Category: Appalachian Trail
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God is my Trail-manager Part 12 ‘Hiker Hunger’
When hiking the Appalachian Trail the hiker is burning calories at a tremendous rate. When coupled with the fact that the hiker can only carry a small amount of food with him, the hiker is always looking for the next town, restaurant, hostel or anywhere else he can buy a meal. Hikers love to find…
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God is my Trail-manager – Part 11 “White Blazes”
The Appalachian Trail is famous for being a well marked trail. The ‘White blazes’ which mark the trail are 2″ by 6″ and there are tens of thousands of these markings that show the way for both north and south bound hikers. It may take a bit of diligence in some areas to find the…
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God is my Trail-manager – Part 10 ‘Keep Walking’
The Appalachian Trail is 2185 miles long and it is a footpath. The only way to cover the distance is by walking. One foot in front of the other one step at a time. If you are going to cover the entire distance you must keep walking. Is it raining? You have to keep walking.…
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God is my Trail-Manager – Part 9 ‘Zero Days’
Most hikers will take a day off from time to time along their hike in order to rest or avoid some bad weather. Hikers refer to these days off as ‘Zero Days’ – a day when they register zero miles. Zero Days are important because they give the through hiker a much needed day off…
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God is my Trail-manager – Part 8 ‘Just Finish’
The Appalachian Trail is 2185.4 miles officially as of this writing (it changes from time to time as portions are re-routed). The goal of a Through-Hiker is, of course, to finish. To hike all 2185 miles from one end to the other. Most through-hikers attempt to accomplish the entire trail in one year. The average…
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God is my Trail-manager – Part 7 ‘Slack-packing’
This week my son, Philip, passed the 1000 mile mark on the Appalachian Trail. I have been able to walk with him on two occasions now and have walked about 50 miles with him over four days. Three of those days I hiked consecutively with a 30 pound pack on my back. One day I…
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God is my Trail-manager – Part 6 ‘Trail Magic’
All along the Appalachian Trail people from the local communities will reach out to the traveling hikers and help them in a variety of ways. They’ll leave food along the trail, they’ll offer rides for hikers, they’ll pay for their meals at a restaurant or offer them some other assistance as needed. The hikers refer…
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God is my Trail-manger – Part 5 ‘Walking Wisely’
I have enjoyed being the trail manager for my son as he has experienced the Appalachian Trail this year. I have sent him care packages at designated post offices. I have kept him advised of weather conditions. I have met him a few times along the way to encourage him, clean his clothes and restock…
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God is my Trail-manager – Part 4 ‘No Rain-No Maine’
One of the most common sayings on the Appalachian Trail is the phrase ‘No Rain; No Maine’. The Appalachian Trail is over 2100 miles long. It stretches from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in the Baxter State Part of Maine. Most hikers that want to ‘thru-hike’ (meaning – hike the entire trail in…
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God is my Trail-manager – Part 3 ‘Trail Name’
One of the unique attributes of trail life is that everyone on the Appalachian Trail has their own unique Trail Name. It is usually given to you by others along the way. You may show up with a name you like – but it may not be the one you end up with. You can…