Here Goes Nothing…

Not sure what is more out of my comfort zone, hiking 2,189 miles across 14 states, or blogging about it.. I’m going to go with blogging about it.

My name is Christopher Keys, I am a 25-year-old from Minneapolis, Minnesota. I have done all the hiking I have been able to while living in the heart of the city, finishing my Bachelors Degree, and working full time. Every time I go out on a trek, whether it be up in Northern Minnesota to the Boundary Waters, backpacking in the Cloud Peak Wilderness, or most recently up in the Last Frontier of Alaska, I have always thought to myself, “I wish I could live like this”.

For years, since becoming more educated of the Appalachian Trail, it has been in the back of my mind, a hope for the distant future.

A little about me (yes I’m basic..I know)

My first taste of the mountains came when my older brother, dad, and I, headed west to the Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming. This trip was the first of this stature for me, and boy did I fall in love. While baseball will always be my first love, hiking is a close second! Following that trip west, I transferred to a school in Western North Carolina to continue playing college baseball. Right in the heart of the mountains, my love for them continued to grow. I spent the next summer in Colorado playing ball before returning to NC. I went 21 years without mountains, so I had some catching up to do. Following my college athletic career, I moved back to the concrete jungle of Minneapolis to finish my degree.

The mountains and the idea of living in a place with such pure beauty never left my mind. After completing my college degree and unsure of where I want my career to begin, the time could not be better to pursue this dream of thru-hiking the AT.

While the planning and preparation is exciting, it is also very overwhelming! I find myself concerned and stressing about the little things, and of course, GEAR. I have countless questions on just about everything! But, the thought that in four short months I will be living the way I have dreamed… man oh man, I cannot wait!!!!!!!

Sooooo….

With that, I am planning on leaving Springer Mountain late March, and hiking north.

Why? That is one question I do have the answer to..

Why not.