Why hike the Appalachian Trail?

In the past few months, I've told a lot of people about our impending journey. Some people know all about the Appalachian Trail and respond with smiles and pats on the back. Others have no clue what I'm talking about. This post is for people who fall into the latter category.

What's the Appalachian Trail? And why do you need to take a semester off of your PhD to go hiking?

The Appalachian Trail is an approximately 2,200 mile trail (2,185.3 in 2014 according to the 2014 Data Book, a yearly issued trail guide that is a bible of sorts for thru hikers* and section hikers* (*=definitions below).  It starts at the top of Springer Mountain in Georgia and travels through 14 states up to Mt. Katahdin in Maine. It was dreamed up back in the 1920s. Completing this distance in 4 months requires hikers to travel 18 miles each day, taking no zeros* and providing the weather doesn't force you off the trail. Since my longest mileage in a single day is about 14 miles, and since I seem to have misplaced my magical ability to control the weather, its gonna take us longer than 4 months. Which is why I needed to take this spring semester off this year.

Thru Hiker - someone who hikes the entire distance of the Appalachian Trail in a single season. 

Section Hiker - someone who hikes long portions of the Appalachian Trail.

Zeros - A zero day is a day when no hiking mileage is accomplished. A day off, a side trip, what have you. "Neros" is also a term used on the trail. Its a day with very low mileage.

Here's a taste of the Appalachian Trail by a past thru hiker. Its a great video, and will give you a sense of what it is to be a thru hiker.





How do you get food?

While the Appalachian Trail is extensive, it travels through a lot of towns. Most thru hikers stop in towns and replenish their supplies or collect boxes from the post office or a hostel or other hiker-friendly locale to fill their packs again. 

 Where do you sleep?

In a shelter you carry in your backpack or in a lean-to on the trail. Lean-tos are typically three-sided wooden shelters that hikers use to stay off the ground and out of the elements. 

Do lots of people do this?

Yes! At least, a lot of people start out. The internet is a sketchy place, so a 30 second query yielded a wide variety of numbers of people that attempt and successfully complete a thru hike each year. That number, poorly averaged, is around 2000 people. Most people start in the south and follow the spring northward (Northbounders, or NOBOs), but some start late and travel south (Southbounders, or SOBOs). Somewhere between 1/4 and 1/10 of people who start actually complete a thru hike. 

So, while it is a trail full of natural beauty, its not one of solitude. So I hear, its quite social, many people making friends for life in those woods.

The million dollar question....Why?

Everyone has their own reasons for hiking the Appalachian Trail. Anyone who knows me knows I'm partial to older people. So, while I'll share my own reasons for hiking the trail in a later post, I'd like to share the story that I found most inspirational. That of the legendary 'Grandma Gatewood.' She hiked the entirety of the Appalachian Trail THREE SEPARATE TIMES. The first time she hiked it was in 1955 and she was 67. Think about the societal implications of a woman hiking across the continent solo at that time. What a bad ass! And she did it with a home-made backpack and Keds tennis shoes. I wish I had the chance to meet this woman before she passed. Can you imagine the kind of spitfire she must have been?

I have my own reasons for wanting to hike the Appalachian Trail, and no doubt Jesse has his. We actually haven't shared our reasons with each other. One night we were reminiscing our trip to Isle Royale in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, another night we watched a documentary on the Appalachian Trail, and a week or two later he said "I want to hike the Appalachian Trail." My dream has always been a trail. An outdoor adventure, or more appropriately, a series of them, leading into perpetuity. Shortly after I heard about the North Country Trail's Michigan leg, I told my mom I'd do something like that someday. I was 10 or 12. Of course I'd naturally gravitate to a trail on the east coast. I love the Northeast fiercely. And so many people I hold dear live there. But like so many things in this relationship, when he said "I want to hike the trail," I said "so do I," and it just came to be.