Julie Hikes the Appalachian Trail! - Trail Journal -

The Journal of Samwise

“There and Back Again”

As usual, I’ve borrowed from my favorite author, J.R.R. Tolkien to describe an adventure I’m about to undertake.  My attempted thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail begins tomorrow with a 10:30 a.m. flight from Dulles here in Washington, DC to Atlanta.  I’m embarking on a journey to “there” and plan to come “back again” by the fall.  I have little idea of what will happen in the interim, but I have no doubt whatsoever that I will not return the same person as I left.

I hardly know where to begin.  This idea sprouted approximately 5 years ago when we first moved to the DC area.  On our first camping trip to nearby Shenandoah National Park, I saw the now-familiar AT symbols and read a park sign describing the “footpath that runs over 2100 miles from Georgia to Maine.”  I remember the excitement that tingled my nerves even then, though I had almost no idea what the AT was or how one went about walking it.  About two years ago I took the plunge and committed myself mentally to hiking the trail in 2001.  Last February, I bought my first backpack and starting driving out to the mountains every weekend, my pack stuffed at first with 25 pounds of canned food and the heaviest clothes I could find in my closet.  I laugh when I think about it!  I’ve since logged over 400 miles in the mountains of Virginia, Maryland and Alaska on hiking and backpacking trips and I love it more every time I go out.  Although I don’t consider myself an “experienced” backpacker, I do think I’m about to graduate from novice to intermediate.

I’m told everyone should write down the reason(s) they hike the AT.  I have thought about my reasons for a long time and still I have no perfect answer.  I believe most of all, I want to grow and learn more about myself.  I want to feel self-sufficient, strong and free.  I want to experience the beauty of the Appalachian mountains.  I’d like some time to think about things I want to do during my life.  I want to be challenged and invigorated.  I want to make new friends and meet wonderful people.

So tomorrow begins the journey.  I’m packed and ready to go.  I’ve gotten the good-bye calls from our parents and sent about 20 emails to various friends to let them know I’m off.  I spent the last two days doing at least 20 tests on my newly built “cat can stove,” a home-made model we constructed with help from a couple internet sites. In fact, today we ate a “trail food” lunch and dinner.  Lunch was noodles with rehydrated vegetables and hamburger, and honestly, it was hard to eat. I’m already thinking the veggies may have to go!  Supper was bowtie spaghetti with rehydrated tomato sauce and alfredo sauce.  The alfredo hit the garbage can, but the tomato wasn’t bad.  I expect all of it will taste much better out on the trail but for now, I’m glad I haven’t invested the time necessary to prepare all my food for the next six months.  Instead, I have enough to last about 6 weeks, at which point I plan on deciding whether I want to continue with mail drops or switch to town re-supply.  Everyone has their own opinion of course, and I plan to reserve mine until I’ve tried it out.  I’m fortunate that I have my husband Tony at home, who is willing to bake, dehydrate and package the foods necessary to keep me supplied by mail if that’s what I decide to do.

I don’t yet feel nervous, although I suppose that will come tomorrow.  I have a planned rendezvous at the airport with another prospective thru-hiker, the both of us having arranged a ride with the same “trail angel” in Atlanta.  Bill Porter is a hiker who is willing to provide shuttle rides from the airport to the trail head, and we’ll both be taking him up on his services.  By dinnertime we should be at our first shelter of the trip, perhaps the one on Springer Mountain itself, or, if it’s too crowded, the next one down the path.  I expect my first night will be tenting, as we’ll be relatively late arrivals to the shelter and it may already be full.  At any rate, I’m looking forward to it, and I can hardly wait to begin this trip!