(Sun. 8/19/12) Millinocket, ME (phone call)

Brett called me fairly late tonight, exhausted and DONE.

Brett said that the hike to the top of Katahdin was the toughest 5-mile section on the trail. It was a good challenge, worthy of the ending of the Appalachian Trail. Brett said that it was quite a scramble climbing up, and equally difficult coming back down.

However, Brett didn't feel the difficulty of the climb. He was so full of emotion he couldn't feel anything. The weather was a perfect day for being at the summit, but Brett doesn't remember any of the views.

Brett spent a couple of hours at the top. After climbing back down, Brett went to Millinocket with Coconut and Tailwind where they are staying in a hostel tonight. Tomorrow they will set out early to finish hiking the 10-mile section they skipped in order to summit on a good-weather day. Brett said that Coconut and Tailwind wanted to go back, and because it is an easy and flat section they should be able to finish hiking around Noon. Then they'll be heading south by car.

Brett will spend Tuesday getting cleaned up and reorganized. He said he was even planning on going to the store to maybe buy some clothes. He'll start looking for a flight home and with luck, should be home on Wednesday.

(Sun. 8/19/12) Katahdin, ME

My e-mail to Brett today:

Dearest Brett,

I can’t stop thinking about you this weekend. This is it! You are at Baxter State Park and will be summitting Katahdin today (if things go as previously planned). I am so excited for you. I would say, “I can’t believe it.” But that’s not really true. I always knew that you could do this. Not that I think it is so easy that just anyone could do it. No, but I knew you could do it. I never lost my faith in you. But coming to the very end does feel like an “I can’t believe it” moment. You made it. Six months of hiking and being away from family. Two thousand one hundred eighty miles, and then some. I’m proud of you. I hope that you have no regrets or disappointments with this hike, that it is the dream that you had wanted. I love you!

Apparently, Brett tried calling me while I was at church. (I hate missing his calls!) His cell phone is out of juice, so he was borrowing someone else's. He was able to get in touch with his dad who let me know that Brett was at the top of Katahdin. Brett's dad said that Brett was very emotional as he finished his six-month, 2,180-mile hike of the Appalachian Trail. I don't doubt it. I don't think any of us have the faintest idea of what Brett's experience has been. I think you would have to be on the trail for a solid month to really have a clue. I will admit to being clueless in my understanding of Brett has gone through to make it to Katahdin. But I will reiterate what I wrote to Brett: I am so proud of him. I never doubted that he would finish.

And now I can't wait to have him back.

(Thu. 8/16/12) White House Landing Wilderness Camps, ME (phone call)

Knowing that Brett was in the Hundred Mile Wilderness, I really didn't expect to hear from him again. Brett surprisingly had some cell service and was able to call home. He just doesn't have a way of recharging his phone. He is staying in a hostel in the middle of nowhere which has no electricity. They cook and run everything (including lights and refrigeration) on propane gas. The hostel is right on a lake. You blow an air horn when you get to their dock, and they come by boat to pick you up.

Brett said there are lakes everywhere. Katahdin may be only about 15 miles as the crow flies, but the trails twists and turns around the water. You see planes flying everywhere.

Brett hiked 3 miles to the hostel, leaving him only 46 more miles to go. The weather is terrible. Brett said that it has rained five of the last seven days. "Even my bones are wet." Brett, and quite a few other hikers (the hostel is full with 12 people), welcomed a chance to get out of the rain and stay in a hostel. Brett plans to hike the summit of Katahdin on Sunday, weather permitting. Sunday had the best forecast, and Brett may have to skip up to 10 miles in order to be at the top in decent weather--a sacrifice that Brett will gladly make.

The plan for Brett's return is that Coconut and her dad (whose name I finally discovered is Tailwind), as well as fellow hiker, BP, will drive down I-95 and drop off Brett in Kittery. Brett said he is ready to go home and sleep.

I asked Brett about Buzzkill, who started hiking the A.T. when Brett did, and whom Brett has kept up with almost the entire time. Brett saw Buzzkill a few days ago. They talked about summitting together, but Buzzkill got ahead of Brett and was ready to be done and get home.

