I’ve hiked sections of the trail during the summers of 2004 and 2005. Ever since that, I’ve always wanted to return and to experience the entire thing.

For randomness…my trail name is Almond Joy. There is a strange story attached.
On my first trek, I was with a group of people. It had been raining, and one of the girls there slipped on a rock and put a gash in her head. We got it somewhat cleaned up, and decided to break there for lunch. There were Nature Valley bars, and I had never had one before. I ate it, and then we decided to drop our packs on the side, at least hike to the top of the mountain, and the trek back down to bring the girl to the hospital. When I got to the top of the mountain, I started to feel very weak and have issues breathing properly. I immediately realized that I was having a mild allergic reaction to the bar, because it contained almonds and I am allergic to tree nuts. I downed some Benadryll, and then also went to the hospital for saftery precautions. The girl and I now joke that I had simply done it to be able to accompany her to the hospital, but it really was a bonding experience for the two of us. When I returned to base camp, someone told me that I had to stop sneaking the Almond Joys, and from then on I had a name.