One Step at a Time

“And is the Earth green anyway? I don't know..  The Earth outside my window is made of asphalt and noise and people walking around not looking at each other."  - Carrot Quinn; Thru-Hiking Will Break Your Heart A while back, I got a Facebook message from a guy at church that I barely knew.  He had seen my blog and had questions about hiking gear.  I love hiking gear and can talk about it all day.  It wasn’t long after that we were talking about hiking the AT and taking training hikes to make sure he “wouldn’t die,” –his words.  So, on April 19 th , Jesse, myself, and my new friend Jeremy, loaded into my truck and headed back towards the most amazing place I know, the Appalachian Trail. Traffic wasn’t so bad and we were making decent time.  We stopped and ate at a McDonald’s/Quick Stop gas station.  We were running out of options before we drove into No Man’s Land.  I’ve been on a relatively strict diet for a while, so I w...

“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view.” –Edward Abbey What am I looking for? Not only did I ask myself this while dragging my impossibly heavy feet over mountain after taunting mountain, but I questioned it even in the months leading up to my second Appalachian Trail section hike. I remember the shear exhaustion of hiking in North Carolina.. making progress as slow as is humanly possible, swearing that I’d never do this to myself again. I describe it as being similar to the high one gets after a race, the absurd endorphin filled urge to sign up for another one despite hating yourself for the majority of the mileage. But I think it’s more than that. I was asked, “What are you looking forward to the most on this trip?” After short contemplation, I replied, “I have no idea.. something amazing.” In short, I have a great life that I’m not trying to run away from. I’m not trying to find spiritual enlightenment. I have decid...