Brett came into the hostel with an almost empty food bag. The hostel has a pantry for hikers to resupply. After this there may be one more "supply pantry". But Brett is starting to throw away some of his food containers now as he finishes them. He has only about one more meal on the trail. Then one last guilt-free meal in Millinocket (the town closest to Katahdin where Brett will probably stay after he summits).

Brett has only one more page of "The A.T. Guide" left. This is the book that has given him all the details of the trail along the way. He would rip out one page at a time, keeping it in his pocket for easy reference as he hiked. Then, when he finished that section he would throw it away and tear out the next page to carry. Now all that is left is one page.

Brett said that he is ready to be done. He is ready to be home. But, he is still enjoying this last section of trail. I hoped that Brett wouldn't be so focused on getting it over with, that he missed enjoying the finish. It sounds like he will enjoy the finish as well as being finished.

(Fri. 8/10/12) Monson, ME (phone call)

I expected cell phone service in Maine to be terrible. It was still hard for me not to hear an update after Brett told me about his black and broken foot. I was finally able to hear from Brett and get an update.

Brett said the part of his foot that is broken is the bump on the outside of his foot right below his little toe. He said it hurts, "but what can you do?" [The answer that comes to my mind is "see a doctor".] Although it hurts, it doesn't sound like his foot has really slowed Brett down. I hope that Brett will have it looked at when he returns home, but I know he does not want to think about that yet.

Brett said that he had only about a hundred more miles, about one week, left on the trail. Monson is the last town near the trail before the "Hundred Mile Wilderness." Brett's pack is heavy with all the food that he will need. This was essentially his last resupply. I am sure that at this point Brett will be noticing many "lasts".

The weather in Maine has not been very good to Brett. It sounds like there has been a lot of rain.

Brett has continued hiking with Coconut and her dad since Andover, ME. I'm really grateful that I was able to meet them in Gorham, NH, the day I dropped Brett off. They seemed very nice, and I'm glad that Brett has some good companions.

Coconut and her dad even offered to give Brett a ride back to my parents' house. They will be picked up at Katahdin and will be driving down I-95, which goes right through Kittery and Portsmouth. I was given an assignment to start checking out flights. Brett should be home in less than two weeks!

(Mon. 8/6/12) Maine (text)

I am truly grateful for you as well. I do think of you often and how lucky I am to have you. I love you, Hun.

Welcome words to hear. But how are you walking on a broken foot?

(Sat. 8/4/12) Maine (text, e-mail)

While out and about I received this text from Brett:
Tough days. I have broken part of my foot from a trip and fall. Will update when I have service where I can make a call, but it may be a while.

Later, I received this e-mail:
Feel better from being sick--100 percent recovered. However, I took a fall and think I have broken a part in my foot.  It's totally black, and I can barely get a shoe on.  I am making slow progress but still going.  I have been hiking with Coconut and her dad since we have met up again.  No cell reception anywhere.  I am slow but still pushing on. Thinking around the 20th.

Nothing like having bad news with no way of talking to Brett!

(Wed. 8/1/12) Andover, ME (phone call)

Brett called on Tuesday morning to say that he was feeling a little better and was going to try to eat something. Brett called me back on Wednesday afternoon to say that he was feeling better and was pretty much over the stomach bug. I asked him if he was up to 70/80% healthy-normal. He said that was functioning at 95%. That was great news. I was happy to hear that it was a fairly short illness.

(Mon. 7/30/12) Andover, ME (phone call)

I got a surprise phone call from Brett fairly late tonight. We only talked for a few minutes--just long enough for him to tell me that he was miserable and that Maine was killing him. I immediately thought it must be sore muscles or blistered feet. I was sad to hear that Brett, along with a large number of other hikers in that section of the trail, has come down with a stomach virus.

