The Day Before

I officially start the Appalachian Trail tomorrow. For the unaware, the Appalachian Trail (AT) is a nearly 2200 mile trail that runs from Springer Mountain in Georgia up to Mount Katahdin in Maine. If I’m able to complete the entire trail, it should take between 4-5 months. I’ll live out of a backpack and camp along the trail. Fortunately there’s towns along the trail every 3-5ish days that I’ll be able to stop into, restock on food, and maybe get a good meal and do some laundry.

I feel like I’ve waited a long time to get started. I originally was going to begin the hike down in Georgia in April, but 5 days before I was supposed to leave I cut one of my finger tendons in a very dumb accident involving a pocket knife and some annoying plastic packaging. One surgery and 3 months later, I’m ready to hit the trail again.

Since I’m starting in August, I’ll not be able to start in Georgia where a majority of hikers begin the trail. Instead, I’ll be going southbound (SOBO) starting in Maine and working my way down to Georgia.

Tomorrow morning I’ll kick off the trail by heading into the famous 100 mile wilderness. It’s the longest stretch on the trail without any towns to stop in and resupply.

Tonight I stayed at Shaw’s hiker hostel in Monson, ME after flying into Bangor, ME. It’s one of the most beloved hostels on the trail and so far it’s lived up to it’s reputation. I got to eat some top tier gas station pizza while talking to a few other hikers that were northbound, which means they only have a little over 100 miles left!

I’m excited to keep y’all updated as I progress! Service will be spotty throughout the next few days so there’ll most likely be gaps between my posts.

Peace!