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michael rowlands
06-20-2006, 11:32
Hello all. My name is rowmingoat. I thru hiked the A.T. in 1981. I finished my hike on 9-11 1981. yeh, 911. My 20th anniversary of summiting Mount Katahdin was a bad day for everyone. In the days following I decided to rehike the trail only this time I would do it in the southern direction, since I had already seen the trees from the other side. In 2004 I was hiking the southern 1000 miles and had to return to Fla where a hurricane had damaged my home. Over the next year of 2005 I completed another 1000 miles over a 5 month period. With all that said I plan on finishing my second complete hike of the A.T. starting at Katahdin on the 28th of June. I need to hike to Dalton Mass where I will finish. I will be easy to identify on the trail since I have used the same 25 year old Kelty pack I used in 1981. It is blue. I am registered in the former thru hiker registry. Now I am about to register an opionion. Baxter State Park was not the highlight of my trip in 1981 because of all of the restrictions and fees which in my opinion are excessive. I know it will be more of the same this time. I can not wait to cross the road at Abol Bridge and get into the wildneress area. It is a real shame the final 15 miles of the A. T. has to even be in Baxter State Park. Baxter Park however is a beautiful place if you can catch it on a fine day, but most thru hikers can't hang around to be there on a fine day. There should be an area for hikers to stay as long as necessary to summit the last mountain the way they want too without all of the restrictions. To all hiking north you will be able to navigate the park a little easier. South bounders don't seem to get the same treatment in the campsites registry. Enough of my opinion. Have a nice trip and remember, It is NOT a race. I hiked the trail in 166 days the first time and the second time has been alot more rewarding for me because I am trying to see and smell the roses. My average miles per day has gone down by 30%. Of course I am in my 50's this time and the muscles are not the same. I am still having a great time. GO FOR IT again. Rowmin -GOAT

Time To Fly 97
06-20-2006, 13:28
Summited Katahdin on Oct 23rd with the "dirty half dozen" by leap frogging each other to the next cairn. While cold of course...it was so beautiful I'll never forget it. My opinion: If you seek beauty you will always find it.

Shout out: Goose, Hashbrown, BigFoot, Ripple and Red

Haaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwww!

jgreene
06-20-2006, 14:15
Go goat!!!