Brett said that it hit him at 4:00am. He went in search of some lodging and found a bed and bathroom at Pine Ellis Lodge. Brett said there are five other hikers in the hostel with the same symptoms he is experiencing (including Coconut, whom I met in Gorham, NH, and her dad). The hostel right by the trail in Gorham is full, with some sick hikers. And there are more sick hikers in the hostel north of Brett.

Brett had told me before that hikers don't often get sick, because germs don't get passed around the same way that they might in a community with more people. It is unusual for this many hikers to get sick. It makes you wonder if there's something in the water.

Whatever it is, I hope that Brett isn't miserable too long. I hope he doesn't lose any more weight from being sick. And I hope that he gains his strength back quickly. Brett said that he planned on taking a zero day tomorrow (Duh!). I hope that he is able to rest his body back to health.

(Sat. 7/21/12 - Fri. 7/27/12) Kittery, ME (Family Visit/Break From the Trail)

I picked up Brett in Gorham, NH, as previously arranged. I got there early and hiked down the trail a little bit. I found a perfect spot by the creek that followed the trail for a bit and sat on a rock with my feet in the water while I waited for Brett to come down the trail. I was so happy to see Brett after so long (four months since Spring Break) that I cried. It took me a while for my eyes and emotions to get back to normal.

Brett has lost 50 pounds on the trail. He is skin and bones compared to what he was before. For the first few days, every time I saw him or put my arms around him it took me by surprise. It took about five days for me to look at him and not immediately think "He's so skinny!"

Brett also has an almost fully gray beard and looks "so old". Brett is fairly proud of his beard. He says it easily identifies him as a northbound thru-hiker, and he is respected by southbound hikers (who haven't been on the trail that long) or section hikers he meets on the way. I think Brett's beard is one small way to measure everything he has done so far.

It was so nice to have time with Brett. Brett's two goals for his time off were to spend time with the family and rest. So we spent most of our time at my parents' house just hanging out rather than going out or sight-seeing. (Being around crowds is the last thing Brett wants right now!) It was good to be together as a family again, although it may have made it a little harder for Brett to get back on the trail. My parents live on the water, and being on the water also made Brett realize how much he missed it.

Brett took care of some gear issues while he was here. He had a new pack shipped because the frame in his old one broke. He had to do some sewing to make minor modifications, just as he did with his previous two packs. He had to replace his hiking shoes, because sole on one of his shoes started separating. He also had to replace his pillow which wasn't holding air like it should. And of course, he unpacked, washed, and aired all of his gear out. Evidence of Brett was seen in many rooms of the house as well as on both the front and back porches.

I'm hoping the first few days on the trail weren't too tough for Brett. I had thought that the White Mountains in New Hampshire were the toughest part of the trail, but Brett said that the first 100 miles of Maine were supposedly the toughest. So Brett has just begun a very difficult section of the trail with new shoes, muscles that need to be worked back in, and a twinge or homesickness after spending so much time with the family. I know that he will get back into the swing of things soon. I am proud of him, and continue to be amazed at what he has done.

Here are a few Brett photos from our time together. First, a photo of Brett and his shadow (i.e. Ryan) hunting for treasure by my parents' house in Kittery, Maine.

The only tourist-y activity we did: stopping by the fisherman's memorial in Gloucester, Mass., on our way back from a trip to REI (new shoes).

Mending a small tear in his shorts.

First, we watched the lobster boats unload their catch from my parents' house. Then we went and bought the fresh, live lobsters (only $4.00 a pound!). Then Brett played with the lobsters. Later, Brett washed and steamed the lobsters (with no help). Finally, we all ate the lobsters (with step-by-step instruction from my parents).

At a rest stop in the White Mountains on the way to dropping Brett back off on the trail (before the emotional good-byes hit). The peak of Mount Washington was covered in clouds. We had rain on the three-hour drive there, but I think most of it had passed by the time we got to the trail.

Following our family tradition, we all wore our "Support Daddy Tie-Dye T-Shirts" on our first day with Brett, on our family outing to REI and Gloucester, and on our last day together.
Only three more weeks 'til Katahdin. We're proud of you, "The Dude".