Home at last!

It has been a long trip home. I was so happy to be headed home. It is funny it took me 29 days to walk from Katahdin to Gaspe but only 4 days to hitch hike back. Hitch hiking was one of the best experiences I had on this entire trip. I met so many generous and interesting people. I know everyone says it is dangerous, but I feel like you will meet 100 nice people before you meet one bad person. It was a great trip home but I am glad to be back at Dick and Becky's with Sara. I missed Sara terribly.
After posting the last blog in Campbellton NB I went to McDonald's. Upon receiving my order I ran into Denyse Arseneault Zyveniuk the president of the New Brunswick International Appalachian trail (she is the one on the right, the women to the left is her friend). She is a bit eccentric and scatter brained. She insisted I do an interview and photo shoot with the regional paper. So we spent an hour at their office. Then she took me to the South side of town so I could continue hitch hiking. At this point I did not think I would make it in time to meet Ben. I started hitching about 3pm on Friday afternoon and I was meeting Ben at 12pm Sunday afternoon somewhere near Montpelier VT some 517 miles left .

After Denyse dropped me off I got a ride to St. Quentin NB. In St Quentin I could not get a ride. I walked about 5 km through town and out the other side without one person even slowing down for me. It was now 7pm and I was looking for an empty field to set up camp for the night. I still had almost 100 miles to the border of Maine. Then out of nowhere a guy yells at me from his front porch. It was Carlos. His family saw me walking past their house and he invited me inside. They are from Santiago de Chile and they immigrated to Canada. The whole family speaks English, French, and Spanish fluently. They are amazing. They served me dinner, did my laundry, gave me a shower, let me stay in their guest room, feed me breakfast, and gave me a ride to the border the next day. This is one of the closest most loving families I have ever met. They are so generous and willing to help out their fellow man. The two boys are Sebastian and Christian and parents are Luz and Carlos. I am so very thankful to them. I was feeling really low that night and they turned me around.
There is a big gap in my pictures now. I was so busy and focused on getting to Ben I did not take any pictures. On Saturday morning after the Chilean family dropped me off I crossed the border with little hassle. Then I got several quick and easy rides from VERY nice people all the way to New Port Maine. In New Port I had planned to hitch down ME Hwy 2 straight into Montpelier VT. Only problem was no one would pick me up. It was too small of a road and no one was going long distances. So I waited an hour then decided I would never make it by Sunday so I went back to Interstate 95 and got a ride instantly. I headed South figuring I would hitch a ride West on a W bound interstate to Interstate 91 where Ben would be coming South on Sunday heading to NYC. I got to Waterville and it was almost dark. I was standing on the entrance ramp and it was about to rain. I was feel low again and that I would not make it. Also I was in a city with nowhere to pitch my tent. Then Rob picked me up. He is 28 years old, about to start his own business. He lives out side of Portland Maine and just so happened to be heading to a Red Sox game in Boston on Sunday morning. He took me to a cell phone store so I could have a phone and then took me home to stay at his house. He was awesome. The next day we headed towards Boston but when we stopped to pick up one if his friends at a store I met a man headed to Springfield MA I figured it would be easier for Ben to pick me up there on his way South so I said good bye to Rob and threw my pack in this guys SUV. His name was Mark, he is extremely well read and intelligent. We had many great discussions over politics and the state of the world. He even bought me a burger for lunch. I was extremely impressed by Mark. Anyways to make a long story short (too late) Ben picked me up in Springfield, his little sister and her friend and I drove his car to Dallas and he drove his motorcycle. Then they all went to Austin. I stayed with Tyler and then drove to Kansas on Friday 9-18-09. The picture is of Billie my brother in-laws mother. She has taken the place of my grand mother and is now family. She has recently been placed in assisted living. I had a really great time visiting with her and talking about the old times.
Before I left for Kansas we all got together for dinner. From left to right (top row) is Tyler, Tony, and Dad. Left to right (bottom row) is Victoria, Ian, and, Mom. I had a great time visiting with them and miss them already.
If you want to see my hair cut Tyler documented it on his website it is http://tylerbailey.blogspot.com/
and if you click on my picture you will be able to see all of my hair cutting pictures.
I guess this is the end of the AT/IAT adventures...Now onto the next experience!

I AM FINISHED! I have walked 2869.5 miles

So it has been an exciting week, I have finally finished the IAT or as they call it here "Le Sentier International des Appalaches" I walked 2869.5 trail miles but the actual real number of miles walked is probably more like 3300. I am so stoked to be headed back to Sara. I am ready to go home!

