Sun Oct 29, 2017 @ 17:44

Why the Appalachian Trail

For the past two years my husband has had a job with two different railroad companies. For the first year we were not allowed to travel with him so the kids and i loaded up our tent in our truck and headed to Texas in February of 2016 where we officially began our adventure of fulltime traveling in the Big Thicket of Texas.

In August of 2016 my husband switched rail companies to one that would allow us to take our 27 ft travel trailer and travel with him.  While we were at a campground near Boiling Springs, PA, I began researching the area for hiking trails (which I did everywhere we went) when I was told that the Appalachian trail was less than an eighth of a mile from the back of the campground. I had heard of the AT a few times before but never thought anything of it. We are from Little Rock, AR and we hiked Pinnacle Mt. a few times and I even remembered one time running into a guy who was wearing this enormous pack literally running up and down the hill. Looking back I recalled finally asking him (after he passed us about 3 times) why on earth he was carrying that huge bag and going up and down so many times. He replied that he was training for a thru hike on the Appalachian Trail. "Cool" I said and wished him good luck all the while thinking he was insane to even contemplate that. All of this came rushing back while the lady was explaining all the hiking trails in the area. I blew it off and thanked her for the info still having no intention of trying the AT. I messaged my Aunt who is also a fulltime traveler and we often exchange our traveling adventures and told her about the conversation I had had with the lady in the office. She went on and on about how awesome it was that I  had an opportunity to be on the AT and begged me to at least set my feet on it and send her a picture (she LOVES feet pictures). So.. My oldest daughter (Ashley) and myself decided on Easter Sunday we would just go walk a little bit on it and leave the younger kids with their dad for the afternoon. We had gone to church that morning and had a flashlight egg hunt planned that evening so he was just cooking out at the camper and we were itching to get out. We began on the rugged trail behind the tent area of the campground and expected just another ordinary trail once we hit the AT. Little did I know what a surprise I was in for. As soon as we came to the T from the campground trail to the AT it was like a whole new magical world opened up. We looked to the right, then the left and then we saw it... The white blaze... We were mesmerized. We decided to hike to the left and crossed a wooden bridge across a crystal clear creak and then we just walked and walked and climbed this insanely steep hill. I thought we were going to die just trying to climb it but we kept going. When we reached the top, we realized it was about to storm so we decided to go back to the campground despite the incredible urge to just go on and not stop. Over the next few days, we discovered the town of Boiling Springs and the AT Conservancy there, which we visited a few times in the next week and probably drove the lady at the desk nuts with all of our questions. We found out that the mountain we had climbed was actually the original halfway point of the AT and had we known that, we would have known to look around for the original plaque for it. (We will find it next year!!!) We began watching youtube videos and my daughter decided she wanted to thru hike. I told her she wasn't doing it alone but she didn't have any friends  that could do it with her so on a whim I started googling families and kids that had completed a thru hike. I found a youtube series made by @toesalad about a family with 3 kids that did a thru hike and we watched all of their episodes. I decided if they could do it, we could to. My husband was leery, and didn't really want to support it at first with understandable concerns, but he at least listened to us and watched a few videos of families and kids and what the trail had done for them. That was it. While I still sometimes question why,  we decided the 6 of us (me and the 5 kids) were going to thru hike in 2018. It was going to be our last big adventure with me and the 5 kids before Ashley flew the nest.  We have camped and hiked. We had even done backwoods camping, just with a regular tent and camping equipment, but we had never backpacked, nor did we have any gear for any of us for backpacking. I was so out of shape and weighed in at the most I have ever weighed at 270 lbs. It just didn't make sense for me to be even thinking about this. I didn't care. All i could think about was the day we set foot on the trail and how it kept calling me back. On May 1 of 2017 my husband lost his job with the rail company. We were in Hagerstown, MD when he was let go and we had one night left in the hotel. The kids and I of course had found a trailhead for the AT and begged him to hike with us so he could see the trail for himself, so before we left Hagerstown, he agreed to the 3ish mile hike to Annapolis Rock and he even got to see one of the shelters and how well the trail was marked and traveled. This helped alleviate his worries quite a bit. On May 2 we left Hagerstown and we landed in WV as camp hosts for about 2 months, and then moved on to Oklahoma for another camp host job hoping to find my husband a regular job there.

Fast forward and life got in the way a little. Ashley decided to move back to Arkansas on our way through to Oklahoma and got a fulltime job and was no longer able to commit to a thru hike. I was devastated and due to her cancelling and fear of being able to afford gear, etc I cancelled our plans for it as well. The more I tried to not think about it, the more I couldn't stop thinking about it and I finally realized that whether I knew the reason or not, we HAD to do this thing and we HAD to do it in 2018 whether Ashley could go or not. I had no idea how we were going to afford the gear, how I was going to pull it off in such short time, etc, I just knew without a shadow of a doubt that we were going to do it. Phillipians 4:6-7 says ....

"Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."  

This was how I felt and still feel. Every time I think about how much money the gear we still need is going to cost, or how we are going to handle food, or how I will get in shape before we leave, or how afraid I am of sleeping in the middle of nowhere with bears and coyotes and lord knows what else around, my soul is silenced with this incredible peace that tells me our gear and food will be provided and we will be kept safe. I still can't completely wrap my head around it and probably won't for a very long time but I do know that this hike is about so much more than just me or the kids and our "story".

In August of 2017, My Husband was offered an amazing job back in Little Rock, AR. We found a quaint little house to rent (for now) where there is even a hookup in the yard for the camper and Ashley and Lacey are now roommates in our camper. A few friends have stepped up and donated some used gear and I have found a few things at second hand stores or on clearance. Things are falling into place and while we still have 4 months left to finish planning, I feel like it's just tomorrow. I am excited, nervous, scared, and a whole slew of other emotions but most of all I am blessed.