Finished!

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Even at home I've run into problems with the picture uploader so here are a few and I'll put more effort into it later.


So I know I've seriously slacked off about posting my completion so I thought I'd at least let you know I've made it home safely.

My Birthday in Helen was awesome! We had Hungry & Drippy with us to add to the fun. It was a wild good time of making friends with the locals and of course pushing the limits of excess. The following morning was difficult and made for a long day of hiking slower than I had in a long time. Still worth it of course.

The last week on the trail became bitterly cold on the trail. The temperature was generally below freezing during the day an dropping down into the teens at night. These were record setting temperatures for Georgia for this time of year. It only seems fitting that I would choose one of the worst years on record to hike the AT south.

As we got closer to the end the feeling was almost surreal. I had been walking toward that goal for so long that I couldn't even place my feelings as I approached the end. Part of it was relief to be heading back inside out of the cold with the onset of winter. Part of it was triumph and the feeling of accomplishment the despite the hardships I finished what I set out to do. And part of it was certainly sadness too. I'm really going to miss the people I met along the way and enjoying their company everyday. I'm going to miss waking up in a new place everyday with no expectations of what might happen that day.

The last night on the trail Yearbook and Grittz stayed at a hostel about 20miles from the summit but I didn't feel it would be right to not camp out on my last night even though the weather was calling for extreme cold. Pocket ad I camped about 8 miles from the end. There is a forest service road that crosses the trail about 1 mile from the summit of Springer mountain (the end of the trail) so Pocket's parents met us there with beers and sandwiches! They hiked the last miles with us to be with Pocket at the finish. We waited around at the summit for Grittz and Yearbook so we could all be there on the summit together. Both of them missed out note to grab a beer and a sandwich for the walk to the top.

Pockets parents treated us to a wonderful all you can eat buffet at the lodge along with a warm hotel room to spend the night. The drove me as far as Knoxville TN where my friend Dave Ort picked me up and took me all the way home to East Aurora ( with a pit stop in Pittsburgh to see more friends )

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Photos

Strawbery Moonshine!
we found a mason jar in a shelter and it smelled awful like poison. SOOO we decided to drink it

Some unfamiliar faces
finally me Little Fly & Sweet Water after reading their register entries the entire way

first snow!
mid october

Hump mountain
windy enough to knock you over if you weren't ready for it

train
was parked in the trail so I had to climb over it

max patch
camped on top of the bald see here (great stars)

Clingmans Dome
Highest point on the trail

Comments

[Bojak]

YEAH TOMMY
Congrats man! I'm real proud of you, that's incredible. I love the Frosty picture, it's perfect.

[BETTY APPLETON]

CONGRATS!!!
HI TOMMY, JUST WANTED TO SAY HI AND TO SAY CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU ON YOUR BIG ACHIEVEMENT. THAT'S QUITE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT FOR YOU AND ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS YOU MET ALONG THE WAY. LOVE ALL OF YOUR PICTURES, ESPECIALLY THE ALL OF THE LAST ONES WHEN YOU WERE FINISHING UP. GOOD WORK TOMMY. BEST WISHES IN WHATEVER YOU DO. DEBI'S MOM.

[mom]

proud greatful parent
Hey Handsome! We are sooo proud of your accomplishment and sooo glad to have you home safe. Big THANKS to Dave for bringing you home.

[Aunt Deb]

Well Done Tom!!
Hey Tom, It was great to see you again at Thanksgiving time. It was truely a pleasure reading about your trip and looking at the photos! It was like being right there with you! It doesn't seem like it was that long ago that you were just starting to walk and now you've walked 2000 miles or better!! Congrats on you wonderful adventure. And thank you so much for letting the rest of us share it with you. What a treat!! Lots of Love and best wishes to you! Aunt Deb and Sami

[mike]

I'll be in B~lo all of April
Can't wait to see you, saw chadams the last time i was up. And in April i'm getting neck surgery Yuk! But by coincidence the surgery is the day after the Dead perform @ HSBC. Funny huh? Well i love the travel blog your beard looks awesome! And i really miss you man can't wait to see you!