This is Route 132 it runs all along the coast of Gaspé peninsula. It reminded me of highway 1 in California along the coast. I have covered more than half of this road by walking or now hitching. I really love the ocean and coast.

Outside of Èpèe I lost the trail. It was the only time I actually lost it. Well I knew after 2km that I was off trail but I was so sick and tired of them not marking the trail properly that I refused to go back AGAIN. So I pressed on knowing that I was coming up on a road. At the dirt road I headed South to rejoin the IAT again. But at this point it was 7:15pm and almost dark. I decided I may have come out South of the trail and was going the wrong way. Just as I turned around these guys drove past. They gave me a ride the last 1km South to rejoin the trail. They were SUPER awesome trail angles.

100 miles to go! This is just before Village Madaline. I was pumped to only have 100 miles left!

The Moon rising out side of Gran Valleé. It was an awesome night sleeping on this beach. Luckily I was on the grass, the beaches here are all rocks.

The Sun setting at the beach near Gran Valleè. The sun on the ocean is magnificent.

Most of the beach/ocean front looks like this where the rocks have been pushed up and start building up to the mountains. It was kind of cool having all these vertical rocks

This is Ursela she is Swiss, we met on Monday. Besides Simon she is the only other thru-hiker I have met. She hiked the AT in 1997 with her husband and is now finishing the IAT. We only have 85km (51miles) left at this point. I was planning on finishing on Wednesday, and she was going to finish on Saturday.

This is Marconi light house, they call it "The world's most traveled lighthouse". It was built here then moved to Montreal then moved back here.

This is my rock chair I found on the beach. I loved it, it was really comfortable.

Here is a bear skull I found. I thought it was pretty cool.

There was this little old lady picking these in the woods. She didn't speak any English. But I gestured if I could eat these, and she showed me how to break open the green peal. Inside is a small nut shell, it looked like a tiny hazel nut shell then inside was 2 small nuts. They tasted pretty good but I would have needed like 1000 of them to fill me up.

This is on my last day. This is Gaspé bay and the town of Gaspé. You can't really see it though. If you look closely there is a REALLY long narrow beach that extends into the bay. It is natural. I thought it was kind of interesting.

That is Cape Gaspé. This is what I have been walking towards for 190 days.

Me on top of an observation tower. The view here was AWESOME!

On my way to the end of the cape there were tons of porcupines. This one just looked so cute I had to his picture.

In the last 8km the trail passed through this old cemetery. I thought that was kind of weird and rude. I don't know why it didn't just go around. There were only like 30 tombstones so it was quite small.

The last km marker. I don't know why they chose to put it on the privy door, weird.

THE FINISH. This is the light house on the tip of the cape. I was over come when I saw it. I screamed out and scared 2 elderly people just leaving, they stared me down but I scared them off when I started yelling at no one and running around. Turns out they gave me a ride out of the park and into town when I got back to the parking lot. These Canadians are nice people, you scare them and then they give you a ride.

My triumphant look. I have kicked the IAT/SIA ASS! I am done! TAKE THAT APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS!

I was excited....what can I say.

This is my porcupine friend at the light house, I was yelling and talking to him and screaming and taking pictures. I was excited and needed someone to share it with since all the people had left for the night. He was a very calm fellow though, cool as a cucumber, he just kept on eating his grasses... he was a good friend to me.

This is my Baxter peak rock and my Paloma peak rock. I carried them from Katahdin and threw them into the ocean! They made it!

This is my leather bracelet with a moon and dolphins on it. I found it in Colombia, and I vowed to wear it until it fell off. Well on the Restigouch river it fell off. But I felt it fitting for it to make it to Cap Gaspé. So I strapped it to the outside of my bag and vowed if it held on the whole way without my interference then it would get to go into the ocean. Well she made it and I threw it into the ocean. It was poetic since I left the NWO necklace Rachel made me at Baxter Peak Katahdin.

I was SO happy I was done! And the sun was in my face, but mostly I was happy to be done.

