I have many goals I want to accomplish before my life comes to a close. Graduate college, have a family, and making those around me happy are just a few of those goals. Yet these are all second to the achievement I wish to accomplish: Hiking the entire length of the Appalachian trail.
For those who aren’t familiar with the trail, it is a 2,180 mile hiking trail that starts in Springer Mountain, Georgia and stretches all the way to Katahdin, Maine. This trail is visited by millions each year and a couple of thousand attempt to ‘thru-hike’ it, hike from start to finish (ATC.org). It is a beautiful walk through nature that takes you away from everything but yourself and the path in front of you. That is why I want to take this endevor of thru-hiking the trail. I love nature and a vacation with just nature sounds absolutely perfect to me.
This feat, however, is no matter to be taken lightly. As Tucker Burton discusses in his blog ERO, the things he went through during it can be daunting but worth it in the end. It takes quite a lot of planning to take on this hike seeing that it will take a lot of time to complete. The record for the fastest hiker to go through it still took 43 days to complete from start to finish. A whole month of hiking could take quite a while to plan but when all is said and done, this trip will be entirely worth while.
The trail itself is maintained through volunteers of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC). Formed in 1925, the conservancy has been fighting to keep the trail in its natural form. As their work progresses, so does people’s attempts to shed light on their work. Blogs such as Dartmouth Outing Club and Filanthropy are trying to bring attention to the ATC to help them volunteer and receive donations to keep the program running. If you wish to find more information or find some ways you can help, please go to the ATC’s homepage and look around. Who knows what you will find?
All in all, the Appalachian trail will remain my ultimate goal until I am able to traverse it from start to finish. It’s beauty and majesty is something that I can not pass up.
Tim's Mind 