The End: Katahdin's Peak

As Hansel and Gretel climbed their way up Katahdin with Mom and Dad, they discussed how it's kind of stupid that a lame sign is THE thing that signifies the completion of their 2,181 mile adventure.  It seems rather arbitrary to say "you have to get to this sign and then you're done."

"We signed in.  It's not like being on top of the mountain is going to be anything great," they said.  They were kind of poo-pooing it the whole way.  At that point, they were both just so tired and ready to be done with the Trail.  That's not to say it hadn't been the adventure of a life time, they were just ready for it to be over.  With that kind of attitude going up, neither of them were really prepared for the emotions that erupted out of them when that "arbitrary sign" came into view.

"We finally got there and, I have to tell you," Hansel said, "it was NOT an arbitrary end point and this sign was one of the most meaningful things in my life.  I can't even express the emotions that just flew through my body and I can't even explain why this piece of wood with writing on it elicited all these emotions.  [Gretel] and I just gave each other a hug and both of us just cried for like five minutes.  And everyone around us started crying too.  Mom and Dad were crying.  It really was like nothing I have ever experienced before."

It's not every day that a hiker completely the Appalachian Trail, but it's even less likely that a pair of siblings finish the Trail together.  Throughout their journey, people have wondered if Hansel and Gretel were married or dating, and they are always confused when their interactions never really match either of those statuses.  When the on-lookers realize that Hansel and Gretel are in fact brother and sister, the response is always so positive.  It must be refreshing to see that a set of siblings could be such good friends.  Having finished this adventure through the physical, psychological, and emotional hardship, there was something truly magical in the embrace that Hansel and Gretel shared at the top of that mountain.  This really was the moment of a life time.  They had done it!  And they had done it together!

True sibling love

2,181 miles with Froggie and Black Bear (the little animals they are holding)

Mom, Hansel, Gretel and Two Bad pretending to be asleep on the sign.

Not only did Hansel and Gretel climb the mountain, also climbed the sign!

Hansel posing like the cover on the AT Guide Book (click here to view)

Hoooooray!!!!!

The End: Katahdin Ascent

Hansel and Gretel started the final 5 miles up Katahdin at about 11:45am and it took them a little over an hour to catch up with Mom and Two Bad.  Their rendezvous came at the point on the mountain that Mom and Two Bad had rendered impassable.

"Well, it looks like we are going this far and that's it," they said regretfully as they gazed up at an 8 foot boulder at the top of which were two pieces of rebar (a metal rod) that had been hammered into the rock.  In order to climb this thing you had to hold on to the higher rebar rod and then swing your foot up to hook the other piece of rebar.  The foot hold was so high up you almost had to knee yourself in the face to reach it while your other foot dangled bellow your body.  Are you picturing this?  If not, you can see an example of another heel hook here.  You just have to imagine this taking place on the edge of a mountain instead of a foot off of the ground.  From the heel hook you had to pull yourself up.  If you let go, the fall would be about 6 feet and nothing to catch you after that.  It was pretty scary, especially for Mom and Dad.  Dad because he has hip mobility problems (recall previous post: Two Bad's Out of Reach Feet) so finding the flexibility to get his foot on the rebar would be extremely difficult, and Mom because she would need to find some super upper body strength to hoist herself up over the rebar.

"I don't even know how Mom and Dad did it, but they both got up over this part somehow," Hansel said.  Many people turn around when they reach that part of Katahdin, but Mom and Two Bad were determined even though Hansel and Gretel tried telling them that it was ok if they didn't go all the way to the top.  Once they got over the rebar, Mom said, "Well, I'm up now so we're going.  I don't know how I'm going to get down again, but I'm up."  As brave as she probably would have liked that to sound, she was almost crying because she was so scared.  They kept telling her that the hard part was over, but that wasn't really true.  There were more hard parts after that as the trail went straight up the mountain for the next 1.5 miles.

This was the most rock climbing Hansel and Gretel had done on the entire trail.  There were parts where they had to pull themselves up over the rocks.  Mom ended up doing a lot of seal-like belly slides to get up on the rocks.  Or she would just put her knees up because it was too hard to pull up on arms alone.  As they climbed up, a bunch of people were passing them going the opposite direction.  When they looked back, there was no one coming up the mountain behind them.  They were the last group to up and most people had already started the climb down.  This made them kind of nervous too, but as Mom said, "There's nothing else to do.  Can't do anything but keep going."

Gretel and Mom making their way up the boulders.

