Trek Dirty to Me: 70 days until lift off and do you want to join me for a bit along the trail?
So do you? Do you want to climb a mountain? Come on, let’s go and play!
Are you really going to make me do it? Okay…[hums Disney’s Frozen to myself amongst tourist humans lounging around me wondering what the hell I am doing]…
[39-Year-Old AJ:]
Buddy?
[Knocks]
Do you wanna climb a mountain?
Come on, let's go and play!
I never see you anymore
Come out the door
It's like you've gone away
We used to be best buddies
And now we're not
I wish you would tell me why!
Do you wanna climb a mountain?
It doesn't have to be a mountain...
[Appropriately-aged You:] Go away, AJ.
[39-Year-Old AJ:] Okay, bye...
[Musical interlude]
[Knocks]
[Still 39-Year-Old AJ:]
Do you wanna climb a mountain?
Or ride our hike around the falls?
I think some company is overdue
I've started talking to
The voice on robocalls!
(Hang in there, Mike from Allstate!)
It gets a little lonely
All these days abroad
Just watching the hours tick by...
(Tick-tock tick-tock tick-tock tick-tock)
[Musical interlude]
[Partly crying]
[Knocks]
[Still 39-Year-Old AJ:]
Buddy, please I know you're in there
People are asking where you've been
They say, "Have courage, " and I'm trying to
I'm right out here for you
Just let me in
We only have each other
It's just you and me
What are we gonna do?
Do you wanna climb a mountain?
So now that there is that, do you want to?
As I have previously posted, there will be ample opportunities along my thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail during which you can join me or meet up with me! That would be awesome, an amazing chance to reconnect (or connect), get outside, check out trail towns, and more.
Want to rough it and spend time in the woods? Great! I currently am planning about 100 nights of camping during the 180-day trek.
Not so into camping, but love a good hike for a few days? Perfect! There are plenty of stretches where I am planning on staying in trail towns (about 80 nights).
No interest in hiking at all, but would like to meet up and grab a meal or a drink? We can do that too! I am spending the night in towns in 14 different states from Georgia to Maine, and stopping in many more (there are 40 recognized trail communities along the AT and plenty of other smaller spots) where we can do just that.
If you are interested in hiking and camping, I ask that you check out the miles involved during those periods of time and maybe check out the routes themselves. You also need to make sure you have an appropriate backpacking kit for the stretch that interests you.
If you have any questions or want to join, please let me know! I will start plugging folks into the plan in order to avoid getting too large of a group (unlikely), or just for your reference. Several folks have already expressed interest in each of the available options (camp, hike but no camp, hang in town). Obviously nothing is set in stone on your part or mine - plenty of shit can happen between now and then.
I must also make note that I will be going to Indianapolis for two weeks in August at some point (most likely will not know until fairly close to then), so if you would like to join after that, you can play with the two with your planning. My goal is to climb Mt. Katahdin, Maine before October 15 and fly back to Indy (via Portland, Maine and NYC) on October 16 and 17.
Come on, let’s go and play!
-AJ
My first Father’s Day.