Karen and I took the plunge in April of 2016 to hike the Appalachian Trail (AT). We both quit our jobs and set out on April 29th for Harper’s Ferry, WV to hike northward to Mount Katahdin, Maine. Then we were to jump back to Harper’s Ferry again and hike southward to Springer Mountain, Georgia.
We expected to hit Springer Mountain in late October. But after 16 days and 195 miles, we discovered that what we thought were blisters on Karen’s left heel was actually Achilles tendonitis and was not going to be a quick recovery that we could take a few days off and then resume the hike. That kind of injury takes months to heal, so our hike was over rather quickly.
We did enjoy what time we had on trail, despite some nasty rain and hail and near freezing temperatures. It takes about two weeks to get your trail legs and acclimate to the physical part of the hike. The last two days, Karen had finally gotten to that stage and was charging up the mountains faster than I was. This was her longest single hike to date, and was long enough to give her that taste of trail blood. We will finish what we started some day, but probably in sections instead of as a one-shot thru-hike.
To get an overview, read How long is the Appalachian Trail and where does it go?
This was the Original Schedule for AT 2016
Here is the archive of our trip in April and May of 2016.
T-minus 2 days – Initiate Launch Sequence
Day 2 – The Maryland mountains
Day 11 – Nice hiking weather today
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