Intro and why I’m hiking The AT

Our Introduction

Hey guys!

I’m Adam Catch-Up, and you may have already heard of my 18-year-old son Aubrey Rabbit Foot.

We are thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail together this year. We started March 17th and our projected completion date in July.

At the pace Rabbit is going, some call it trail running.

Rabbit has some lofty goals for himself, and I’m just trying to catch-up. ?

As I write this, he is covering his first big stretch of trail: the Nantahala Outdoor Center to Fontana Village, approximately 27.5 miles and just under 10000′ of elevation gain in one day.

Other than completing the trail, Rabbit’s goal is to attempt an unsupported FKT for the 100 Mile Wilderness in under 34 hours 11 minutes.

He has been training and using a program set up by the owner of a local running store. His training consists of 60-70 miles per week, and has really built up his confidence.

I might be biased but I think he’s going to crush it.

Our History

Rabbit and I developed a love for the Appalachian Trail years ago since we live close to the trail in Pennsylvania.

We started hiking the trail together as our family vacations when wrestling would allow us.

Rabbit started wrestling at the age of eight, and he excelled quickly from having a hard work ethic and drive.

Our days were filled with relentless training, managing weight, injuries, and traveling to tournaments.

He placed at the state level and received top 50 national ranking by his freshman year.

However, things took a turn in June 2017 when Rabbit was badly injured in a national tournament. We went through a really difficult time where he experienced memory loss. Thankfully, Rabbit made a full recovery and we were able to hike a section on the Appalachian Trail later that summer.

After a second injury, Rabbit came to the extremely difficult decision to give up wrestling. I was really worried about the impact this could have on him but he has razor-sharp focus on his new goal.

Our Hike

As for me, I have wanted to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail since I was young.

I had the opportunity to do so once before but I didn’t take it. So when Rabbit Foot set his sights on the exact same goal, I immediately said yes, of course.

After we agreed to thru-hike the AT together a few months ago, we hit various sections of the trail to test gear and scope out terrain.

Now we are 10 days into our thru-hike, and we are entering the Smoky mountains tomorrow. Follow us along here on The Trek and on our social media links below.

YouTube
Catch-Up
https://m.youtube.com/user/1amdawson

Rabbit Foot
https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCKIijlmckFsvUue4izV2z7Q

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