– to enjoy the beauty of nature

I didn’t grow up doing outdoorsy things and I’m ready to make up for lost time with the great outdoors. I find myself stopping on my walk to work in Yosemite just to look up at the sky through the canopy of trees, or stare at the granite walls and admire their timeless strength and peace and wondering what it was like before we were here and what it will be like after we are gone.

– to escape the confines of this consumer-driven society

“Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need.” – Tyler Durden

You’d be surprised when you remove major sources of advertising from your life, (i.e. television, radio, excessive internet use) and you start to ask yourself about your reasons for need, that the only thing you actually need is food. I already have clothes, I already have a shelter, I have a way to carry those things anywhere I go.

– to push myself physically and regain trust in my own body

At 16, I had a spinal fusion to correct scoliosis and at 23, I broke a vertebrae while cliff-jumping into a lake. The combination of these two things have made me fearful and tentative, and I am burdened by a seemingly endless list of things I’m not supposed to do, that I suddenly want to do more than ever. (skiing, snowboarding, horseback riding, watersports, running, jumping) … ok, let’s be honest, I have no interest in running.

I do have an interest in proving to myself and my body that I can still be strong and fun and adventurous and not meek and apprehensive.

But the thing that got me hooked on the AT, the real reason I can’t wait to get out there, is what I have read about the hiker community, and what I experienced volunteering with the ATC in May 2014.

When I volunteered to work on the trail in Grayson Highlands State Park in VA with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, I had been thinking about hiking the AT for about 5 months and knew that it would be the deciding factor. I was surprised that there were only a few thru-hikers in the volunteer group and I was the only aspiring thru-hiker, but my time there was nothing short of inspirational. The hikers in the group were loving and encouraging, asked questions about my plans, and gave advice. I’m sure they could tell how inexperienced I am, but they all gave me a solid “you-can-do-it”, which was definitely the most encouragement I had gotten so far. But the hikers on the trail were my true muse; the thru-hikers I saw were filthy, and hairy, and grinning from ear to ear. I was jealous and a fire was lit, I wanted to jump on the trail and start walking right then and there.

I want to belong to a group of people who are ready to drop everything and run into the woods. A group of people that are beaming and full of joy on day 42 of living outside. A group of people who are willing to do anything in their power to help each other out. A group of people who are free of judgment because no matter how different their backgrounds, they know they have at least one thing in common.

I am excited to share my story and hear other hikers’ stories and to find out what inspirations, questions, or problems led them to the AT and to know that we all agreed on the same answer.