Brief Introduction

Early 40's office worker. Soccer enthusiast, day hiker, and casual nerd. Immediate family is ‘Echo’ and our two dogs. Very comfortable and satisfying life. Things are genuinely more amazing than I ever expected when I was younger.

Soooo obviously, it is time to screw that up.

I have been dreaming of thru hiking the Appalachian Trail for almost a decade now. A six month journey covering almost 2200 miles of mud, ticks, and mountains running from Georgia to Maine in one continuous path.
Yup, that should screw things up quite nicely.

As I have been slowly informing friends, family, and coworkers about my plans I keep hearing the same five questions:

"Are you hiking alone? Are you taking a gun? Did you and Echo break up? Are you going to do a blog?" Yes. No. Hell no. Guess so.

The fifth question they ask is usually more of whisper: "How did you pull this off?"

I intend to set out for the trail on March 29th (weather permitting). Until then, I will use this journal to explain how I managed to walk away from all the normal adult life stuff for six months. Once on the trail I will catalogue my hike with as many pictures as I can manage. Finally, when I get back I will cover my reintegration back into my old life. Lofty goals, but hopefully it will help someone else realize it can be done while being a responsible adult. If you have specific questions please email me and I will do my best to answer you.

Life is funny and full of the unexpected. For all I know, I will break my leg on the second day and all you will see are a bunch of pictures of my hospital room. But I have been dreaming about what lies over the next mountain for too long and now I have a rare opportunity to find out. I hope you will follow along with me.