Gotta Finish

I know this is taking us longer than it takes most and recently more and more friends/people I know are telling me I should just quit and come back next year and finish.  But unless you have attempted or successfully thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail then you won't understand that I can't, I need to finish because I want to be a thru-hiker.

Our trail friend Drag n' Fly is a great example of the determination thru-hikers have.  On two previous occasions Drag n' Fly previously began hiking the trail at Springer Mtn, GA but did not complete the entire trail in one hike, so she was not a thru-hiker.  This year, at age 74 Drag n' fly started at Springer Mtn, Ga for a 3rd time and headed north.  Yes, she could have just gone back to where she had quit the trail before and finished, but she would have sectioned hiked the AT, not thru-hiked the AT, and Drag n' Fly wanted to be a Thru-Hiker.  So she set out for a third time and she did it, she is now an AT Thru-Hiker.  And if she can do so can I.

So...I am going to keep on trekking and finish this thing.  Mom says she is going to continue on with me as well, but I have made it clear to her she can quit at anytime, but she says she wants to continue on.

Please know that we are being safe and not putting our lives at risk, that is why we have been sitting out the last week here in the Whites, waiting for the weather to clear up so we can finish this crazy weather section.  The rest of the trail does not have the extreme winds and weather that the above treeline Whites have.

So if you don't have words of encouragement please don't comment, I just can't deal with the "You need to quit" comments anymore.  Too many people have invested too much, time, money and effort for me to quit just because it is taking me a little longer than others.  Thank you so much to everyone who has supported us along the way and I will make certain to finish!!!!