good, just like life was on the trail. I moved in with my awesome girlfriend into an apartment in Hoboken, NJ, a city I had not once before in my life visited. I have a lot of exploring to do here and I'm glad I have my best friend with me and 6 months of top notch exploring experience to do so.
I've also begun working! Yes, this crazy, no longer long haired, no longer bushy bearded, (still a) hippie has turned in his hiking poles for the 9-5. Only its nothing like a typical 9-5. I have the good fortune of working with my dad in a business that I allows me to do one of the things I love most - talking to people. I am working with my pops at his small financial advisory firm, located in Red Bank, NJ. Just like I felt on day one of the trail, I realize I have a very long way to go in order to be "successful", however, just like I said on my "about me" page forever ago, my idea of success probably isn't the same as most people's. I didn't need to finish the trail to have a successful hike, just like I don't need to make a whole boat load of money to have a successful career, life, whatever. Finishing the trail was the cherry on top, just as making a lot of money will be.
I spent a good amount of time thinking, brainstorming, and coming up with ideas for my father and the firm. I am thrilled now to be back and able to begin putting those abstract ideas and thoughts down on paper and hopefully turning them into realities. "Vision, without actions, are nothing more than daydreams."
Finally, I was able to upload the 2000+ photos I took while I was on the trail. I'm looking into ways of making them all available for whoever wanted them, but I was also planning on posting up my favorites and writing up the stories that correspond to each. Some might be long, others short. If anything, it will be a way for me, years down the line, to recall a story with a photo.
Here is the first "story with picture"
Hybrid and I started on April 12th. Literally as we walked out of the parking lot where we left Hybrid's dad, The Tuna, we ran into a couple hikers also starting out on their thru hikes. At the time, their names were Dylan and Reese, just as ours were Frank and Adam. We hiked with them the first couple of days and they turned out to be cool guys we expected to be seeing a whole lot of on the trail. On the second day, while the four of us were stopped for lunch, we noticed a down tree, standing at a 45 degree angle. Adam offered up a burger for anyone who dared to climb.
Dylan walked over, inspected the tree, and figured it was a risk with the appropriate reward. So he climbed...
Well after a couple of days, Dylan and Reese sped up ahead our pace and we didn't see them again until we got to Damascus, about a 40 days later. By that point, Dylan had the trail name of Oatmeal (because he ate instant oatmeal straight from the bag) and Reese was "Chill" (becuase he is so chill?). After only briefly seeing them in Damascus, I wouldn't run into these guys again until I got to Lincoln, NH. After seeing them there, I lost them again, thinking we would never meet back up. As fate would have it, I bumped into them once more in northern Maine and was able to hike most of the way north with them. Even though we were always only a couple days apart from each other, we really only hiked together a handful of times. But the great thing is - we summited Katahdin on the same day! Here is the April 12 summit team picture:
Awesome guys and glad I was able to meet and re-meet them on a couple occasions. Oh, and Hybrid still owes Oatmeal a burger.
Ha! I had forgetting about that; you're right, I owe Oatmeal a burger.
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