Anticipation

Been there, done that when it comes to attempted thru-hikes. In 1995 I started but terminated a PCT hike, and victoriously returned to the same trail in 1996. I worked hard for 20 years until a layoff from my employer became a gifted opportunity to thru-hike the Continental Divide Trail in 2016. With 5,500 miles of thru-hiking experience I did not understand the nervousness I felt when I carefully stepped off the Amtrak Lake Shore Limited at Boston South Station on June 20. The train was one hour late at 9:00pm, and the lack of daylight on the deserted downtown Boston streets unfamiliar to me did nothing to sooth my nerves. In just three days I will begin the 2,193 mile southbound hike of the AT, another unfamiliar route.

Why the nerves? Age? (67). A history of injuries on long hikes? (injured and infected toe on Day 1 of the CDT). A-fib? (20+ years now, and I slowly survived the CDT). Never having hiked the AT nor anywhere in the states of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire? (it’s just a fact, like those Boston streets, and I survived). When I take the first step toward the summit of Mt. Katahdin on June 23 I will KNOW I have made age-adjusted expectations, will be conscious of avoiding falls, slips and injuries, will stop to breath deeply and often, and will enjoy learning about the AT as I go.

On a relaxing train across the country and a bus ride to Bangor, Maine I listened to the audio book of Philip D’Anieri’s The Appalachian Trail – A Biography. The author describes the diligence and courage of the numerous people who took the AT from a concept in the early 20th century to the long and evolving completion of the trail. I am fascinated with how the efforts to create and grow the trail paralleled the societal changes in the country. Industrialization, conservation, urban planning, environmentalism, the Wilderness Act, government and politics played key roles in the trail’s development and key people, such as Benton MacKaye. As the country grew and evolved, so did the AT and the other national scenic trails. The serious threats to the global environment explain why the AT today is part of a broader conservation effort.

Carrying this knowledge with me on the 2,193-mile oft-steep and rocky path will make me realize I am walking through history and not just a trail. The Appalachian Trail Lodge, where I will stay for two days, assigned me the room where the first-ever AT thru-hiker, Earl Shaffer, slept after he hiked the trail again in 1998. A map on the wall has his signature. Well done, Mr. Shaffer! History is kind to you.