Hiking the Appalachian Trail
South to North - Georgia to Maine

Editors Note: As one who did not know much about the Appalachian Trail other than it runs from Georgia to Maine and thousands of "crazy" people set out to hike it every year. I have learned a lot being the main contact person here at the Trust for Perry McKay. In listening to the early reports from McKay, I began to think that the trail was just a "path" that was well worn, well taken care of, and to be perfectly honest, a cake walk! Heck, he was walking 15 to 20 miles per day. How hard could it be?

Well… As I got to know Perry and began to do my homework about the trail (books, books, and more books) I soon learned that there are parts of the trail that are a bit on the "cake" side but the entire trail is far from easy. I originally thought that those that did not finish simply got bored, tired, or just plain burnt out. Boy was I wrong!

Perry always had such happy reports. Sure, he talked about the blisters, the rain, and the weather, but he never complained. He knew what he was getting into! I did not.

During his time off the trail for graduation from Shepherd College, I picked up a book entitled, The Beaten Path about a gut who set out to hike the trail because he was "fed up" with daily life. He had a job, a wife, and a home to take care of yet he just had to "walk the trail." After reading this, I asked Perry "What gives"? "You have never mentioned the condition of the trail or just how hard it is in certain places. Why not." Perry, being the good ‘ol boy that he is simply replied, "I’m not one to complain. For the most part the trail is just what I expected, however, there are parts of it that have surprised me."

This brings us to the following report. I asked Perry to give me an assessment of the trail from the perspective of a thru-hiker. (a thru-hiker is one who walks the trail in its entirety within a 12 month period – breaks are allowed as long as you get back on the trail where you left off)

Here is Perry’s report:

The Appalachia Trail (AT) is a national park unit that stretches from Springer Mountain Georgia to Mt. Katahdin Maine, 2,160 miles. I believe it is only about 4 feet wide, but Paul Pritchard would know more about the exact dimensions since he was one of the founders of the Appalachian Trail Conference. But the actual trail, the footpath that we walk on is only about 12 to 18 inches wide in most areas.

Even though the trail is a national park it is maintained by a number of volunteer clubs. Each club is responsible for the maintenance of certain sections. Usually between 50 to 100 miles each. From what I understand, within the clubs, each person gets a 20 mile section where they maintain the white blazes (they mark the AT) on the trees and they are responsible for the general upkeep of that area of the trail. As we were talking the trail is by no means easy terrain. It climbs over rocks and mountains. One example I can give is when I had to take off my pack. The section of the trail is called the lemon squeeze. I had to hold my pack in front of me and turn sideways because I could not fit between these two huge boulders.

The trail in New York, more specifically northern New York was very overgrown. You could see the trail but you were walking in high grass, weeds, stickers and poison ivy. I had to pull about 5 or 6 ticks off me each day. That is a very big thing around here because several people have come down with Lyme disease. It takes people off the trail all the time. It’s scary to know you have to worry about so many things on the trail.

I told you I do purify my water about 80-90% of the time, which is probably not a good thing. I really should be doing it 100% of the time. I guess I am playing with fire. If I get sick it is a hard way to learn a good lesson. (Purify your water)

Anyway, back to the trail conditions, the AT goes over rocks, boulders, even over little wooden footbridges that the individual clubs make for you. Some clubs really do try to keep the trail in good repair while others do not seem to do as good a job.

The shelters… well, the shelters are a story all to themselves. Some are nice and some are rat infested. When I say nice, I mean that it most likely does not leak and there are at least three walls. Each shelter has their little "mice detours". They are a piece of string with a tuna can tied to the end of the can. Although the mice can climb down the string they will not go over the tuna can. The string goes through the can and has a stick on the end that you can hang your food bag from. Some shelters try to be clean. They actually have brooms available so you can clean up. Not many people do but some shelters do have the brooms available.

The AT is by no means a cakewalk. There are places like Shenandoah National Park that is well maintained because it is very popular with tourist, day hikers, section hikers, and the weekend warriors. This is probably the nicest part of the trail. Here, it is a 4-foot wide clean dirt path. To go from that to the swampy areas of NJ and NY, where the mosquitoes are just "hanging out" waiting for you to walk through, is a shock to any hiker. The local clubs usually put wooden planks down for the hikers to go through the swampy areas. In NY, as you are walking through the woods, you see a huge, rocky mountain beside you and the trail goes up the side of it. The trail is full of boulders, overgrown trees, and other obstacles; it’s not a cakewalk. If it were, more people would be hiking the trail. It’s takes awhile for your legs to adjust to the hiking. At first your legs will be like rubber, but after awhile you get your trail legs and walking on rocks gets much easier.

Right now I’m in Connecticut staying at a wonderful place run by Maria McCabe. She made me feel right at home and she’s a wonderful lady. I’m close to the border of Massachusetts now and will call you again soon. For now, I’m outta here. Talk to you again soon.

Return to Reports Main

If you would like to sponsor Perry's quest to hike the Appalachian Trail, please click here