Who am I? and why am I hiking the Appalachian Trail?

Who am I?

For those who do not know me, my name is Dakota. I am from San Diego, California, and for as long as I can remember, spending time outdoors has been a part of my life. As a kid, my family would go camping in Big Bear, CA. I grew up hiking the mountains in Mission Trails regional park, and in college I majored in geology in part because my very first class took me camping in Yosemite. But all this being said, this will be my first ever extended backpacking trip.

My Why:

I want to live now.

I cannot remember when the idea of thru hiking one of the big three trails in the US first popped into my mind, but being from San Diego, I have long known and admired the people who hiked the PCT, walking for days on end, needing only the supplies in their backpack. Completing a thru-hike has always been something I’ve wanted to do, but always told myself “I will in the future…” But life kept going, and the future kept getting pushed off. Next year became this year, and so on.

Well, last year I was daydreaming and I decided to apply for a permit for the PCT. Why not? What’s the harm? I did not know that in between then and now, I would actually get the permit and I would leave my job without another lined up. Even with these two things lining up, there are many reasons why now is not the perfect time in my life for me to drop everything and go backpacking for 5-6 months. However, I on longer want to live a life of “I will”, I want to be able to say “I have”, or in this case: I am.

That being said, 2023 turned out to be a year where the snow along the trail broke records. Having neither thru-hiking experience nor snow training, I decided that 2023 was not the year for me to hike the PCT. Thus, I turned my eyes on the worlds longest hiking only path: The Appalachian Trail.

Other reasons:

• I love being challenged. I want to be pushed to, and past, my limits.
• I used to be a collegiate athlete and I miss the feeling of consistently exercising
• I love the unknown, and the (often) messy journey of figuring things out along the way
• I love meeting new people, especially when those new people share common goals
• I believe that truly having alone time is something our society is losing. Even when we are “alone,” we are on social media, messaging/calling friends on our phones, watching the news, or being entertained by another social creation that connects us with modern society. I want to get away from all of this and understand what it is like to be alone for a significant amount of time. I hope to use this alone time to connect better with myself.
• Andddd of course my sunken costs. I’ve already bought all the equipment, blocked off my calendar, and eaten so much ice cream that I need to go. There is no turning back.

My Fears

I plan to use this platform to be as honest with my readers as possible. A part of that includes acknowledging that my plan to hike the AT is not all happy and dreamy. It will be an extremely challenging endeavor that many people fail to complete. If I am being realistic, as much as I do not like it, there is a chance that despite my best efforts I may not complete it. Here are some of my fears as I look forward to my time on the trail:

• Based on my schedule, I cannot start the AT until mid May. Due to this, instead of a straight through thru-hike, I will be flip flopping. This will come with its own set of challenges that I will have to face, such as the logistics of flipping between locations as I go.
• I have knee problems and I have only recently begun physical therapy for them. I am concerned about how they will hold up on the trail. I may be mentally capable, but if my body gives out, there is not much I can do.
• Money. I do not have a job and the trail can be expensive. I hope that I can be wise enough with my money on this trail that I do not go through all I have too quickly.
• Lastly, I have never backpacked for this long before. Even if I have the right gear, I am sure to face problems I have never faced before. How will I overcome these?

My Plan

I plan to start my Flip-Flop journey at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. From there I will hike NOBO in order to get my trail legs under me between hitting the harder paths of Maine. Afterwards I will flip back down to Harpers Ferry and hike SOBO, hopefully catching some of the original SOBO crowd as I go and finishing on Springer Mountain.

In a future post I will share with you what gear I have obtained in preparation for this hike, and why 🙂