In the summer of 2008, my friend Adam and I Thru-Hiked the Appalachian Trail, starting in Georgia and ending in Maine. We hiked an average of just under 20 miles a day with backpacks that weighed up to 40 pounds! We took many breaks during the trip to relax, but when we hiked, we took it seriously. The average mileage that we hiked in a full day was more like the distance of a marathon, 26 miles. We finished our trek well ahead of our scheduled 127 days. It took us under 4 months, 112 days in total from Springer Mountain to Mount Katahdin!
This website was originally designed as a means of communication with friends, family, and others that were interested, while we were out on the trail. It also served as my project to show employers in the IT field of work some of my web design skills. However, the intention of this website has shifted to more of an archive of our trip, to assist others that plan on tackling the Appalachian Trail in the future years to come. Look through the 'Hike Blog' section of the website in full, from March through September. You will find our daily accounts of the AT. Also, look through the other sections of the website. You will find a lot of useful information as I update each section.
As time goes on I plan to personally update different sections of the website with our knowledge about equipment, diet, itinerary, and other things. We will provide suggestions and advice to future hikers of the AT. The best thing that a hiker can do before going on any hike, of any distance, is to prepare with the information and advice of others that have already experienced it. Good luck, have fun, and like many hikers have said before me, hike your own damn hike!