Appalachian Trail Summer 1960: 19 year old's hand written account of his solo adventure throughout the Appalachian trail.

During the winter of 1959-60, while a freshman at Paul Smith's College, I began planning a hike on the Appalachian Trail. My goal was to travel alone, from Maine to Georgia, live out of my 40-pound pack and complete the 2,160 miles by late fall. It was an ambitious plan, but one I felt certain I would accomplish. I had grown up hiking in the White Mountains and enjoyed it. I think I felt that it was "what I wanted to do" and "whom I wanted to be." I thoroughly researched the trip, bought good equipment and I had the support of my parents (the hike would require that I take one or two semesters off from college!) But plans change. In Maine, I began to realize that what I enjoyed most was exploring --- taking a side trail to an outlook ledge or following a brook to a waterfall. The demands of my through-hike schedule did not allow for many side trip "distractions." I also discovered that even though I could handle myself very well alone, I did enjoy contact with other people --- especially meeting new people and hearing their stories. And, I nearly starved myself with my heavy reliance on dehydrated trail foods! So I decided to do it differently. I would give up my goal of completing a full, one time, AT hike and instead spend the summer hiking the AT in regions that interested me most (section hiking.) I would take time to see what I wanted, meet new people and eat real food --- even if that meant shouldering a heavier pack! This arrangement worked well for much of the rest of the summer as I hiked in the White Mountains (still my favorites,) the Green Mountains in Vermont and the Shenandoah in Virginia. I would have continued on to the Great Smokies in Tennessee and North Carolina except that one of my front teeth abscessed resulting in me hopping on a bus headed home to have the root canal performed by my trusted family dentist. --------- And thus ended my summer's "adventure." Looking back (now 52 years later) I consider the trip an important step in my youthful development. It guided me toward a life of thinking seriously about what I truly value --- and that has served me well! But I'm not finished --- rewriting these notes has reminded me that I still have nearly half the White Mountain 4,000 footers left to climb! I'm making plans to complete them this summer. It will have taken me just a few years longer than I planned! If anyone takes time to read this journal he or she should be aware that I have tried to copy it as it was written and that the 19-year-old scribbling it usually did so by candlelight after a long day on the trail without the aid of a dictionary!