Off the trail for the summer

I'm at Boston Logan Airport on my way home for the summer!The Appalachian Trail in New Hampshire and Maine is really tough! 1000-2000 (and more) elevation changes at least every 8 miles on some rough trail. The views were fantastic but they were physically expensive. I found myself thinking that the trail was unnecessarily rugged. Just a little tweaking would have made hiking more safe. I'm not unhappy with my 8 trail days, but next time I hike that far North, I won't start there. I'll work up to it.

One weird thing that happened was that on the 5 hour bus ride from Gorham to Boston, Immigration Service boarded and ended up taking off a Chinese man who had a passport but didn't speak English and couldn't produce a visa or answer questions. It was clearly profiling and penalizing for not speaking English. In this day of cell phones, it should have been easy to call a translator. I'm sure this young man was embarrased and missed his plane. And really- a bus in New Hampshire?

Have I mentioned the stink of hiking? My bag has a tang that encouraged Alaska Airlines to put my pack in a plastic bag. The savvy shuttle drivers put plastic on their car seats.

I'm signing up for the Summer Arts Festival- Gospel Music, if they let me in a day late. I'm really ready to get back to Alaska!

Highlights of my trip Outside:
* lunch with Erin in Chicago, * seeing my cousins and sisters in Detroit, * catching up with hikers Birch and Whitepaws, * fantastic views from Old Blue and Bemis Mountain, * talking trail with other hikers.