Why?

This was penned in the fall of 2017, but I failed to click 'publish' until this morning. While things have moved along, this entry remains valid, even if dated, and has even proven to be a little prophetic in spots. 




First, I'm not under the illusion (or delusion) that anything I write here will mean anything to anyone beyond my family. Strangely enough, it may be a while before they even know I'm writing this. I'm not attempting to conceal anything, but at the moment there is a lot going on and I see this as an opportunity to document my activities without burdening anyone with my thoughts.

So, to expand on the title of this post, why am I "suddenly" infatuated with the Appalachian Trail at age 49? Other than being a reasonably active SCUBA diver and a bit of hunting and fishing over the past 25 years I haven't been particularly "outdoorsy." The last time I did any real hiking would have been during summer camp when I was in middle school and, despite being marginally equipped and ill-prepared for the endeavor, I absolutely loved it.

But memories of my youth are just a small piece of the puzzle. As is the case with most things in life, there are multiple factors that have converged to get everything moving, and mine shape up like this.

• When I was about ten years old an older cousin (my Mom's first cousin, to be precise) once mentioned the possibility of joining him on one of his semi-regular AT 'section' hikes.(1) For any number of reasons, most of which escape me, that never came to fruition, but the seed was planted.
• Over the past ~40 years I've read every article I've come across that mentioned the AT. As a teenager and young adult the prospect of a thru hike(2) was pure fantasy. Reading accounts of months-long treks from Georgia to Maine was not appreciably different than reading The Hobbit. The journeys were equally beyond reach, one just had characters that were easier to relate to.
• The last several years our family has been heavily impacted by polycystic kidney disease (PKD.) My wife was diagnosed in 2005, but it didn't really have much impact on our lives until a couple of years ago. We're now waiting for a kidney transplant, and the prospects look quite good at this point, but nothing is assured until all is said and done. I'm largely a passenger on this trip, all I can do is provide support and assistance, and that takes a mental toll after a while. Thinking about a long-term goal gives me something completely within my control. I can research, plan, and prepare. This doesn't mean I'm going to jump on the trail next year, or even the year after that (or the year after that...) but it does mean that I'll be as prepared as I can be when the time comes. If the time never comes (for whatever reason) then I still benefit from improved physical conditioning, which I certainly need. People regularly hike the AT in their 60's, so it's not as if I'm proposing something earth-shattering.
• Purely by coincidence, one of my son's college pals completed a thru hike this year. I'm not sure that I've even met the young man, but hearing his story and seeing his photos have given me the "why not me?" boost that I think a lot of people need. It has also given my son (who is finishing a Master's program and starting to apply to law school) motivation to take a shot at the trail next year. Perhaps I'll end up joining him for a section or two if the stars align.

So, I've been inspired by a number of events to get the ball rolling. When I hike the trail it will be in honor of my wife, who has faced daily challenges these past 12 years much more daunting than I'll ever face over the 2200 miles of the AT. Hopefully we can share this adventure together in some form or fashion. In an ideal world we would trek together, but I'm not sure she shares the same level of enthusiasm that I have for the endeavor. I do think you have to be at least a little off-plumb to even consider hiking the entire AT in one shot, much less actually set out to do it.

But the primary reason that drives me to hike the trail is to challenge myself: to prove to myself that I can. I've led a fortunate life and most things come pretty easy to me. This is an endeavor that demands hard work, careful preparation, some degree of suffering, and a bit of luck. There's a saying among AT thru-hikers: "No Rain, No Pain, No Maine" - suffering is unavoidable, but how you deal with it is entirely up to you.


(1) Section hiking: covering any portion of the AT less than the entire trail in a season.
(2) Thru hiking: covering the entire AT in a continuous 12 month span. The majority of thru hikers start in Georgia from mid-March to mid-April and finish in Maine late August to early October, but there are people who start in Maine (usually June) and others who "flip-flop," covering segments out of order, but still completing the entire trail in a year.