Why Walk

Why would anyone go out in the woods and walk 2,185 miles in the cold wind, freezing rain, blowing snow, and the heat and thirst of the summer when you are about to turn sixty six years old?  And don't forget sleeping on the hard floors of open shelters, or on the ground of a tent so small you have to decide which side you will sleep  on (I'm a side sleeper) before you crawl in!   Well, as they say, "You don't have to be crazy, but it helps!"

As mentioned earlier, I first saw the Appalachian Trail in the summer of 1970 on the way to climb  Clingmens  Dome  in  Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  I knew nothing about it except what I read on the interp board.  A 2,000+ mile trail starting in Northern Georgia and following the the backbone of the Appalachian Mountains all the way to Maine.  I remember saying to myself, and anyone standing nearby, "I going to hike this trail some day!"

So, why wait forty three years to do this?  I guess I could give a lot of excuses, but I don't really  have any.  Sure, things go on in life that dictate what you may or may not be able to do at different times in you life, but there were many times in the last seventeen years since my retirement that would have been a great time to do this.

I retired at the age of forty seven.  IBM made me an offer I just couldn't refuse!  They moved me from South Florida to North Carolina on June 01,1995 because they needed me so much.  By October of the same year...  not so much!  I spent three days in despair.  How could they do this to me after nearly thirty years?  Then I got over it and looked at the great opportunity it afforded me.  I told them if they let me stay on for three more months so I would have my full thirty years in and leave the building fully retired and not have to come back to do all the retirement stuff, and move me back to FL, that I would go quietly!  They offered me a 'lifetime achievement award'  of fifteen thousand dollars to cover my return to Florida and six months severance pay.  So, on January 31, 1996 I left the building with full benefits and my first pension check in the bank!  And I can honestly say, "I never looked back!"

I started seriously thinking about AT at this time.   In 1998 I started planning for a '99 Thru Hike.  I started packing food for mail drops and ordered a pair of hiking boots that must have weighted in near five pounds each.  I never would have made it with those heavy boots even though walking through the rain while breaking them in during my training walks made them fit like gloves and were comfortable on my feet,. They were just too heavy.  Those boots were $200, and was the only real money I had spent in prep for the hike, but I was walking seven miles every two or three days with a day pack filled with water bottles for weight.  I carried water for weight just in case I got too tired I could just pour the water out and lighten the load!  I used this same strategy last year for my initial training.

Early in 1999, my brother, J.T., said he was planning a trip to Alaska and offered my other brother, Jim, and I the used of his truck and fifth wheel trailer if we would like to join him.  He had just bought a forty foot motor home!  So much for walking 2,000 miles!  This was a no brainer! The AT was relegated to the back of my mine once more!

The '99 AK trip settled down the wanderlust in me for a while and I settled down to sedentary life style until late 2000, while surfing the net and looking at the National Parks web site, I discovered the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and the possibility of a seasonal job there as a fee collection ranger!  I applied for one of the positions, sent in my resume,  and waited for the word.  All applicants that were hired for the positions scored 100 points for eligibility!  Turns out that because of my military veteran status, I was credited with five extra points, for a total of 105 and I was the first one hired.  I  was to be there  on April 22, 2001 for training.

I went to The Home Depot for a 'For Sale' sign and placed it in the front yard of my town house and had a contract on it in less than three weeks.  I had bought a small travel trailer the year before and would live in it while working at the park.  The next few weeks was spent moving every thing I owned into a storage unit.  

That summer was one of the greatest summers of my life!  I was out in the woods, being paid to walk the trails in the high mountains of AZ.  I loved it, and I lost fifty  pound doing so!  The day after I arrived at "The Rim" Margaret moved into the site next to me in the employee camp ground.  Over the summer we grew to be good friends.  She left the park a few days ahead of me headed east and I left with the intent of "catching" her.  She cheated!  She called and told me where she was each night!  We got together after a few days, and as they say,  the rest is history! 

We traded in my small trailer and her Class C motor home for a thirty three foot Class A and we lived on the road, traveling north to Alaska, and south for the full length of Baja!  What a life! 

We were constantly being drawn back to Arizona and in 2005 Margaret rented a small home in Clarkdale, AZ while I returned to the North Rim for another season.  In early 2006 we moved into current home, a double wide on four acres in Paulden, a small rural community located in north central Arizona.

Last year I was talking about the trail and Margaret gave me the encouragement I needed to start planning my adventure,  and so, the journey soon begins!