Finding Motivation

One question I've heard most frequently from friends and family regarding this crazy endeavor has been, "Why the Appalachian Trail? Why a thru-hike?"

Renate & I at the Appalachian
Trail Half-way Point in PA.

So what is it that drew me to the trail in the first place? A couple of years ago, my friend and I hiked a few miles near the halfway point in Pennsylvania. It was impossibly hot, we got lost, and we ended up camping the night in a restricted area—right by a water source. While both of us were fairly experienced woods(wo)men, we knowingly broke the rules for fear of getting further lost and running out of clean water during this crazy 110+ degree heat wave. Despite our missteps and a restless night of wildlife encounters, it was one of the best trips of my life. The next morning, a group of thru-hikers passed by our camp. We provided some trail magic for them (gave them our extra food and fuel) which they graciously accepted and went on their way.

As we packed up our gear and headed back to the trail head, I kept thinking about the thru-hikers. At this point they had already hiked over 1,000 miles and while they still had 1,000+ to go, they seemed unshaken. It blew my mind that when my friend and I were heading back to our car, defeated after a night in the woods, these hikers were just beginning another double-digit day, trudging ever closer to Katahdin.

We packed about a week's worth of trail mix to last us
1 night in the woods... it would be months before I could
so much as look at a peanut without feeling nauseous. 

I wanted to experience that kind of resolve. I wanted to feel at-home in the forest. I wanted to be those hikers.

I suppose that is what’s really motivating me to hike the AT. I saw a quality in those thru-hikers that I wanted in myself. Since then I've gone on a number of much more successful backpacking trips, in the Tetons, Estes Park and northern Michigan, but the AT found its way into my mind and heart and I've been compelled to return ever since.

In just 24 hours on the trail we encountered deer sparring
a few yards away, a large bear-shaped shadow
pacing past our tent all night, and a small furry mammal
at one point leaning against my arm just outside the tent.
It was a great trip.

The first time I trained for a marathon, my motivation wasn't clear. I kind of wanted to just cross it off my list of accomplishments – to say to the world, “hey! I just did this thing that most people would never dream of doing!” In the end, that was motivation enough for me.
But the Appalachian Trail is like doing 83 marathons while sleeping in a tent for 5 months…In order to keep myself focused and engaged, I need significantly more motivation than simply checking off an item on my bucket list. Like having a baby, there's never going to be a "right time" to take 6 months to hike the AT. But I've never felt more ready to face this challenge. 

Not Just a Walk in the Woods

The beginning of the year is a time for resolutions. Some people plan to eat better, drink less or exercise more. This year I plan to take more than four million steps in under six months - that's 2,184 miles. But that's not enough, I will rack up those miles trekking through bear and tick country, through torrential winds, rain, snow, sleet and muggy, miserable heat with only 2 sets of clothes, a tent and my boyfriend.

Sounds fun, right?

In April, my boyfriend Robb and I will be leaving the comfort of our quiet suburban home to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail; it is a venture that only 1 in 4 complete. While we are both highly-motivated distance runners who tend not to shy away from daunting challenges, this is the biggest thing that either of us has ever attempted.

Simply deciding to give it a go was a challenge. I tend to come up with wildly foolish ideas that I rely on Robb to analyze and redirect into smaller more manageable ones. Robb keeps me grounded -- he's an engineer, capable of scrutinizing concepts and coming to rational conclusions. We discussed all that it would take mentally, physically and financially to thru-hike the trail. It would be a serious financial strain for us and navigating our work situations would be problematic as well. But to my surprise, he agreed that if we had saved enough a year from that day, we would go for it.

Fast forward to a today -- with enough savings in the bank, we successfully rented out our house, moved our lives into 2 storage units and a studio apartment, and secured a cat-sitter for 6 months. There was nothing standing in our way.

I made arrangements to leave my job mid-February so that I could become our full-time AT planner. After just one week of unemployment, it has become quite clear to me that I don't know how to be unemployed. I dove straight into the AT prepping process. I finished 2 books written by former thru-hikers and of course the AT essential read, A Walk in the Woods by the great Bill Bryson. I completed an entire AT thru-hiker planner, began reading and taking extensive notes on the annual Appalachian Trail Data book released by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) and did a thorough inventory check on all of the hiking gear Robb and I had already acquired.

Preparing for the trail has proven to be a great challenge in and of itself, but the real journey begins in April. The next few weeks will be a blur of coordinating resupply points and mail drops, gathering the last few items on our gear list, and training until our departure date.

Check back in soon for more detailed posts about our gear, timetable, biggest concerns and more!