A Picture Worth A Thousand Miles

A thousand miles and I'm still going. I've walked a thousand miles ... it's hard to wrap your head around it. I thought a thousand miles was a lot and then we hit the halfway point today - 1088 miles. It's a little bittersweet in that I am so excited that I'm halfway through the trail, but then you realize that you have to do it all over again one more time. To make our halfway point even better, an anonymous trail angel left a couple of Budweisers on the trail about 3 miles before the halfway point to help us celebrate - thank you to whomever you may be! Spirits are high even though we've still got a long way to go and it's been raining for three days. At least we made it into a hostel for the night and got a hot shower. The crowds continue to thin out here as more people go home. When I started the Approach Trail in Georgia to hike up to Springer Mountain at the beginning, it was estimated that more than 1100 people had started ahead of me. In Harper's Ferry, WV last week at the trail headquarters I was counted as only the 476th hiker to come through ... less than half are left and more continue to walk off. I think that the majority of those of us still on right now will make it barring any accident or emergency - fingers crossed. Aside from loosing my step and taking a nasty fall down some rocks that quickly removed the skin from my left knee, I haven't had any problems other than a blister here or there. My fall was lucky and I walked away only leaving a little skin in Maryland. Like they say ... it's all downhill from here (I wish!).
Pictures: Jogle standing at the 1000 mile mark; another good view; fungus of pretty colors; critter on flowers; Jogle and I at the halfway point!