Paul's AT blog

If you have been following my blog for the last three months, thank you for being part of my journey. I am honored that you found this stuff interesting enough to read. Sharing some of my thoughts and experiences from the trail through this blog has helped me clarify my own understanding and create a personal narrative of what I consider to be the coolest thing I have ever done. Some closing thoughts after nearly at week home... I am in awe of anyone who though-hikes the entire trail in one year. It takes a far greater level of commitment (or maybe it's plain mulishness) than I possess to spend day after day and month after month walking through the woods with a pack on your back. It's not the hills or rocks or trail food or lack of creature comfort that makes it so hard to finish. Those, in fact, are a large part of the attraction. Rather, it is the price you have to pay in forfeited opportunities that can erode the commitment. Taking five-million steps on one path require

When I decided to hike the Appalachian Trail, my motivation was to spend six months on a personal journey in the woods removed from the distractions of “normal” living to help me connect with myself and find direction for the last third of my life. Hiking through the Smoky Mountains last week, I realized that I had already succeeded. So I came home yesterday. I learned a lot over the 800 miles I walked. I’m ready to start this next chapter of my life. I’ll probably write another post later with some details about the deeper learning that I experienced on the trail. But for now, here is the simple explanation for my decision to come home: There are other things I want to do. Over the last week as I walked through the majestic mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee in the best weather of my entire trek, I was absorbed in the exquisite beauty of the trail. It was as good as any wilderness experience can be. I was no longer thinking about me. I was in the moment. Yet as the day

Hiking Above the Clouds I’m sitting in the empty lobby of the lodge at Fontana, NC, with JusMel watching another thunderstorm blow through the valleys of the southern Appalachians. We booked a room when the forecast called for clear skies today through next weekend. Now we are elated with our decision. You just can’t trust the weather on the AT. I hit mile 700 of my hike yesterday. That kind of amazes me. It’s only 1/3 of the trail but by far the most I’ve ever walked in the woods. It’s kind of crazy when I think about it. So I try not to do that too often. Tomorrow we start our hike through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. That will be incredible, I’m sure. JusMel is ending his hike after we leave the park. I plan to keep going but I am starting to think about  ending my own hike. I feel like I’ve accomplished all of the important things I wanted to do. The only major goal left is finishing the whole trail but that’s not so important to me. I have some pretty c