Not Quite Thru
Our goal was to walk from Georgia to Maine on the Appalachian Trail. When we met, we realized we'd both nurtured that particular dream for most of our lives. John was actively in training for the adventure; Sandra agreed to send his maildrops. But within a couple of months, we realized the best way to tackle it was together. Or perhaps the worst! We were new to each others' lives.
In fact, the experience turned us into one heck of a team.
We'd planned to start the first day of spring 2012. We arrived a few days early to be a part of the AT Kickoff in Dahlonega, officially signing in on the register at Amicalola Falls State Park on March 18.
By mid June, we made the decision to call it a hike for a variety of reasons explained in our journals below. Although we didn’t accomplish our goal of a thru-hike, spending three months hiking north along the Appalachian Trail taught us many things, including patience and perseverance. We learned a lot about thru-hiking, about living out of a backpack, and about ourselves.
The entries below are in chronological order as our journey unfolded. Most of them were posted live on FloridaHikes.com as we hiked so they were very brief updates. By moving them here, we've taken the opportunity to both expand on some of the stories from notes out of the handwritten journals we both kept and to improve on the photos accompanying each article.
Hike Preparation
Sandra Friend
Sandra Friend
John Keatley
Sandra Friend
AT Journals
Until we transfer the rest of our journals to this website, read through them here.
After the Hike
John Keatley
John Keatley
John Keatley
John Keatley