Case Dismissed

Photo: Gifts from the best fans in the world

Today I resolved the infractions filed against me by Baxter State Park rangers.

The littering charged was dismissed, and rightfully so.  I did not litter, not for over 2,189 miles, not at the top of Mount Katahdin.

The group size charge was also dismissed, no surprise there.  I checked in at the base of Mount Katahdin with 12 people and that’s all my group ever had.

The consumption of alcohol charge was accepted.  I had a couple of sips of champagne.  A friend brought the bottle without my knowledge to surprise me and two rangers at the bottom gave him a verbal okay.  This is even acknowledged in the formal Baxter State Park ranger statements.  I got caught up in the invitation to celebrate a transformative journey at the end of the Appalachian Trail, not to mention it was my wife’s birthday.  I’ll own that for what it is.  I agreed to a fine of $500 so that I would not have to travel back to Maine.  Note: The normal charge is $200, but the DA and judge must have felt like they needed to treat me differently.  In the media the DA keeps changing his mind, giving conflicting statements for the extra amount.

The reaction of Baxter State Park officials caught me off guard.  Upon finishing my 46 day journey I was dazed with fatigue when I returned to the trailhead, only to receive the citations from three bullet proof vested rangers bearing arms.  Now rested, I am disappointed with the extraordinary media effort used by the Park Director, Jensen Bissell who wasn’t even present. Next time he should try to get the facts straight before painting me in a bad light to further his agenda and benefit the park.

Over the past months I’ve learned a lot about Governor Percival Baxter.  He certainly had grand vision for hikers using Mount Katahdin for recreation, just as I did, and I’m pretty sure he would have celebrated my accomplishment as an inspiration to others.

Fittingly, I completed the Appalachian Trail on July 12, Henry David Thoreau’s birthday.  My favorite quote of his is: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.“

But I think the most apropos Thoreau quote is: “That government is best which governs least.”

Thank you all for your continued support!

Keep putting one foot in front of the other,

Scott