It came to an end rather suddenly, I decided to leave the AT. In the end I spent 106 days on the trail and covered 1,329 miles. I was eating lunch near the New Jersey/New York border thinking ahead to how much time I had left. It was the beginning of July and if I was able to keep up my pace I’d be done with the trail in early September. In the meantime, I would miss out on my friend’s bachelor party, two weeks with Kacy at Oshkosh, and be rushing to make it off the trail in time to be a groomsman in the same friend’s wedding.
As much as I wanted to complete what I’d started, I’d gotten what I needed from the trail. The 3 months I spent hiking helped me reset my life, change my perspective from being trapped in an office, and generally just relax. Sitting at lunch that day, I realized I was ready to move on from the trail and that I didn’t want to postpone spending my life with the people I missed.
Hiking and camping will still be a part of my life, but in smaller bursts while I focus on different adventures (keep an eye on the blog to see what those adventures entail).