Rain hits your windshield as you drive into town. It's just another typical Saturday morning as you head to the grocery store. With each turn you go deeper and deeper into the woods. This is the only way to get to the store and you think it's pretty even if it does take a long time. This road connects to a hiking path called the Appalachian Trail. Or at least that's what you think it's called. You don't know much about the AT aside from hiking on it and that it's suuuuuper long. Suddenly a bony, bearded, and bedraggled guy with a backpack trudges out of the woods and sticks his thumb out. "Who is that and what on earth is he doing?" you think. Curiosity gets the best of you while you slow down and roll down the window to see if he's ok. The next thing you know, your plans have changed and there is a stranger in the back seat. You are now tasked with driving him to the grocery store with you. Thoughts are racing around your head, "How has a messy hiker talked his way into your car? You couldn't just leave him in the rain! It's another 8 miles to the town!" He begins to tell you about how he is thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail and how it has been one of the most transformative experiences of his life. He goes on to tell stories of the people he has met, animals he has encountered, and the sheer beauty of this world. While on one hand, you think he is absolutely bonkers, on the other it sounds like he's living the dream. You drop him off, he thanks you, and you begin absent-mindedly snaking through the grocery aisles. But you now have a smile on your face and a longing to be outdoors.
Hi guys, this story above may have come out of my imagination, but is not too far off from encounters that people have with Appalachian Trail thru-hikers every year. Just this little interaction with somebody can spark so many ideas, thoughts & new perspectives. Can someone really walk all the way from Georgia to Maine? Could I walk from Georgia to Maine? Why would I want to walk from Georgia to Maine? As someone who grew up loving the outdoors, this was not something that has crossed my mind. Living in New Jersey, the AT basically went through my backyard. Sure I had hiked bits of it before; hiking the Delaware Water Gap seemed to be a right of passage for someone living in the area, but I didn't quite grasp the grandeur of the entire trail. As college ended and my obsession with hiking grew, I found myself in an entirely new environment with no directions as to what my next step would be as an adult. Yes, I could get a job and start the routine of "everyday life", but I was longing for something more. Earlier in the year, I had spent my spring break in the Great Smoky Mountains with my boyfriend who shares my passion for hiking. While there we hiked a section of the AT that goes through the park and encountered many thru-hikers. We asked them what they were doing and they explained what thru-hiking the AT was. After that, the seed had been sewn and I was immediately adding it to my bucket list of things I wanted to do one day. I just didn't realize that day would so soon.
After graduating college, I landed a half year position teaching music at a local high school. My boyfriend, who was in the same program as me in college, had gotten himself a very similar position. We both had work till January, but nothing on the horizon after that.
"Do you want to thru-hike the AT?" I asked him.
"Yeah of course I do" he replied. "No I mean do you want to hike the AT this year?" I say.
"I thought you'd never ask."
So you were the instigator?😳