Why I’m doing 2185 mi

Why the Hike?

The Appalachian Trail was always there for me. I’ve been on it too many times to count; starting as a baby strapped to my dad’s back. But it was just after college that I went on my first backpacking trip and seriously began to think about the trail. I know, what took me so long? We left only a few days after graduation for two nights in the Grand Canyon. At this time, my best college track season had just ended so I was in all muscled up, had lots of energy and was ready to bust out some miles. The views were incredible and I enjoyed the long days hiking more than I thought I would. I enjoyed it so much in fact, that once we set up camp I did some bonus miles to see a solar eclipse and explore. This was where I first I thought about the Appalachian Trail and how badass it would be to do the whole thing.

Just a week after returning, my awesome friends and I left for a month of driving across the country visiting a large portion of the national parks. It was a month of camping, hiking, checking out views and of course annoying the crap out of each other. It was pretty great. We would discuss how wrong it was for us to not study to be park rangers and the next adventure.

I returned home and started my desk job and almost immediately realized that desks were awful. Sitting inside all day was torture. As an athlete, I was getting antsy and so I decided to train for my next fitness fix, a half marathon. After completing that, I was looking for a new job/adventure across the country. I told myself that if I didn’t find a job by February I would start prepping for a thru hike in April 2014. I then applied to a job in New York City on a whim, fell in love with it and moved out of my parent’s house to Hoboken.

I now enjoy work but there is still a serious addiction inside me for hiking. This past summer, to appease that hiking addiction, I started section hiking the AT. For me this meant bothering my amazing parents to drive me to a trail head on a Friday morning and having them come get me at a different point (usually over an hour further away) when I was done. Did I mention that my parents are awesome? I wasn’t appeasing the addiction at all. I was falling farther into it.

I have my plan now, it’s to try to take a leave of absence from work for about 4 months starting late April (so I can run a half marathon first) to hike the trail. Sadly for my plans, my work situation at my current job now changed (actually for the better) and now I will most likely have to quit to hike. Don’t worry. I still have my fingers crossed for a job to come back to! So for the next few months I need to ask myself a few questions. Will I risk my awesome job? Am I willing to start the job hunt again? For now, it’s at about 75%. It’s not as solid a plan as I would hope, but if I want to do this now is the ideal time. I never know what else will get in my way so waiting just seems irresponsible.

Why the Blog?

It’s pretty simple, mostly for the memories, to improve my writing, but also to immerse myself into the hiking community.   So, hello!