First, thank you for finding my page. As you might know, beginning in March of 2018, I plan to attempt to hike the Appalachian Trail (AT)- five to six months, 14 states, 2,189 miles, from Georgia to Maine. While that task seems incredibly daunting, it does not begin to compare to the journey faced by thousands of severely wounded veterans upon returning home.
In January of 2017, when I began planning for next March (now 20 days away), I decided to connect this hike with an effort to raise a substantial donation for an organization I've been following for about five years whose mission is to help the veterans I just mentioned. This non-profit organization provides all-terrain wheelchairs to veterans who have sustained major nerve damage, amputations, and paralyzation, in an effort to restore their independence to pursue activities they enjoyed prior to their injury (hiking, hunting, fishing, even golf and automobile repair). They also provide medical, emotional, and physical treatments/therapies to these veterans and their caregivers.
I'm happy to report that in the past six months, I've secured $2,586 (now, $6,014) in donations, but I hope, with your help, we can do even more.
I have set a goal for this page that seems appropriately out of reach. The goal is equal to that of $1 per mile of the AT. This is NOT a request to fund or sponsor my trip in any way, as 100% of the money raised will be added to the previous donation total. If you are in a position to help, in any amount, I hope you'll consider doing so. I also invite anyone interested to follow along on this journey with me. I'll have more information in the future about how to do that, but for now, please accept my gratitude for your consideration in helping me with this project!
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR MONTHLY WORK NEWSLETTER
1) Tell me about your upcoming journey - where are you going, how long will it take...
The Appalachian Trail (AT) is a footpath that starts on Springer Mountain in Georgia - about 75 miles north of Atlanta - and ends atop Mount Katahdin in Maine. The first section was designated in 1923, and it was completed in 1937. The trail is 2,190 miles long and generally takes about 6-7 months to complete.
I will leave Delaware on March 5 and begin the drive to Georgia. On March 7 or 8, I will start from the top of Springer Mountain, two hours north of Atlanta ,Georgia and start hiking north toward Maine. There are shelters along the way, and they are generally spaced 10-20 miles apart. The shelters are typically built like a three-walled log cabin that includes a roof - and often, any small animals you would expect to see running through the woods. Everything that I will need, I will have to carry in my pack. That means my tent, sleeping bag, clothes, a battery source, electronics, water and water filtration, food and a small propane stove on which to cook it. Everything. Depending on weather and the time of year, shelters may fill up before I arrive for the night. In general, there is room for 10-15 people to sleep in the shelters, but there are spots around the shelters to pitch a tent. My tent is a two person tent, which really means it's a one person + room-to-store-your-gear tent.
There will be times when the trail crosses paths with small towns. In those cases, I will head into town for some good cooking, a laundromat, and possibly a room at a hotel, motel, or hiker hostel. Those towns will also be important when I need to recharge my batteries (figuratively and otherwise), dry everything out, warm up, and just relax for a day. For clothing, I will have the clothes I'm hiking in and one or two changes in my pack. After a few days, all the hikers will stink the same, so I don't expect it to be an issue. I will have a set of clothes that will remain dry at all times, and they will be my camp/sleep clothes. If it means hiking in cold wet clothes for a while, so be it, because it's too important to be dry at night when it will probably be cooler, and I won't be out moving.
The shoes I'll start with are called trail runners. They're like sneakers on steroids. They have good traction to hopefully keep me upright along with my trekking poles, and they're made of a thinner material that dries quickly and lets my feet breathe. Shoes on the trail are expected to last about 500 miles. That means over the course of a thru hike, hikers will need to buy 3-4 pairs of shoes. For the rough weather, I'll have a lightweight rain jacket and a down jacket that pack into their own pockets to save room. I'll have a thermal base layer, beanie, and gloves. As the weather changes, the clothing I need will change. When that time comes, I will exchange what I no longer need with what I will need by mail from wherever I happen to be at that point.
Weight and how much space things take up are major factors when planning a long hike. It's crazy how you really have to think about every single ounce when accumulating the right gear for a hike like this. My pack is currently just under 20 pounds which I'm really happy about. The first time I thought I was done preparing, it was just over 25 pounds. The fact that I found ways to shave off 5 pounds should make a huge difference in the long run. I wish it was that easy to drop other pounds in real life.
Without really knowing how much I'll be able to do, my tentative goal is to cover about 15 miles per day - or about the distance covered in one nursing shift. For real though, the daily distance will fluctuate based on elevation changes, weather, and the terrain. But, if I am able to keep the average around 15 miles per day, a full hike would take around 5 months - less than the expected 6 or 7 months most budget for.
2) What inspired this trip?
I grew up in Pennsylvania, and the trail crossed a road not too far from home, about 30 miles away. When I would be in the car and see hikers near the road, knowing what they were attempting, I used to think they were insane. Years later, I began wondering what it would be like to try it myself. I started planning out logistics at the end of 2016. I decided to make the leap and see if I could actually be part of the 1 out of 5 people who actually complete the AT.
One thing that really struck me was how easy it actually was to decide to try. The task itself will obviously be much, much more difficult and complicated, but the decision to try was simple. It was eye-opening to me because I thought about people who are not able to "just decide" to do things anymore- specifically, veterans who came home with severe injuries like amputations, paralysis, and nerve damage. It was that realization that remains a major inspiration for this trip. I knew of an organization that does some amazing work to help restore independence to those veterans in an attempt to allow them to "just decide" to try things again. When I began to really plan for this trip, I connected my efforts to raising awareness and funds to help those veterans. I expect to draw some real inspiration from this group while I'm away, especially on difficult days. If someone came home from war unable to perform normal daily functions on their own but still finds ways to persevere, what excuse could I possibly have for not getting up and hiking north for one more day?
3) How can people keep up with your progress?
I will be carrying my cellphone, an mp3 player (which has fm radio for local news and weather), a GoPro, a headlamp, and a battery charger. The charger will get charged in towns and then be used to charge everything else I'm carrying while I'm hiking for a few days at a time. Solar chargers are said to not be the best option because at a certain point, the trees have their leaves back and form a canopy, giving the trail its nickname of the Green Tunnel.
I plan to take as many pictures and videos as possible. I know not everyone gets the chance to hike the AT, so I'd like to share what I see with anyone who is interested. It will also give me the chance to look back on everything afterwards and relive it again- this time from the comfort of home. I'll be posting to social media when I have a signal, mostly under the Instagram account of @patontheat
Anyone who wants to is welcome to join and follow along. There is a link in the profile of that account that will allow those interested to read more about the hike and the project I've been working on that aims to help injured veterans and their caregivers.
4) What's your plan for when you're done?
When I finish, I will take a much needed nap and a long shower. I also hope to head to North Carolina to present the donations that were gathered for the non-profit organization in Charlotte. After that, I will begin the adjustment back to normal life which will include returning to my position as one of the Medication Reconciliation pharmacists at Kent General. Pharmacy leadership and Bayhealth has been phenomenal in working with me as I planned out this journey. Everyone has been super supportive. Co-workers have been sharing stories they've heard, tips they've come across, magazine articles, even bringing in a bear safety information poster in order to keep me from "becoming a statistic". I'll miss the pharmacy crew, but it's nice to know that I'll be welcomed back, hopefully with some cool stories.
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