Eight years later I set off on an Appalachian Trail thru-hike. I didn’t make it. My partner bailed after 900 miles, and I had to follow her. But I learned a lot about the “how-to’s” and even more about what it took inside my head to complete the journey. Despite the disappointment, it was a wonderful journey, full of beauty, challenge, and reward.
And so, two years later, unfettered by partnerships, I thru-hiked southbound again, this time completing the journey. It was the best time of my life, full of new friends and happy times.
I’ve worked all my adult life in the nuclear power industry. Until recently, the longest time I’d ever had away from the job was a couple of weeks on some annual vacation. The rest was hard, grueling work. When I decided to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail the first time, I had to change the work situation to accommodate it. Over the course of two years I paid off bills, streamlined my life, got rid of stuff, and basically did a major body alt on all the financial aspects of middle class living. And then I quit my permanent job and started consulting. It was fairly scary after all the years of ‘job security,’ but I got by. At the end of the first contract I did my first AT hike. After the end of the second contract I did my successful thru-hike. It worked. Phew!!
I’m 54 now and working as a carpenter. I love it. I create things all day long, get plenty of fresh air and exercise. It’s very rewarding, but as you probably noticed from my decision to hike the Triple Crown, the restlessness is still in me, blowing me like a leaf back out into the woods. After doing up all the CDT maps, I can’t wait to see the West and visit the places made famous by the emigrants, cowboys, Indians, cattlemen, railroaders, and miners. This is going to be so much fun. |
