No Pain, No Rain, No Maine

The Appalachian Trail (AT) is the oldest long trail in America and the longest hiking-only footpath in the world, extending two thousand, one hundred ninety miles from Springer Mountain, Georgia, to Mount Katahdin in Maine. The trail traverses the Appalachian Mountain range, passing through fourteen states, cutting through eight national forests and two national parks, treading down the streets of small rural towns, and crossing streams and rivers, cow pastures and farm fields.

A typical thru-hike of the AT can take anywhere from five to seven months to complete; the average thru-hike takes approximately six months. I started mine at Springer Mountain on March 13, 2015, and ended it barely more than six months later at Mount Katahdin on September 19.

For me, the AT offered much-needed, tangible simplicity: sleep, eat, move, repeat. Thru-hiking the trail was something I had always wanted to do, but I had been content with