Hello, people of The Trek community!  This is my first post on this platform as I enter the final days of preparation for a South Bound (SOBO) Appalachian Trail (AT) thru-hike.  I expect the hike to take me from 5-6 months, experiencing the summer in New England and following the fall through the southern Appalachians.  While the physical challenges will be great, the mental pressure may be greater.  To complete such a time-consuming and physically demanding task, one needs to have a great deal of purpose and dedication.  I want to share with you some of the “why” I have chosen to take on this journey now.

Why take 6 months and wander down the AT?

I recently retired from the Army after serving just over 20 years.  During that time, my family and I moved 13 different times.  We lived in 4 different states and 3 different countries (4 for me) outside the US.  While mostly enjoyable and rewarding, all of my jobs came with a high level of stress and massive time commitments.  The Army talks about work-life balance but does a poor job ensuring it happens.  I’m deliberately swinging the pendulum to the other side, focusing on life to decompress from the work.

My Army career has taken me to some amazing locations for both work and vacation.  My primary job the last 10 years was building defense and security relationships with US allies and partners.  During this work, I mostly interacted with our foreign partners the US diplomatic community.  These are amazing Americans doing Washington D.C.’s work in far away places, and I am lucky that my family and I got to know them.  As I transition away from this work into the role of a private citizen, I want to use my time on the AT to get to better know and reconnect with the Americans we were working for.  I also want to reconnect with the beauty of the nature of the Appalachian Mountains, taking the time to observe the interconnectedness of the flora and fauna.

This journey will certainly have great benefits for me personally, but I want to use my time to help others, too.  I am walking the AT, through nature with a mindful purpose, to support Camp Resilient in North Carolina. They provide a space for military members, veterans and their family members to practice mindfulness in a natural setting to heal wounds both seen and unseen. My goal is to raise $2198 for Camp Resilient, one dollar for each mile of the length of the Appalachian Trail this year.  You can donate directly to them using the “Tip the Author” button near the bottom of my posts.

Why the AT?

Growing up in Georgia, I spent a lot of weekends with my dad and my Boy Scout troop hiking portions of the AT.  My first trip was challenging because I was carrying too much weight and did not even have a hip belt on my pack.  The next trip, despite being 3 times as long as the first, was much more enjoyable as I upgraded my pack and downsized my gear.  I always looked forward to my next backpacking trip, planning routes and menus months before departure.  Besides the AT, we hiked many of the other trails in north Georgia, but the AT was always viewed as the superior pathway.

Between my junior and senior year at college, I completed a 160-mile, 2 week hike on the AT in North Carolina.  Instead of being happy to be finished, I wanted to keep walking.  I knew at that point that I wanted to complete a thru-hike.

Why SOBO?

That 160 mile hike through North Carolina was such an impactful experience for me.  It was towards the end of May, so most of the thru-hikers were well past my location.  There was a 48-hour period when I only saw one person for a brief moment.  The rest of the time was not as lonely, but campsites and shelters were generally uncrowded.  The experience was most enjoyable.

Growing up hiking the very southern portions of the AT, I presumed my thru-hike would begin at Spring Mountain, GA.  Fast forward 20 years or so when I found myself at Neel Gap and the Mountain Crossings outfitters in late March of 2022.  This resupply point and gear outfitter is on the northside of Blood Mountain, about 30 miles into a NOBO thru-hiker’s trek.  I had been to this place many times before but had never seen the atmosphere like what I saw that day.  It resembled a frat party more than people out to appreciate nature.  Having already researched the general differences between NOBO and SOBO thru-hiking options, I began planning for a more solitary SOBO hike.

Besides being able to hike my own more solitary hike, all the hard parts are out of the way first on a SOBO.  Mount Katahdin is arguably the hardest climb on the AT.  I will complete it on Day 1.  The 100 Mile Wilderness awaits me next, but I should be through before Day 10.  The black flies of Maine will either drive me crazy or drive me onwards.  The legendary White Mountains and Presidential Peaks will be complete before I hit 500 miles.  The remaining 1,500 miles should be pretty easy.  The heat of a New England summer. Winter weather in the Smokies.  Rocks in Pennsylvania and Maryland.  Pretty much a cakewalk, right?

Despite these challenges, every step I take will be a step towards home.

Why now?

This point in my life is a natural transition.  The responsibilities of the Army are gone while a civilian job still lies on a future horizon.  My finances are secure enough to support my family and any needs I will have while on my trek.  I am lucky to have a family who is supportive of another long absence from them.  This trip has been basically a lifetime in planning and a much needed decompression from Army life.  My family has been with me every step of the way, but these are some steps I need to take alone.

There are probably other times in the future when this thru-hike would make more or less sense.  Maybe it would be better to wait until the kids are out of the house.  Maybe wait until I make some more money in my second career.  But my body will not wait.  In my 40s now, pretty much my entire body has some sort of pain.  My prep hikes have told me that I need to be careful with everything from the soles of my feet to my receding hairline.  I am confident I can complete my thru-hike this year despite these challenges, but I cannot wait much longer.

Why Blog?

Backpacking is a lot of work, so why pile more tasks onto an already arduous journey?  I hope to inspire others facing various challenges to get out and hike for a day, week, month, or a thru-hike.  I will use this blog to post updates on my hike and provide readers with insights on my thoughts about my physical and emotional journey.  If one person gets in the woods after reading something I wrote, I will consider the effort a success.  Please consider subscribing to my space as I walk the AT.

Please also consider making a donation to Camp Resilient HERE  to help other veterans like me.

More to follow as I finish a couple of prep hikes and finalize plans to fly to Maine!