Trail Tuesdays: Why I've Decided To Hike The Appalachian Trail

I've decided to start a new blog series: Trail Tuesdays!

As I mentioned the other week, I've finally decided that I'm going to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail this spring. As of today I only have five weeks until starting. Well, wow. I'm so incredibly excited to take on this opportunity, but I know that as I sit shielded from the elements and with the comforts of modern civilization that I can't even begin to comprehend the thousands of challenges before me in the coming months when I hike the trail.

To kick this series off, I'm going to talk about the basics including:

- What the trail is

- How long it'll take to hike

- Why I've decided to hike it

What is the Appalachian Trail? 
That's it above. It's a super long, continuous hiking trail extending from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine. It extends ~2200 miles and goes through fourteen states (Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine). It also only has a 25% finish rate, and only 25% of the finishers are women. I'm looking to help bump that stat up a little. ;)

How long will the trail take? 
I'm hoping about 4 months, but it will probably be closer to 5 or 6 months.

Why hike 2200 miles?
The big kahuna of a question right here... Many people have asked if it's because I was inspired by the book Wild. I loved that book, but it's not where my inspiration is from. I've wanted to hike the AT since high school. (If I ever decide to hike the PCT you'll know why though!) I don't remember where exactly I got the idea from, but the little bits of information I heard about the trail growing up and over the years and my love of wilderness and adventure made me unable to stop thinking about it.

Why now?
Because I don't know when I'll have the chance to hike it again. I've saved up money working the past year and a half. I've done my NYC thing. I'm planning to move out to Chicago to live with Joe and get a job there while he finishes medical school. Maybe I'm crazy? What it comes down to is right now just feels right.