Two Bad's Out of Reach Feet

Gretel watched her clothes spin around in the washing machine as she called me from the Laundromat in the “lame-o” town of Glasgow while Hansel and Two Bad went to the grocery store to find “some kind of lame dinner.”  So far everything about Glasgow was falling short of expectations.  The hotel they had planned to stay at had closed down.  Then they went to a shelter-type-thing for hikers to take a shower, but there was no hot water.  Gretel said she had to exhale deep breaths so she didn’t suffocate from the shock of the ice cold water.  Hansel spent his shower shouting, “Ooooh!  Oh! Oh! Oooh! Ohh!” which Gretel overheard as she was braiding her hair outside the shower area.   There was a restaurant listed in the Trail Guide book, but that had closed down.  When they asked a Glasgow local, they were told that there was another restaurant across the railroad tracks… but actually it was closed on Mondays.  Finally they heard about some kind of deli that sold Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches.  Gretel, being a vegetarian, asked if the boys could bring her a cheese steak sandwich without the steak.  They still have three more days of hard hiking ahead of them before our family friends (who also happen to be the owners of an awesome bed and breakfast) pick them up in Montebello.

Tonight they will be staying at Johns Hallow Shelter, which is exactly 777 miles from Springer Mountain where they started in Georgia! 

I know you are all wondering how Two Bad is fairing.  Gretel reported he is doing quite well.  Today was a bit rough for him because their hike was characterized by an excess of downhills, which tend to be a little painful for his two bad knees.  Other than that, he is feeling pretty good and getting into the swing of the hike.  One of the problems he encountered was the very same blister issue Gretel had in her first few weeks on the Trail.  The difference between Gretel and Two Bad, is that Gretel can actually reach her feet to tend to her blisters.  Two Bad’s hips sometimes prevent such luxuries, so he had to request a hand from his children.  (Warning: the next few sentences might sound a little nasty.)  Two Bad asked Gretel to help him pop his blisters the first night, but the second night she had to decline on account that such a task is a little too high on the Gross Scale.

“I’m sorry Dad, but I just can’t do that again.  You’re going to have to ask Hansel.”

Luckily Hansel was able to take care of Two Bad’s feet and then they covered the blisters in duct tape for the hike the next day. 

Shoe tying is also a bit of an issue for our dear Two Bad.  His hips are particularly stiff in the morning, so Hansel has been lending a hand with shoes too.  He usually loosens up over the course of the day though.  At one point in the hike he stopped and said,

“Hold on, I think I need to tighten my boots.”

“You mean I need to tighten your boots,” replied Hansel.

“No, no, I think I can reach them now.”  And with some degree of effort, Two Bad tied his shoes all by himself.  Hooray!  (Thanks Vincent* for helping my dad with his flexibility and his endurance!  We all know that without you, this hike would have been a LOT harder!)

Until next time, happy trails!

*Vincent is a wonderful family friend as well as an incredible personal trainer.  Over the years he has trained the whole family and now he has his own business, Westfield Fitness Studio.  You can see a picture of Two Bad pumping iron in the second photo down on the website.  If you are local and want to do something great for your body, I highly recommend visiting Vincent!  He’s amazing! 

Hansel, Gretel and Two Bad crossing the longest footbridge on the AT

Two Bad!

Introducing the newest, short term, member of the Jabeccawalk Team: 

Dad!

Around 9 this morning, Dad stuffed his pack and a small suitcase into the trunk of a cab headed for the airport (since you can’t take knives and fuel in your carry-on bag, he will have to mail the empty suit case home after he reloads the off-limits items into his backpack).  Around 3pm Dad met Hansel and Gretel at their hostel in Catawba and they started their march back into the woods. 

One problem: they weren’t nearly as far as they thought they were yesterday after tumbling down the mountain.  Very quickly, their 3-mile hike to the next shelter turned into a 6-mile hike.   So much for easing Dad into the Appalachian experience! 

I was wrong before when I said there was only one problem.  It also was raining, so they all got wet.  Good thing Dad came prepared with rain gear.  And then we have the problem of age.  As Dad was hiking he reminded the young and spry Hansel and Gretel that he was doing this hike with “two bad hips, two bad, knees, two bad feet, two bad…”  He continued to repeat all of these problems as they hiked until Hansel interrupted him.  

“Well Dad, I think you just got your trail name,” Hansel declared.  “Two Bad!” Isn't that too bad?

And so, Hansel, Gretel, and Two Bad have begun their week together!

Happy trails!

Who needs an alarm clock when you have a rooster?  This little guy woke up Hansel and Gretel this morning!

A Hostel Friend

Gretel making an epic breakfast!

Hansel with his plate.  They picked the eggs right out of the nest!

Also, does anyone else thing that Hansel's hair is getting rather fro-tastic?