Day 174 - Saturday, October 9, 2021

Here we are… who would have ever thought this day would get here 5-6 months ago? Today is the 4th day of our final 4 hikes or in simpler terms - today is our last and final hike completing our “Platinum” Slack Packing Flip-Flop-Flip Thru Hike. We will have put our boots to the trail on all 2193.1 miles of the white blazes of the Appalachian Trail.

I’m not sure if I’m excited or disappointed that it’s almost over. Going through my final routine of  taping; felt like I was a Gladiator preparing to enter the Coliseum.  I am feeling a sense of pride and accomplishment knowing that only 20% of those who begin a thru hike actually complete it. So I’ll just go with that and finish this adventure.

Today we are completing the final leg of the journey, hiking from Gapland Road, Gathland State Park (1036.0 NoBo) to Harpers Ferry, Potomac River, Bryon Memorial Footbridge, WV-MD border (1026.3 NoBo) totaling 9.7 miles, the final steps of our 5,000,000 steps.

And there’s a 51% chance of rain today and I don’t even care…. 😂😉

We began hiking at 9:00 am. 



Today everything is a final milestone… final starting picture.





And of course… starting off with the only significant climb of the day puting us on a tabletop for the next several miles. 






So far so good… this may be “just a walk in the woods.”




 



Turtle Power thought he would make up for “naked hike day” held on the summer solstice which we missed as we were not on the trail that day 😬 🙄. Personally, I think he has some tactile issues… just sayin. 





Going underneath US 340 heading towards the C&O Towpath and Harpers Ferry.





Hiking along the C&O Towpath and the Potomac River. 



The Potomac River.



Getting closer to Harpers Ferry.



Our final break and lunch on the trail… I have to be honest as I will not miss the food  🤢🥴. If I don’t ever eat another granola or protein bar ever again will be okay with me!



Almost to the Byron Memorial Footbridge.





Reaching the Byron Memorial Footbridge.





Crossing the Byron Memorial Footbridge.



Eureka … we crossed AT milepost 1026.3 NoBo at 1:05 pm officially completing our thru hike. 







I will always remember the power and strength of “Nana korobi, ya oki”.





And let’s not forget about our celebratory ice creams 😉. I have been regularly eating a pint of ice cream and drinking 50 g of protein a day for about 2 months to help maintain my weight loss. 

The journey is over and I have seen so much in the past months. I appreciate and respect all the others that have hiked this trek…. “Just a walk in the woods” 😉.



Appalachian Trail Countdown:
Total trail miles: 2193.1 miles
Trail miles left to go: 0.0 miles

I’m coming home Jean…

Till next time... Happy Hiking    🥾 

😋


“There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home.”

              Dorothy Gale from The Wizard of Oz






Comments

  1. Ebb and FloOctober 10, 2021 at 8:06 AM

    CONGRATULATIONS ‼️

    ReplyDelete
  2. Joe ArcuriOctober 10, 2021 at 2:40 PM

    Splinter, CONGRATULATIONS to you and Turtle Power on completing the Appalachian Trail “Platinum” Slack Packing Flip-Flop-Flip Thru Hike!!! 🎉🎉🎉👏👏👏👍👍👍💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼 Great words of wisdom “Nana korobi, ya oki”!! Thanks for writing a great blog so that we all could vicariously share in the experience! Looking forward to seeing you and Jean in Florida!!

    ReplyDelete

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