I feel like I can safely say that everyone here reading this has had an interview at some point in their life. As a seasonal worker, I have had my fair share of them. For me, when an interview is coming up, I ask myself questions and answer them out loud. At some point, you’ve just got to embrace the crazy. I go through the most common ones and then ask myself weird ones for the hell of it. The one question I loath being asked though is the most bland, umbrella statement ever: tell me about yourself. Like… what do I say? “Um…yeah, I have a degree, a passion for waterfalls, and oh! I have two mental illnesses that won’t leave me alone.” No. There’s being honest and then there’s being brutally honest. The take away here is that I suck at them. So, with that, let me introduce myself.

Let Me Introduce Myself

Hello! My name is Morgan. I say my pronouns are they/them since I’m non-binary, but I don’t care what you call me as long as you’re respectful. I’m 25 and have been doing seasonal work ever since I started college. I graduated college back in May of 2021 with an Associates in Science, a Bachelor’s in Environmental Studies, and minors in Theatre and Women, Gender, and Sexuality. All the seasonal work I have done doesn’t utilize any of those degrees, so that’s always fun to reflect on. I have worn many hats during my seasonal work; I was a whitewater rafting guide in Kentucky, an outdoor instructor in California, a trail crew member in Idaho, a gondola operator in Colorado, and most recently, a park ranger in Montana. And since I have lived in a variety of locations, home defaults to ‘the road’. Currently, though, I’m in northeast Oklahoma preparing and training for my NOBO thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail.

Why am I Hiking?

Why am I hiking the Appalachian Trail? Good question. Before I started writing down my reasons why, I would typically say, “Because I have to.” It was an answer that I could never articulate. How to I describe to someone who doesn’t understand why people hike their asses into the ground that the reason we hike is that there is such a deep yearning in our soul? That being on trail is fate, a destiny that you can’t ignore, a journey that must be taken? At least, that’s the way it is for me.

I was ten when I first saw a mountain. I grew up in central Iowa and all I knew were rolling grassy hills, cow farms, and corn and soy beans that stretched into the horizon. The hill my childhood house was on was a mountain to me. I didn’t know any better. On a family vacation to North Carolina, I woke up from a nap to find myself staring at rocky cliffs so high that I couldn’t even see the sky. I was in awe. And it was in that awe, that I knew that the mountains would always hold a place in my heart. I was obsessed with the Appalachian Mountains. I wanted to hike to every peak, to see every waterfall, touch every tree. When our vacation was over and I was surrounded by the familiar Midwest landscape, I went to YouTube and it was there that I learned about this thing called the Appalachian Trail.

I have sixteen reasons for thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail. Many can be grouped together under a similar banner, so I’ll be sharing my main three with you.

 

Reason Number One

In my child’s mind, the ability to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail was linked to everything I wanted for myself. That if I succeeded, I would be the best possible version of myself. If only it were that simple. As the years passed, the AT continued to be the ultimate end goal for me. And every year, I told myself that I could never do it.

Why? Two reasons. One, I had absolutely no backpacking experience. I thought backpacking was about hunting and gathering and that I would perish on the side of the trail because I ate poisoned berries. Obviously, my research as a kid wasn’t that great. And two, my main reason, was because I lacked confidence. All my life, I have been told that I’m overweight and need to lose some pounds by my peers and family. Society, in particular, fat-shames everyone and social media reflects those values. After hearing and seeing these messages all my life, I told myself that I could never hike that far with a backpack. That since I had no experience, I would forever have no experience. It wasn’t until I applied for a member position on a trails crew that I started fighting back against the negative mentality. And to continue fighting, I will thru-hike the AT to prove to myself (and my inner child) that I can do it. I hike in hopes to build up confidence in my abilities and myself.

Reason Number Two

I need to reevaluate the direction of my career. I have been able to see and explore so much of the United States as a seasonal that I will forever be grateful for, but the companies and organizations that hire seasonals don’t provide the support that is needed. In addition to this, I am finally feeling the urge to settle down. Instead of moving two/three times a year, it’d be nice to move every two to four years. I want to continue exploring the different pathways of being a park ranger, but I need time to figure out what I really want to do and how that’s going to look like.

Reason Number Three

I have realized that life is too short and never guaranteed. At the end of 2023, one of my grandmothers passed away. I didn’t have a great relationship with her, but she was excited for me when I first announced my intention to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. She alluded to regretting that she waited until retirement to do the things she wanted. When she passed, it became very clear to me that waiting until retirement is a flawed life approach. I’m in a unique position of not being tied down anywhere to do whatever it is I want. I am attempting to live that practice.

What Now?

I’ll continue to prepare. My start date is mid-March, so I have a little over a month before taking on the journey of a lifetime. In future blogs, I’ll discuss specific steps I’m taking to prepare and a break down of why I chose the gear I did. If you’ve liked what you’ve read so far, come and follow along my journey! From now to Katahdin!