Deja Vu all over again

I'm back from hiking the AT- this time by choice. It was obvious to me after about a week that I didn't want to spend the rest of the summer hiking north. I could wax eloquent, but there were a few main points that consumed my thoughts- I missed the Fairbanks summer, I'd been gone already for 3 months and didn't want to be gone another 3, I was hiking through a narrow corridor of nature surrounded by cities and towns and I missed the real wilderness, the sameness of everyday hiking was becoming tedious and I want to want to hike in the future.

GarageMan is hoping to hike the entire trail during this season- expecting to finish at the end of August at Mt. Katahdin in Maine, 2178 miles of hike. I would like to finish sometime in the future- I'll restart in Boiling Springs, about 1100 miles into the hike.

The long trip home started from Cathy and Al's house on Monday. Cathy and Roy took me to the bus stop at the Park and Ride on Highway 33 for the 1 1/2 hr. ride to Newark. It turned out that Alaska Airlines only "mans" their counter 3 hours before the flight and I couldn't go through security with my trekking poles. The nearby WestJet counter had lots of amusing action and I found that sitting on my Thermarest pad on the cooling ducts made a comfy seat.

The 5 1/2 hr. flight to Seattle was packed. The person in front of me immediately reclined his seat as far back as it would go, only pulling up on the insistence of the attendent upon landing. I wanted to cut a deal with the gal behind me- if she would quit kicking my seat I wouldn't recline, but she fell asleep about 2 hours in so the point became moot.

The flight from Seattle to Fairbanks, only 3 1/2 hours long, was almost empty and I stretched out across 3 seats on my Thermarest enjoying better sleep than I had in most of the AT shelters. The midnight sun closed in on us and was shining at 1:45 am when I arrived.

It's strange to be home alone. It is the longest alone time I've ever had. The house is quiet, the fridge is empty and the conversation is one-sided. I haven't yet figured out how to fill my hours short of recreational activities. I would hope to start/finish some projects but no plans yet.

On Tuesday morning, I got up and went to aquasize followed by a tasty chicken salad and rhubarb/cranberry cobbler at Sandy's with Bev and Susan. Then I took care of shopping and the PO, caught up with correspondence and did some computer updates.

Today, I went out the Chatanika River with Bev and Gary in their boat to their cabin. We hauled out some supplies for the weekend. The cabin was partially flooded at breakup and there is still silt all around. Other cabins will need extensive repairs, but theirs has been cleaned up. Barrels, wood and a picnic table completely floated away. The river was beautiful and Bev saw a newborn moose calf. A little excitement came when a new fallen log stretched completely across the river. Gary ran across it and the reverse on his engine needed repair. On the way back, he chain sawed it to make a channel.

Tonight I spoke with Paul about his new tent (Big Agnes Fly Creek). I'm continuing to update the trail journal recording his exploits. He's not one for detailed stories, but I'll do my best.