Trek Dirty to Me: 35 days until I hike North America's oldest mountain range, and this is why I am hiking it.
by AJ Feeney-Ruiz, Bio, @ajfeeneyruiz, Guthook: AJFeeneyRuiz, Email
Perhaps this is an unintentional second shoutout to The Trek and its founder Zach Davis. I have been reading Davis’ book Appalachian Trials about his experiences both preparing for and hiking the AT. He rightly points out that the most important piece of gear to pay attention to is the gear between your ears. The brain/mind/ego is a powerful motivator and critic. It can be your greatest cheerleader or your biggest adversary.
I started out in this endeavor with mental preparation and deliberation before moving to the planning and gear and all the things most folks find far more interesting. It’s nice to see Davis not only recognized the importance of this, but also took the time to share that wisdom with others.
One thing that Davis suggests is to write down my reasons for deciding to thru-hike the AT. I realized that I have this scattered throughout not only my personal notes, but also this website. However, in the interest of consolidation and this exercise, this is why I am hiking the AT (and plan to hike the PCT and the CDT).
Adventure is part of who I am.
I have recognized that adventure and grand challenges elevate my happiness and make me a better human, friend, partner, and son. Without these challenges (in this particular case, thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail), I recognize that I am not my best or who I want to be reflected to the rest of the world. I feel inertia. I find it difficult to grow and easier to regress. I prefer to aspire to adventure and allow that reflection of me be my identity. Because that is where I am truly me.
The outdoors is part of who I am.
I spent almost the first half of my life in the outdoors. Returning to the concept of ‘identity,' the outdoors was a crucial part of mine. Some of my earliest childhood memories involved camping and fishing. My first real and some of my closest friends came from the Cub Scouts and then the Boy Scouts.
For most of the years between age 10 and 17, I knew that I would spend at least 48-72 hours a month camping in a canvas tent somewhere in Indiana. When I wasn’t learning my skills as a child, I was teaching others as a teenager. I never had an open house or a graduation from my Indiana high school, but I did have my Eagle Scout Court of Honor which was far more relevant and appropriate.
Each summer, when I wasn’t participating in summer camps or national and international gatherings for the Scouts or the YMCA, my family would retreat to the mountains of Colorado, near the Continental Divide. We took food for a portion of the time, but we caught the rest. If Scouts was my undergraduate program, these summers were my outdoor training and wilderness survival graduate courses. As I grew older, the outdoor challenges grew more difficult and rewarding.
When I graduated early from high school and followed my dream to attend boarding school in New Mexico, I decided to pursue a more cosmopolitan life. I had spent more time in the city than my home in the country, and I decided I wanted to devote my attention there and put the outdoors on the back burner. I always expected to return, but I never thought it would take this long.
A little over a decade ago, I came across an article discussing a thru-hike of the AT. I remembered various conversations over the years (primarily in my younger years) regarding the trail, and it planted a seed. One night in my local bar, a friend announced that she was going to hike the AT that spring and summer, and that seed grew and we discussed her impending hike.
I returned to my home and spent the next six hours researching the AT, and then the Pacific Crest Trail and then the Continental Divide Trail. Suppressing that outdoor wanderlust caused that seed to erupt that day and I spent ten years staring at a folder on my computer desktop that simply said Triple Crown. Last year, I decided it was time to open that folder and do something about it.
Discovery is part of who I am.
The AT has a particular allure for me (I will happily discuss the attraction of the PCT and the CDT when their times come) because, while I have been to each of the fourteen states along its path, most of them have only been in passing. Furthermore, the Appalachian corridor is very much a mystery and a fascination of mine. I am drawn particularly to the communities and the hiking culture along the AT. From all that I know of each of the Triple Crown trails, I realize that each has its own distinct personality, and I just really wanted to get to know the AT first. I have tiny voids in my soul that have been waiting to be filled by moments spent in some of the destinations along the way, and I am ready to see those become complete.
Storytelling is part of who I am.
As I embark upon this new career focused on hospitality and adventure, I am so very curious to discover and meet the folks and communities who support, shelter and feed the thousands of thru-hikers who pass through every year. Combine that with their hosting millions of other visitors each year, and I want to meet, interview and learn the stories of as many of these folks as possible.
Mortality is part of who I am.
I turn 40 years old this year. There are big things on the horizon that I can’t wait to share. My body is also not what it used to be. My timeline to do these little walks in the woods moved up several years because my knees started to let me know that they weren’t enthusiastic with some of the trials through which I had put them. I’m glad that I listened to my body, because that is the primary reason why I decided to open that folder and start in 2020 instead of 2025, or perhaps never.
So this is why I am hiking the Appalachian Trail and this is why I will finish atop Mt. Katahdin, Maine in October.
-AJ
I hope I explain it well.
My first Father’s Day.