sleepwalking on the AT

Yesterday, Sean carried Maple up a mountain on the Appalachian Trail. It was a 2.8-mile hike to the top of Mt. Webster, and almost 3000 feet of elevation gain. It was hard for me, but I can only imagine how hard it was for Sean, carrying 32-pound Maple (plus 5 pounds of backpack) over near-vertical rock scrambles. The whole 2.8 miles alternated between "uphill," "straight up," and "gimme a fucking break."

We got to the top at 11am, and Maple was asleep. I have no idea how she slept through all that climbing, but there she was, dead to the world. So from now on when she whines and cries and claims to be so uncomfortable in the backpack, I will not believe her. That pack is a high tech lazy boy for kids.

Yesterday's hike also reminded me that I love hiking. It's been almost six years since I left the AT in Great Barrington, MA on July 25th, 2002. It's been seven years since I stopped my thru-hike on July 22nd, 2001, at Graymoor Friary in New York. I really want to hike the rest of the trail, all 668 miles of it. I know the odds are against me now, since people with MS don't always walk, let alone hike in the backcountry. But maybe the reason I quit in 2001 is because I had some psychic feeling that I'd need something to work for later in life when I got this stupid debilitating disease. Or maybe I was just lazy. But whatever it was that got me off the trail, I'm ready to get back to it. While I can still walk, I'm going to try to get to Katahdin. And now I have Sean and Maple to walk with me.

(Note: If you click on this picture, you will go to Sean's photostream, which has different pictures than mine. Check it out!)