Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Hike the Appalachian Trail


3. Hike the Appalachian Trail

It's going to become pretty clear that most of my Bucket List item's involve some travel. One of my biggest goals is to travel. I don't care where, just get me out of my little town on the Cape.

So! The Appalachian Trail. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, the trail is a 2,181 mile footpath that passes through 14 states including: GeorgiaNorth CarolinaTennesseeVirginiaWest VirginiaMarylandPennsylvaniaNew JerseyNewYorkConnecticutMassachusettsVermontNew Hampshire, and Maine. Typically it takes 5-7 months to complete the entire trail..meaning I'll have to be successful enough in life to have 5-7 months to spare..HERE'S HOPING!

My brother, Timmy, hiked the entire trail a few years ago. He grew a mountain man beard and would meet up with my family and I in different states and update us on how his hike was doing. I wasn't a huge fan of the beard, but I loved his stories. He met so many interesting people and learned so much about nature and the environment. By day he would hike for hours and keep a journal about everything he saw and  by night he would stay in hostels or camp out. I think it was a really great experience for him and I would love to try it out.

When I met up with my brother in New Hampshire he took me with him to hike part of Mount Washington, the highest point of the Appalachian trail, north of Tennessee. I have a condo right across from the mountain so it wasn't my first time hiking Mt. Washington but it was the highest distance I had gone up. It was really rocky and steep, but I loved it. I hate the feeling of being on a planned out trail with no difficulty at all. Although the AT is mapped out it's not close to being just a warn out path that easy to follow. I love a challenge, which is why I think hiking the AT would be a good experience for me.