Molly the Dog

  Did I mention the dog??

  I should have. But there is some back story.  When I started doing the research on the trail I didn't get a good vibe on dog friendliness.  There are two sections of the trail that outright prohibit pets; The Smoky Mountains and Baxter State Park.  These are some really memorable and big points of the trail.  And it's not that I don't love my dog.  I do.  She's great, this is her.....Molly.

  Molly goes with me practically everywhere that I don't drive, and sometimes there too.  But on the trail I started figuring in expenses and the fact that Molly's a grammie in dog years.  I just thought I'd do better on my own.  Even though she would be miserable.  Probably.

  But as I was getting closer and closer to the date and more and more prepared I ran into a situation that I think all through hikers are forced to confront.  It's that none of us are really going to be hiking this alone.

  I mean, yes... no doubt we'll meet tons of people as we tramp miles closer to Maine.  But we will still be carrying a part of the people we left behind...our friends and our families.  They will be worried and flustered, but also excited and proud.  So, I came to realize that we aren't going alone.

  We are taking hopes and fears and expectations and sometimes... guilt.  Guilt about leaving your old dog at base camp.  Or maybe some of the fear that every parent has when their child ventures into the unknown.  Maybe hope that amazing things can still be done.  Even today.  When amazing sometimes seems like someone else's distant little miracle.

  Coming to the decision to take Molly  was  a big decision, but it got big time bonus points with those staying behind running my base camp.  My Mom and my sister.  They didn't want to see the sad Molly face any more than I would.  Did I mention Molly is a Lab, intensely loyal and of fine stick retrieving stock?

  So, last week, I asked Molly if she wanted to walk to Maine.  She asked if they made french fries in Maine and I said yes, of course.  And so we've agreed to go.  Together.