Why I Want to Hike the Appalachian Trail

Putting first things first, I think it is only proper that my first post should explain why I’m thruhiking the AT. So, here are my three lists per Zach Davis’s suggestion in Appalachian Trials.

I AM THRUHIKING THE AT BECAUSE…

1. I’ve never been inhibited by concern for the consequences of my actions (exhibit 1: “Planes, Trains and Powerlines” Flying Magazine, August 2001)
2. I like the color green
3. I love the feel of a backpack in the morning – it feels like possibilities!
4. I delight in overcoming the challenges of nature
5. I enjoy time spent alone – I’m an extreme introvert
6. I love a good story and want to share my story of an extraordinary thruhike
7. I want the sense of accomplishment
8. I always want to know what’s over that hill or around the next corner
9. I want to walk the same paths in the same mountains and forests as the mountain men and Native Americans of days gone by
10. if I’m going to tell the same story over and over in the old folks home, I want it to at least be interesting (well, the first couple of times, anyway)

WHEN I SUCCESSFULLY THRUHIKE THE AT, I WILL…

1. have accomplished something few have accomplished
2. have a beer (washed down with a few cheeseburgers)
3. be part of a great community of successful thruhikers
4. have overcome great obstacles and stood on magnificent vistas
5. sleep and eat
6. have a great story to tell
7. encourage others in their ‘great journey’

IF I GIVE UP ON THE AT, I WILL…

1. always wish I had finished
2. feel as though I let myself down
3. never, ever see what was over that next hill or around that next corner
4. be disappointed as all get out
5. feel that I let myself down
6. miss my fellow thruhikers