The Road to Damascus... and Beyond

A Reawakening of the Spirit by Thru-Hiking the Appalachian Trail

In 2003, at the age of sixty-two, I thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail. This is the story about that hike. The Appalachian Trail starts on Springer Mountain, Georgia, and goes through fourteen states in a rather meandering way ending on Mount Katahdin, Maine, a distance of roughly 2,175 miles (depending on the source of information as to the exact distance). My hike started on April 5. I arrived at the base of Mount Katahdin on September 14 and waited in nearby Millinocket until September 21 to complete the hike and climb the final 5.2 miles to the summit. The final day, I was accompanied by our youngest son, Will, who had flown to Boston (from Salt Lake City), rented a car, and drove to Millinocket to join me. Sometimes plans do work out perfectly for September 21 was Kris and my fortieth wedding anniversarythis to emphasize the importance of commitment, which is what this story is all about. Thru-hiking the AT has taken on different meanings through the years since Earl V. Shaffer did it for the first time in 1948, as documented in his book Walking with Spring. His was the epitome, the purist approach as a backpacking venture, carrying his own supplies, tenting and staying in shelters, and walking the entire distance along the designated path as it then existed, but has been subject to a lot of changes since his time. My intention was to do it as closely as possible, adhering to this purist attitude without all of the designer methodology that has come to be acceptable for being considered a modern thru-hiker. And except for 1.1 milesthis is covered in the bookthat is what I did.