Epilogue

I am officially an Appalachian Trail thru hiker. We hiked the AT from start to finish. It took 125 days, with 20 days off. Counting my 2020 attempt, I have hiked over 2,830 miles of the Appalachian Trail. Including days off we averaged 17.58 miles a day for 125 days. Not counting days off we averaged over 20 miles a day. It was harder, more beautiful, and more worthwhile than I hoped for or expected.

When I think back on the hike as a whole, the generosity of our friends and families is foremost in my mind. 

My biggest fears going into the hike were related to health and weather. When asked for prayer topics, these were the primary two items that came to my mind.

The largest injury suffered through the entire hike was when Tyler cut his finger after a fall in New York. Otherwise we had all of the minor blisters, sore joints and muscles that you would expect, but we had no major injuries.

We were given remarkable weather throughout the hike. Without a hint of exaggeration, I believe we had close to the best weather of anyone who has ever hiked the AT. I don’t have numbers or data to back up my belief. If I sat down before the hike and planned out the sections of trail for rain and the sections of trail for clear skies, it would not have been very different from the weather we were given. We were blessed throughout the hike. Overall, we spent over 100 days outside and had less than 6 or 7 full days of rain. Even more so, we had views when it really mattered. As the feather in the cap, we finished the trail on Katahdin with idyllic weather. Our prayers were answered above and beyond our hopes.

I won’t write out a blow by blow, but there were many highlights that I cherish as memories. In the first month we overcame the hardest physical challenge of the whole trail: norovirus in the woods. For me this was one of the lowest points. I bring it up when discussing the highlights because the feeling of overcoming the sickness and taking the week off, then finally getting back on trail and making progress again was one of the best feelings of the whole experience. 

On day 44 we reached Pearisburg VA and completed the section of trail that we had hiked before. This was a huge milestone and accomplishment. We also met up with Ashley, Brooke, and Kristina for the first time in Pearisburg. Now when I think back on that town I remember it fondly, instead of looking at it as the undesirable end to my first thru hike attempt. When we hiked out of Pearisburg I loved the feeling of seeing new things and breaking new ground. I had a renewed sense of adventure for what lay ahead.

As far as the trail goes Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine were by far my favorites. I was astounded by their difficulty but even more impressed with their beauty. Vermont provided the remoteness and views that had been missing through most of the middle of the trail. Overall Vermont was not particularly challenging but it was very fun. When I think back on Vermont I think to the greenness of the views and the untouched nature that surrounded us. New Hampshire was the best of the best. Having hiked pretty extensively in the US for someone my age, I have never found a place that I love more than the White Mountains of New Hampshire. They contain almost indisputable the hardest hiking trails in the country, but the views gild the pain. Maine had everything from the easiest sections of trail to the most technical mile and the most steep mile. It hade remoteness, beauty, and the final summit of the trail. Hiking through Maine was a contemplative time for me, as I knew the goal was nearly achieved. I remember Maine bittersweetly, leaning toward sweetness.

The support we received throughout the hike provided another highlight. I want to thank everyone who helped us directly along the way. Tyler’s dad John, Tyler's mom's friends Mark and Heather Aldridge, Chuck and Donna, Tyler’s grandparents Earl and Debbie, Tyler’s great aunt Linnie, Tyler’s grandmother’s friend Nancy, Tyler’s mom Lori, Spencer’s mom Loren, Spencer’s soon-to-be mother in law Val, and my mom and sister Shelby. You all helped us so much and your support was a highlight of the hike, as much as any of the best views, miles or food. I cannot express enough how grateful I am to have had you as a supporter along the way.

Tyler, we hiked 1,525 miles together this year and 636 miles together in 2020. Together we have gone through so much and you have given me so many opportunities to enjoy the outdoors. Your passion for nature is infectious and I would not have spent nearly as much time outside if not for our friendship. Thank you for all the laughs along the way. You put so much into this hike and I am so grateful for the time we had hiking together.

Spencer, you hiked the whole dang thing with me. Not only that, we’ve lived our whole lives together. It’s so fitting that we did this together from beginning to end. I appreciate your companionship more than I can say. You are an incredible friend and I am so grateful to call you my brother. Our friendship has taught me so much about honesty, humility, mental strength and dedication, friendship, loyalty, and what it means to have a good heart. I want to say more but need to leave myself material for my speech at your wedding. But I’ll end it with this: taking this journey with you made it infinitely better and I cannot thank you enough.

Ashley, you weren’t walking beside me but you were also my constant companion through this hike. As I predicted at the beginning, being apart from you was the most difficult element of the hike. Almost all of the hardest days mentally were the days right after I was able to see you. My heart broke a little bit every time we said goodbye and only now that we are back together has it been made whole again. We learned so much together through this time spent apart, and I’m so grateful for your support and love along the way, you made the hike possible. We are stronger now for overcoming the challenge. I can’t wait to begin the rest of our lives together.

I really didn’t talk about it in the blog while on the hike, but as with any good pilgrimage, this journey had a massive spiritual component. I profess to being a Christian and one of my motivations to hike the Appalachian Trail was to experience God’s creation and take time to listen to what He has to say through it. I prayed every day of the hike and can honestly say that not a single one of my prayers went unanswered. Some were answered simply and others were answered with what felt to me like shocking directness. I won’t go into precise detail but if you are curious or would like to talk more about the spiritual component of my hike please don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly. I do not look at completing the hike as a personal achievement, but as something that God gifted me with the ability to do, and something that He used to form my character, my body, and my relationships for the future and for His Kingdom.

Since completing the trail I have returned to the northeast where I have been working on my rusty old Ford Ranger, spending most of my time with Ashley, and looking forward to our wedding on August 23rd. I return to my job as a software engineer on July 8th, where I will continue the work I was doing before the hike. I haven’t yet experienced any “post trail blues,” the feeling many hikers have of missing the trail and the culture shock of returning to “normal” life. I am not saying that I don’t miss the trail, but I am saying that it hasn’t yet overwhelmed my ability to practice presence.

As we were hiking Katahdin I was imagining other outdoor adventures that I can look forward to. For the near future these will all be shorter hiking, hunting, or fishing excursions. I look forward to planning trips that Ashley can join me on. I also like dreaming of other long trails such as the Arizona Trail, Colorado Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, and Continental Divide Trail. For me right now, hiking the whole length of any of these trails is a distant dreams. But I’m sure I will section and day hike parts of them at some point in my life.

As my final sendoff, I want to thank anyone who is reading my blog. I’m going to be honest, writing these had mostly selfish intention. I did not want to forget the experiences of each day, so I journaled to remember. But I shared these online for my friends and family. Knowing that I had people following along and reading my posts gave me motivation. Thank you for reading.

Until next time,

Walker