After I got a ride from the old people out of the National parc Forillon I had to sleep by the road. No one would pick me up. The next day an adventure tourism professor (coolest major EVER) gave me a ride to Ville Gaspé. Then good old Alain here gave me a ride 130km to Chandler. I hadn't even started hitching yet he just picked me up. He was really cool. He does IT work on computer systems at retailers and offices all around Gaspè peninsula so that was why he was headed to Chandler. He by far gave me the longest ride. All the others have been less than 40km so it is taking a very long time to get anywhere. I am now in Campbellton New Brunswick (again, this is where I bought the new shoes) and I am hoping that since I will be on a highway now it will go faster. Also more people speak English here so that will help. I plan on taking route 11 to route 17 which crosses into Maine after 140km or so. Then it turns into Highway 1 and meets up with Interstate 95 in Ft. Fairfield, Maine. That's the plan, hope I make it to Vermont by Sunday morning for Ben to drive me to Texas! Wish me luck.

I am in St. Louis, Quebec.

It has taken me a really long time to find the internet. I am in St. Louis on the Gulf of St. Laurent. I have about 5 days left until I reach the tip of Gaspé. The terrain has gotten VERY beautiful. The trail is so much nicer and prettier. I love it here. And the Ocean is magnificent. Since the last blog I have covered almost 550km, and I only have 200km left. That`s about 120miles.


MEEE!

They have really morbid signs here to tell you not to speed. The sign basically says "pay attention to kids or they will end up like Jacob".

My first day canoing on the Restigouch. This river was awesome. It had some EASY rapids. I would have said they were classified as a .5 rapid. But it was fun all the same. This is a world famous salmon river. The week before I got here Tom Cruise and George H Bush were fishing on this river. One of the guides that worked at the lodge that Tom was at gave me a ride to the river.

Another view of the river. The pics do not do it justice it was so pretty and rustic. People had built cabins along the shore and the only way to reach them was to canoe to them. This river is a popular weekend trip. Lots of people rent canoes and spend the weekend going down the river. There are very nice campsites all along the river that the river authority maintain. They even put out chopped fire wood for the guests, and it is ALL free. You only pay the canoe rental, which was only $60 for 3 days.

These are some kind of water fowl. They would freak out and quack when I got close and then run on the water to get away.

These people were awesome. They were weekenders out canoeing. I got to this camp and it was raining so we stayed under the cover and they gave me so much food and beer. I loved it. They said there is a store in Canada called "The Bulk Barn" and they have bulk bins of ANYTHING you could ever want. These people raided the store. They had trail mixes, candies, gummies, drink mixes, EVERYTHING. I love these people.

The next morning after the rain. The river was beautiful.

I was sleeping in my canoe letting the current take me when this eagle swooped down next to me and caught a fish. This is the eagle eating the fish on the shore. It was amazing.

Really bad picture but it is of a bald eagle. I saw at least 10 eagles (I saw the same one a few times I think) while I was on the river. This place is a haven for them.

I had to take a side trip to Campbellton. A nice old lady gave me a ride. She spoke NO English and I do not think she was even going to Campbellton but she gave me a ride 35km out of her way. She was very sweet. They really love salmon here. It is called the salmon capitol. The town is located at the mouth of the Restigouch where is pours into the Atlantic. So all the salmon swim past this town to spawn.

Good bye old boots. These old boys had 1450 plus miles on them. It was time for new shoes!

Hello new shoes. They feel so much better. I love it when I have sole to grip slick rocks and support on my feet.

This is the edge of town where the river starts to become salt. The ocean is only 10-15 more km away.

I got a ride back to Matapedia from a college student returning to University. He didn't speak any English either. He also drove about 80mph on a 50mph road and listened to French rap. I loved that kid, he was awesome. This is the start of the Quebec section of the trail. This is the first real trail I have been on. It was SO nice to be getting back into the woods and off of roads. The trail is rough and over grown due to lack of maintenance. But it was nice all the same.

A beautiful waterfall.

Apparently this beaver worked REALLY hard on this tree. He circled it several times.

The Matapedia valley. It was pretty, and the start of the Chic-Choc mountains. The terrain climbs from here.

This is a beautiful wheat field. I enjoyed walking through the swaying wheat. It was almost magical being under the bright blue sky and surrounded by golden wheat. This was outside of Causapacal. I walked over 60km that day and talked to Sara for over an hour and ate a 30min lunch. Dang I`m fast (really the terrain was easy).

This is a maple sap farm. The tubes all run down hill to a sugar shack where they boil the sap into maple syrup.

Scary moose skull.

The Valley at dusk.

I came across this porcupine about 7:30pm. He did not want to vacate the trail. On this night between 7:00pm and 8:00pm I saw 3 moose (2 were bulls), 2 bears, this guy and a bat tried to hit me in the face. This was all within the first 10km of the Réserve Faunique de Matane. It is a nature preserve. There were SO many animals here. It is because they are protected and NO one walks through the park they all drive and stick to the roads. This was the most rugged and difficult section of the trail. I found it nice. Sections of the AT were 100 times more difficult.

