hike the AT

unlikely dream, but you never know

I’ve wanted to do this for years. Maybe now I can start planning

And, as I’ve learned, if you want to do something, making specific actions toward that goal are the only way to make it happen. I’ve already set aside the time to do it next spring/summer. Now all I have to do is read up a bit, and plan my food situation.

i have had the desire in recent years to take a break and just vanish. i would love to be able to take the time to vanish and go to the AT and spend six months with myself and the elements. maybe something of a rebirth.

This is going to be the first thing I do when I get out of the Air Force. It will be a wonderful way to clear my head and figure out where I want to go from there.

Except that I get out in August… hmmm, might need to plan this a bit more. Maybe do it N—> S? Or just get really cold.

Or wait until spring.

so i’ve hiked the first 100 miles 3 times. twice to see other people off on their own thru hike. and once when i attempted to thru hike the at in 1999. my wife and i only made it 300 miles that time. she got bored and i had wicked foot pain. but i still want to do it. i’ll probably get better shoes next time, lose weight before i hike, and south bound it for some peace and quiet. but now that i’ve got a kid, this goal will need to wait until he’s in college (or longer if we have more kids).

While I think it would be really cool to do a thru-hike, I don’t think that is realistic for me. But I would like to do some of it each year.

Hiking the A.T. has been a dream since as long as I can remember. I grew up not far from the trail and would hike it often – passing those white stripes in wonder. To this day I wonder where the trail leads and what scenes and beauty lies beyond where I always turned back. I want to see all those places one day. To walk where so many have walked contemplating the wilderness around them or cursing it for their bug bites, blisters, and the lack of comforts. It seems a thru-hike is out of my reach and less likely the older I get as the responsiblities pile around me… so to section-hike the entire A.T. is still a worthy goal and dream for me.

I decided in 5th grade to thru-hike the AT someday. My life has been enriched by many small trips on the AT, yet the the BIG hike still sits on my “things to do before I die” list. I’m not dead yet!

to walk half a mile.