After much consideration and thought, my sweet husband and I have decided to hike the Appalachian Trail from start to finish. It’s been a dream of mine for many years and there is no better time to do it than now. We have no children, no mortgage, no dogs and therefore no excuses! We will not have this opportunity to take 6 months to ourselves for who knows how long! Please know that this is not an impulse decision. We have been carefully planning and gearing up for this adventure for the past year.
Most people have never even heard of the Appalachian Trail or AT as we call it. So I am going to tell you about it.
The Appalachian Trail is considered a scenic footpath that covers near 2,175 miles—the mileage varies each year by a few miles because of the trail maintenance. The southern terminus (where we will start) is located at Springer Mountain, Georgia. The northern terminus (where we will finish, God willing) is located at Mt. Katahdin—pronounced Kat-tah-din within Baxter State Park in Maine. The trail covers 14 different states and traverses 6 national parks. It takes about six months to complete depending on how fast you walk.
Here are some fun facts about the trail (because we all know how much I love fun facts):
•Lowest elevation: 124 ft. – Trailside Museum and Zoo at Bear Mountain, NY
•Highest elevation: 6,625 ft. – Clingmans Dome in TN (Mom & Dad you’ve been there)
•There are 165,000 blazes along the length of the Trail-but who’s counting?
•More than 10,000 people have reported hiking the length of the Trail
•It takes approximately 5 million footsteps to walk the entire length of the Trail
So on March 26, 2010 we will begin our walk in the woods. The purpose of this blog is to keep our friends and family up to date as to where we are and what we are doing. Through our pictures and stories hopefully you will see a glimpse of what life is like on the trail!
7 comments:
I love your sense of adventure! Jason and Kristen... you guys are going to have a blast and grow so much together. I will be thinking of and praying for you!
SO MUCH FUN!!!
Lindsay
love the blog debut!!! I'm thrilled to follow you on your journey :) many prayers for a safe and fun hike.
xoxo
Incredible!! So excited for you all!
Awesome stuff guys! You know what I think about stuff like this.
I was proud of 23 miles on the trail. Thanks for showing me up.....
Can you pack me in your back pack? that'd be great. Thanks.
Awesome! And jealous much! You are so smart to do this now in your life. No strings. I cannot WAIT to see the adventures over the months and hear about the trip. Think we can join you with a 2 year old and a newborn? Yeah, probably not so enjoy it for us!
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