Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Donate!

If you're feeling generous, feel free to click on over to my donation page on Hikefor.com. Once there you can select the amount you would like to pledge. The organizations that I will be hiking for are St.Jude Children's Research Hospital and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. Please keep in mind that donations are based on miles and you will not be legally bound by your pledge should you change your mind over the next 6-7 months. Regardless, these are good organizations worthy of your donations.

Up and Running

Forgive the incomplete nature of this site and the others as I'm still in the process of setting everything up.

The sole purpose of my blog (and my other sites) is to keep everyone updated on my hike. My goal is to update this blog and the other sites weekly so you can read up on my adventure, enjoy the beautiful pictures, and check out some video blogs and field reviews of the gear that I'll be carrying with me on my journey.

Now, onto a breakdown of the Appalachian Trail for anyone who is curious but too lazy to Google it.

The Appalachian Trail, hereinafter referred to as the AT, is a nearly 2200 mile hiking trail that begins at the top of Springer Mountain in Georgia and ends at Mt. Katahdin in Maine and was conceived by Benton MacKaye in 1921. The AT passes through 14 states: Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. It passes through eight national forests and two national parks (backcountry permits are required for the national parks).

When you start telling people about your upcoming hike, you get a lot of interesting reactions. It's amazing how many people think that taking on such an adventure is dangerous. The AT is actually quite safe; 3 million people every year spend varying amounts of time on the trail. Of those 3 million, 2,700 attempt a thru-hike (a thru-hike is hiker terminology for completing the trail in one hike), and around 700-800 hikers actually complete their thru-hikes. Most hikers never have aggressive encounters with wildlife, the terrain is easy and safe enough to avoid serious injury as long as you're not a total moron, and the trail itself is pretty obvious (though if you're not paying attention you can easily end up on a different, intersecting trail) so getting lost isn't much of an issue. What about the people? Yes, people are unpredictable. Last year while I was on a four day hike of the AT with my friend Hank, we encountered a couple hikers who warned us about a sketchy man at the next shelter. They said the man had a gun and that he mentioned to them that he was on the run from the law. Whether any of this was true or not, who knows? We never saw him. Everyone we encountered was nice, interesting, and helpful. After having spent many hours on AT forums and reading over other people's experiences, I can safely say that the AT sounds just as safe as my bedroom... although maybe little less comfortable.

When it comes to physical training to ready yourself for such long distance trek, you don't really need to do too much. It never hurts to be in good shape, fit, healthy. However, the AT is a trail that can be completed by anyone with the drive and the time. A blind man completed the trail with his guide dog. Double amputees have completed the trail. People with a wide range of chronic and terminal illnesses have completed the trail. It's mostly a mental journey rather than physical. It’s all about committing yourself, from the bright and happy beginning to the tired and dirty end. The first few weeks of hauling a 30-40 lb. backpack up and down mountains will condition you just fine. I’m not suggesting doing nothing, however. Like I mentioned earlier, it never hurts to train. The most beneficial exercises for long distance hiking are ones that will strengthen your lower body and core. Cardio is a definite must if you would like to have a relatively comfortable start.

For me, this trip will be all about the psychological aspect. I'm not a terribly confident person, my ambition is lacking, and my self-esteem spends a lot of time in the mud. I only just earned my bachelor's degree in the summer of 2013 (10 years after my first day of college), I haven't had any luck with employment related to my nonexistent career, I just turned 30, and my first year of marriage has witnessed some hiccups. Although lately I have been feeling better, over the last couple of years I've been dealing with anxiety and even depression (both undiagnosed but pretty obvious). Honestly, I feel like I can't win, which is why I want to thru-hike the AT. I want to set an ambitious goal for myself, follow through, and succeed... something I feel like I've forgotten how to do.

I've wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail ever since my dad first brought up the idea of doing a multi-day hike after I graduated high school. Nothing ever came of that suggestion but the idea stuck with me. The thought of getting to spend weeks out in nature, months even, has always appealed to me and I am beyond thrilled to have this opportunity and forever thankful for the support of my wife in this endeavor.