A Journey of a Thousand Miles

Begins with a single step, and so does a journey of 2178.3 miles.

What's with the talk about hiking gear, and the Appalachian Trail? A couple of years ago I set a goal of thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail (the AT) in 2009. So, it's time to get to it. Here's some info about the how and why of it, from my perspective.

For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to do some kind of long distance outdoor adventure. Things like biking the Pacific Coast Highway, adventure races, and long distance hikes have captivated my imagination. When major life events happened in 2005/2006, I slowly began to take stock of how I'd chosen to spend my time, and realized that I had never really challenged myself to the kind of major personal goals that I often found myself daydreaming about. Sure, I'd been a committed runner since I was in my teens, and was quite happy with my professional accomplishments, but I'd never really taken on a major goal of my very own. I had been complacent and willing to let others direct the course of my life. So I started writing goals down, and actually pursuing them. The AT became part of a three year plan, and I'd never planned more than three months ahead for anything.

Honestly, I don't remember exactly when or what inspired me to add the AT to my goals, but as I started reading about it, and the experiences of people who'd hiked the AT, and other long trails, I was hooked. Now, as the trip looms ever closer (less than two weeks away by the time I post this entry) for the first time in my life, I know what Joseph Campbell was talking about when he said "follow your bliss."

"...if you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in your field of bliss, and they open doors to you. I say, follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be."

That has certainly been the case in preparing this trip. I have been embraced, supported, and guided by my community of friends, as well as people I have sought out, and people have appeared in my life to help me as I have researched and tested gear, considered logistics and planning, and discovered how to make this work. Each time I feel scared, overwhelmed, or doubtful, something happens to reenergize me, motivate me, and remind me that I can do this, that, for now, I am meant to do this. There's a certain sense that I've gone past the point of no return, there's no turning back, and I feel compelled to keep going. I laughingly say too many people know about and are a part of this journey for me to back out now. But deep down, I also feel a quiet, unmistakable yearning that this is something that I must do.

If the Joe Campbell quote didn't sum it up, this, from "Ten Fun Things to Do Before You Die," written by nun other than Karol Jackowski as part of a "last lecture" series at a college, says it pretty well when she talks about how it felt to be called to be a nun. I've taken the liberty to replace nun-specific language with references to my hike.

"Truth be told, all I really knew when I felt called to [hike the AT] was this surprising need, a growing impulse to follow my uninformed, naive fascination with [long distance hiking], to yield to the mysteriousness of it all, even leave family and friends for the sake of it. At the time I vaguely knew that when anything stirs us that deeply, moves us to the point of distraction, and urgently invites us to follow, we must pack up, go, and be not afraid. Never fear the less-traveled road. Respect such mysterious calls always and take them very seriously. Never minimize or regard them as foolishness. In the beginning, I blindly believed and trusted, but now I know and see for sure that such is the call of the Gods."

So, why the AT? There are several other "long trails" in the US, such as the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail. I chose the AT because, for my first solo adventure, I wanted to do something that many others had also done. I'm not quite ready to get out there with a compass and map in truly remote territory. I wanted to step into a well-traveled path, and the AT is that. There is an abundance of information available about thru-hiking the AT, and it's not that hard to find people who've done it, or some part of it. Yes, to hike the entire 2178.3 miles is a major undertaking, but it also felt like a manageable goal for me and for Gracie. In exactly two weeks, the hike will begin, but it's just another step on a journey that began long ago.