Welcome to my blog. I wasn’t originally going to have one, but after some prodding from family and friends, I decided I’d share my journey with you.

I’m setting out from Springer Mt in Georgia and I plan to hike about ~2200 miles to reach Mt. Katahdin in Maine. A typical hike takes 5 to 7 months and starts in March or April (for North-Bound or NOBO). It was reportedly first hiked continuously, known as a thru-hike, by a returning WWII vet named Earl Shaffer in 1948. It reached national attention when a 67 year old Ohioan,”Grandma Gatewood”, became both the first solo woman and the oldest thru-hiker. The number of hikers spiked greatly around the time Ed Garvey published a popular book in the early 70’s, thought to have inspired many to join the adventure.

In recent years, the hiker count has topped over 2000 crazy people walking north each spring. Only about 1 in 4 make it to Katahdin in Maine, dropping out for a variety of reasons. The biggest reason remains though, it’s just hard!