Date: 2005-09-16
To: My motivation to thru-hike the AT
Miles today: 0.0

Well my target start date is March 15, 2006, that is essentially six months from today. (Retirement date February 3, 2006) My desire to hike the Appalachian Trail (AT) started in the spring of 1966. I was a New York City boy from Staten Island who had just signed up for a Boy Scout adventure to a place called Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico. The man selected to be our advisor was a fellow named JimBo, he had extensive experience in backpacking and leading boys. Prior to this time most of us boys in our group had a little hiking and camping experience, most of us had not done any real backpacking. Sure we had gone to camp, slept in tents, and carried our gear in a pack on our back but nothing like we were about to do. We were about to embark on a backpacking journey into the wilderness of New Mexico. We would be breaking camp each morning and hike a number of miles to our next destination, we would set up our next nights campsite, and do it all over again the next day. Everything we would need would travel on our backs, there would be no running off to the store for the forgotten rain gear or a warmer sweater, once you embarked into the wilderness you were on your own. In 1966 backpacking and camping had not grown in popularity to anywhere near what it sees today. People who would venture into the wilderness were looked as rather odd. The only ones doing that sort of thing were hunters, fishermen and Boy Scouts. Our advisor, had two friends that had recently done the unheard of ¢Hiking the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine¢ and were willing to show a bunch of teen-age boys their equipment and explain what it was like to backpack. What I remember from their demonstrations was their equipment was pretty much what was used for the day, I do remember them stressing keeping your pack weight down. I also remember they used a tarp for their shelter and saying a tent was too heavy. They only had a bowl and spoon for eating as they said trail food didn¢t require a fork or knife and again they would be extra weight. They kept stressing to us to keep the pack weight down and the one thing that impressed me the most was when they showed us their toothbrushes, they had cut the handles to a little stub because that saved an ounce or so. I do not remember the names of these two gentlemen but they and JimBo have had a lasting impression on me. Scouting has a statistic that out of a hundred boys that have been involved in their program, ¢Eighteen will develop a hobby that will last through their entire life¢. My signing up for and the accomplishment of that trip to New Mexico have instilled in me the love of backpacking and the desire to do more.   Like many of my generation the following summer (1967) I found myself in a new kind of boys camp, Parris Island, Marine Corps Recruit Depot. That obligation put my camping and hiking on the back burner for a while. Then family, fatherhood and the tasks of everyday life kept me out of the forest for a few years. It was not until 1986 when my son joined Boy Scouts and started to camp that I found myself once again camping and hiking. We were lucky to get into a troop that did a lot of camping and some backpacking. Soon after we started getting out and hearing stories about being on the trail I realized how much I loved being in the wilderness and backpacking. Since 1986 I have been bringing groups into the Adirondacks hopefully to pass on my love of the outdoors and the skills of backpacking. I have also returned to the place that started my love of backpacking (Philmont) three times 1991, 1999, 2002. The real itch to attempt to be a 2000 miler started in about 1991 when I read "The Appalachian Trail Backpackers Planning Guide" by Frank and Victoria Logue. Since then the desire has grown each day, I'VE GOT IT BAD. I have ALSO read everything I can get my hands on regarding the AT and have been an avid follower of Trail journals since 2003. Now that my family has grown and my career is coming to a close I must decide what to do with myself when I grow up. The last few years I have had a desire to thru-hike the AT once I am no longer tied to limitations of a vacation schedule and the need for a paycheck. I can't believe I will soon be paid and not have to show up at work every day.