Springer and Katahdin

I cannot express how fortunate I feel to be the one person who can say that they hiked both Mt. Springer and Mt. Katahdin with Stephen. It has always been a dream of mine to hike the entire Appalachian Trail and it was one of Steve's dreams too. Ben and I quickly decided that hiking the trail in honor of Steve was the right thing to do, Garrett immediately agreed as well. As we carry on this summer, step by step, mile by mile, I have no doubt in my mind that we will be able to complete this task. During this time leading up to our departure, I feel composed and adrenalized. I look forward to hearing from my friends and family via this blog when I get off the trail or through the chance of an internet cafe of sorts.

Why the AT?

Why the Appalachian Trail? Why honor your friend by hiking almost 2,200 miles through the wilderness? The answer for me is simple. Steve, Spencer, and I hiked the northern terminus at Mt. Katahdin in Maine in the summer of 2005 not long after Steve and Spencer hiked the southern terminus at Springer, MT in Georgia earlier that summer. We joked on our trip that one day it would be cool to hike the entire trail, for them, to connect the dots. When confronted with my friend's death later that year, I knew that the joke that we threw out without any thought of it being a serious goal would be the best way for me to honor him. My trip in Maine was the last time I saw Steve, and will be the moment that I hold on to during my entire thru-hike. I know that we have an ambitious goal of an 80 day thru-hike, and that this goal is half of the typical time that one takes to hike the 2,175 mile trail, yet somehow I know that we will have the extra intangibles to accomplish our trip.