This is Dominic and Jérémy. I met them in the reserve. They gave me whiskey and brandy. It was FREEZING that night. I got so cold I woke up at 3am and made a fire and sat by it till 4:30 to stay warm. These guys are school teachers in Gaspé. They were awesome and so hospitable.

Ruffled Grouse.

Big bull moose. When I saw this guy he was hanging out with 5 other bull moose. He was the only one that didn`t run. I guess during summer they all hang out together. But here in a few more weeks when rutting season starts then the fighting will be on.

This is Lac Matane. One of the beautiful lakes in the area.

My first good picture of the gulf of St. Laurent. I actually saw it earlier in the day but the picture was not as good. It is hard to see but way off in the distance about 40km is the gulf.

I had to cross this rickety slick bridge in the "hardest section" of the IAT. This bridge is over a waterfall and is about 40 ft above sharp rocks. Some one tied ropes to use as a railing but they were so loose they were useless. Also you can't really tell but the bridge is listing to one side. Bad situation. But apparently I made it.

This is one of the most beautiful waterfalls I have seen. It had about a 250ft drop. It was at the end of the Reserve. Now I was headed into the Parc National de Gaspé.

This is me by the waterfall. I have too much hair now. I need a shave and a hair cut.

In the National parc they have built all these REALLY nice cabins. They all have wood and a stove. They have bunks and a cooking area and tables and chairs. They cost $25 per night but they are SO nice.

Looking whistfully at the sunrise. I am contemplating life.

The mountians in the Parc remind me of Perù. They are steep and jagged. They make for a wonderful landscape. Very rugged. They were shaped this way due to glaciers that receeded 250,000 years ago. They carved out this entire area leaving this wonderful landscape.

This is Mt. Albert. It is all barren rock. It reminded me of Utah or the high desert.

The view from the top of some Mountain.

This is Mario Gagne on the left and Jean-François Bouchard on the right. I met them in one of the cabins. Jean-François Bouchard's son hiked the AT in 1997 so he was sympathetic to thru-hikers. They gave me SO much food. It was a good thing too. I had been doing big miles in pretty big mountains so I was starving. They gave me roast duck, fish bisque, spaghetti in meat sauce, rice, Swiss chocolate, single malt scotch, fine cheese, and a bunch of granola bars. I was on a food high. These guys are AWESOME! I love them.

This is the top of Mt. Albert. It looks like a desert. The entire area was magnificent. This whole day I was in wonder at the beauty of the parc.

The VERY FIRST tree changing color. I bet this area is beautiful when they all change. This one is a little early but in 2-3 weeks the rest will catch up. There is already a chill in the air, fall is coming fast here.

This is Mt Jacques-Cartier The tallest mountain in Québec and the tallest in the region. It is all bald and rocky on top. Also there is a herd of about 200 caribou that frequent the summit. It was an amazing mountain. The views that day were spectacular. With the sun coming through the clouds.

This was the only caribou I saw on the mountain. I guess the rest of the herd was in the low lands. It was cold and windy that day though so I don`t blame them.

This is the view from the top of the mountain. I have about 10 pictures similar to this one. I thought they were all so spectacular, I wanted to post them all, but I did not want to bore you.

This is Phillip. He was a carpenter in Québec then he started building movie sets. He got to work with Johnny Depp. But apparently The Governator changed California law and made it cheaper to film in Hollywood again so not as many movies are being made in Canada now. So Phillip is going back to the University to study philosophy. He just bought a 1997 BMW 7 series from his friend for $3000 Canadian and he is on a giant road trip before he goes back to school next week. This guy was great. He shared a 6 pack of Heineken with me. I was glad too because I was beat after climbing over Mt Albert and Mt Jacques in the same day. Plus I was starting to get a shin splint. So the beer really helped me recover.

Evidence of the glacial activity. You can see the pattern the ice carved into the rock.

This is the Fleuve de St. Laurent from on top of Mt. St. Pierre. Now that I made it to the coast I will be along the water the last 200km. It is so pretty along the ocean. I have been pushing it pretty hard walking 12-14 hours per day, averaging 25 or more miles per day. Today I didn`t wake up until 7am and now I have spent 2 hours on the internet doing this blog. I guess I will only get about 15 miles done today. Oh well that is the way it goes when you're having fun. I can`t wait to see what is next along the coast. But I am also excited to be almost done and heading home.