Holding Michael Accountable: “I WILL Thru-Hike the AT”

This post is part Appalachian Trials testimonial, but more importantly, it’s to hold our new friend, and soon-to-be Appalachian Trail thru-hiker, Michael, accountable for his bold claim.  Read below:

“To start off I have spent the last two years prepping for my upcoming thru hike of the AT coming up in a few months, I thought I knew everything I needed to to succeed and that there was no way with all of this planning I did  that I would not reach Katahdin.  Then I came across your book.

I’ve learned more valuable information from the one day (it’s a real page turner) it took to read your book then my whole two years researching the lightest gear, scouring over whiteblaze, and reading several guides to the trail.

When you said that while gear is important, it’s what’s between your ears that you really need to prepare for it clicked for me. While it helps having the newest technology and lightest gear, its my mentality that’s going to carry me from Georgia to Maine. I’m sure you get tons of emails from aspiring thru hikers so I just wanted to express my gratitude to you for putting in the time and effort to write your book to make my journey of  a lifetime as enjoyable as it should be.

So thanks to you I WILL thru hike the AT, I WILL summit Mt.Katahdin, and I WILL have the best time of my life out there. I’ll send you a picture from the top of Big Momma Katahdin when I get there! Thanks, Michael.”

Can’t wait for you to make good on this claim, Michael.  Enjoy your upcoming journey 🙂

Who else is thru-hiking the AT in 2014?  Let me know – theGoodBadger gmail.com – I might hold your feet to the fire here.