March 20th, 2014
Two broken down, middle-aged Idiots are going to stand atop a mountain in Northern Georgia, will laugh, joke, and will then “high five” each other, before turning and starting to walk north…..
Towards a sign atop a mountain in Maine, over 2,000 miles away.
Yes friends, you read that correctly….
Two THOUSAND miles!
Steve, aka “Taochild“, and Mark, aka “The Idiot“, will be attempting to hike the length of the famed Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine.
Honest.
We’re serious!
Quit laughing!
The Appalachian Trail, usually just called the “AT”, stretches from Springer Mountain in Georgia all the way north to Mount Katahdin in Maine. The trail distance fluctuates each year due to minor changes, but usually ends up being around 2,200 miles long as it passes through a total of 14 states.
People crazy enough to attempt hiking the trail straight through are called “Thru-Hikers”.
Each year, thousands of people attempt to hike the length of the AT. Only about 20% actually succeed. People of all ages and all physical capabilities HAVE completed the trail. A successful thru-hike usually takes anywhere from 4-6 months depending on the speed of the hiker and the weather and trail conditions. Hikers carry only what they can carry on their backs and sleep in various shelters scattered along the trail or in tents that they carry in their backpacks. The trail passes through or near towns every 2-3 days, allowing the hikers to resupply as needed.
Hikers on the trail are not called by name, but instead use a “trail name” that they have chosen in advance, or one that is assigned by other hikers they encounter.
Most hikers, due to the weather conditions, will start their hikes in Georgia in March or April and will then hike north so that they can finish before the trail leading to the summit of Mt. Katahdin closes in Mid October.
Most hikers will average about 15-30 miles a day, hiking virtually every day of the week, irregardless of the weather. The weather can range from Snow in the mountains in the early and late stages of the hike, to blistering heat and humidity during the heat of the summer months. As I said earlier, the trail does go near or through many small towns, allowing the hikers to resupply, shower, eat a hot meal, and even stay overnight in a hostel or motel for a night or two of rest.
Like I said, the trail CAN be completed, and IS completed by people of all ages and physical capabilities. To many, the Psychological aspects of the hike is the hardest adjustment, causing many to drop out soon after starting their hike. I’m hoping that Steve and I are Idiots of such a high caliber that we are too dense to fully appreciate the Psychological pressures associated with living in the woods for up to 6 months straight.
Cell phone service is actually supposed to be pretty good over the length of the trail, resulting in the hikers being able to maintain fairly good contact with friends and family at home. So, other than the sounds of dueling banjos ringing through the valleys and hollers of Appalachia, it’s not like we are going to hiking out in the middle of “nowhere”.
Why?
We each will be posting about our individual reasons for undertaking this crazy idea.
The Plan
The plan is that we each spend the next year PREPARING for this hike. To both of us, that means many of the same things.
Lose weight.
Get in Shape.
Train.
Buy Equipment.
Save Money.
Both of us are admittedly overweight and out of shape. We have plenty of time to rectify that. Once we are in shape, we can each work on hiking and walking in order to get our bodies ready for the daily grind that hiking 2,000 miles entails.
We obviously will need backpacks, tents, sleeping bags, water jugs, etc., all of which cost money. Add in the cost of food for 4-6 months of hiking, plus the occasional hotels in town, postal costs of shipping supplies back and forth between home and trail, costs or replacement supplies, shoes, etc. and the trail gets to be a pretty expensive proposition.
Then, the plan is to meet up in Georgia, on or around the middle of March, 2014, head up to the top of Springer Mountain, get photographed at the marker indicating the beginning of the trail, and then we will start walking………….
and walking, and walking………
Figuring that we each can spur the other to keep on walking, climbing, crawling……
All the way to Mt. Katahdin in Maine.
We each have different reasons for undertaking this mission.
By the time we finish, I’ll be 49 years old, while Steve will be 48.
Two Middle-aged Crazy Idiots, one from Texas, the other from Massachusetts, who just did the unthinkable, walking over 2,200 miles!
And that my friends…..is one heck of a plan!!
