(Written 10/4) Well folks here it is. After much personal debate and battling with myself, I have decided that after I summit tomorrow I will be finished with my hike for the season. The ghiardia is continuing to take it out of me and my budget is dried up. This is a bittersweet decision, but I know its the right one. As long as I get to Harpers Ferry by July 5th next year my hike will still be considered a thru-hike. I'm not upset at all though, I started this hike with the intentions of summiting Katahdin, and in less than 12 hours I will conquer that goal. We are inside the boundaries of Baxter State Park! We exited the hundred mile wilderness today, and were met face to face with that great mountain. It could not have been a better welcoming. We are staying inside the park tonight at a campsite called The Briches, it consists of2 small lean-tos and is reserved only for long distance hikers. Tonight we are gathered around the fire ring for our final fire of this amazing trip. I spoke with my dad today and explained to him my plans after Katahdin. He told me he was proud of me. It meant a lot to me, I'm glad that after all my bullshit, bad decisions, mistakes with the Navy,and genuine lack of motivation, I am still able to make my parents proud, I'd almost lost hope. Thank you Mom and Dad for every inch of help you have given me. Morale could not be higher. For some It may be hard to believe, but this trip, though not at all conventional, has done a ton for me personally, both mentally and physically. Mostly mentally. Life can pass you by so quickly if you let it, but you also have to take your time to get where you want to go, its a balancing act that I think I'm starting to get. I'm very excited to see what it does for me back in the real world. Tomorrow we will wake at 6 and prepare for our final climb up this beast of a mountain and after a 5.4 mile climb we will reach our ultimate goal, Baxter Peak, Mt Katahdin. Then just as quickly as we began it will all be over,after a brief stint in town for beers,celebrations, and goodbyes I will board a trail bound for Georgia or Illinois. Back to the real world, to the daily grind but like so many others after me and before I think I'll be lost, if only for a brief time and without white blazes to guide my day who knows what life holds. I guess now its time for me to blaze my own trail.

-Fresh and Bella the Mountain Dog
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