Date: 2008-12-26
To: Why do It?
Miles today: 0.0

There are two related questions. First, Why hike any long distance trail? Second, why the AT?So, why do a long distance hike. That¢s a darn good question. I¢m a software engineer who loves hiking and camping. I¢m happily married, I think I¢m fairly well adjusted and reasonably ¢normal¢. I¢m not doing this to ¢find myself¢ though I hope I¢ll learn a lot about myself. Although I love backpacking, I don¢t think I¢m doing it for the camping. I expect that at least occasionally I¢ll hate the thought of another one pot meal and another day of walking in the rain.A friend of mine at work asked me ¢Are you doing it for the experience or for the accomplishment?¢ That¢s a great question and I wish I had a great answer. It is probably a bit of both. The accomplishment part is very big. I know it will give me great joy to accomplish something that seems, on the face of it, absurdly difficult. When I talk to people about walking 2,200 miles, some of them give me the same look they¢d give if I said, ¢I¢m going to build a rocket in my backyard and fly to the moon.¢ About 25 years ago, I decided one day to run a marathon. I was a very casual weekend runner. I had run a couple 10Ks but they were at the absolute outer limits of my stamina. Six months later, my long training runs were pushing near 20 miles. I coasted through my first marathon in 3 hours 40 minutes and thought I¢d be running another one in a couple of months. Never did run a second one. To this day, I don¢t know why. I still ran over the next few years though I cut back on the mileage. In some way it must have been a ¢check the box¢ sort of thing.But the experience part of it is important too. I want to experience something very different from how I¢ve lived my entire life ¢- 9 to 5, in or near cities. I want to see if I have the persistence or stubbornness or whatever it takes to get up day after day and put in 15 to 20 miles. Enough philosophizing ¢¦ why the AT?I hear that question a lot, I live about an hour away from the Pacific Crest Trail and it seems like that would be a natural.But, I¢m a displaced Midwesterner and I¢ve been aware of the AT most of my life; for longer than the PCT has been in existence. It has always fascinated me though I¢ve seen virtually nothing of it.Another reason, is a long time ago, I read John Muir¢s ¢A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf¢ which recounts his 1867 walk from the Midwest to the Gulf of Mexico. That book resonated with me. It was the first time I ever thought about doing an extended hike. And while his route and the AT never coincide, they do parallel and cross each other. It will be a rush to do something similar. Also, as I learned more about the AT in preparing for this journey, I really admire how so many people love the trail. Now, there are trail maintainers and trail angels along the PCT but there is nothing like the obvious love and devotion that the thousands of AT volunteers demonstrate with their words and actions.On the practical side, I think the AT is easier logistically. The whole resupply issue seems trivial compared to resupply on the PCT or, even worse, the Continental Divide Trail.Well, writing this wasn¢t very satisfying. I thought answers would pop out magically as I sat by my keyboard. Maybe I¢ll need to revisit this in September when I¢m standing on top of Katahdin.