Final Reflection

Interview:

<Introduction>

My name is Ford Coleman and I am from Atlanta, GA. I am hiking the AT for 10 days and I am planning on making it to the GA-NC state line at Bly Gap.

<Why did you want to hike the AT>

I chose to hike the Appalachian Trail because I really wanted to do a senior project and I have a strong passion for nature, the outdoors, and hiking. I’ve backpacked before and have done multiple day hikes but I really wanted to try out something more challenging like this and see how much I like it. James and I both love hiking and we came up with this idea. Fortunately, this project was approved and we had one of the best experiences of our lives.

<What do you love about hiking and why do you think other people hike>

I love the exercise. I think hiking up and down mountains like the ones in North Georgia is really good for you. I also love being outside and sometimes like being away from everything that’s going on in my life. It’s a really easy life on the trail – you wake up, hike, eat, set up camp, and sleep – there really aren’t any problems you have to face. These past couple years I’ve had a lot of stuff going on like the college process, the SAT, AP exams, schoolwork, and my job so it’s really nice to have nothing to worry about except backpacking to a specific spot every day. Also, people these days are so brainwashed by technology. Kids spend hours each day on social media and staring at their screens, whether it’s their phone or computer. So, it’s really nice to just get away from all that for 2 weeks and have no connection to society.

I think other people hike for the same reasons. On the trail I found that most people actually quit their jobs because they hated their job so much and they just decided to hike the AT. It seemed like most people had never done much long distance hiking and they just wanted to try it out. But, most people do it because they love the experience, the hiking, and the people they meet.

<What was your best experience on the trail>

My best experience on the trail was definitely on top of Blood Mountain. Words cannot even begin to describe the scenery we saw at the top of Blood Mountain. Imagine yourself standing in a painting: you are on top of the tallest mountain and you are looking at all the mountains around you. That is what the view at Blood Mountain looked like. It was like looking at a painting right in front of you in 3D.

Reflection on Expectations Going In:

At the beginning of this project I didn’t know what to expect. I’ve done some hiking and backpacking before but I knew this was going to be really different than my past experiences. A lot of people asked me beforehand if I was scared since apparently there are stories of people getting lost, killed and even kidnapped on the trail. I knew none of that was going to happen and I never really thought about it. However, all the people we met on the trail were the nicest people ever. Obviously there were a couple of strange hikers we talked to but other than that it was really safe and we didn’t have any problems. I do think the Appalachian Trail is very dangerous but not because of the people, because of the terrain. Georgia is known to be one of the hardest parts of the AT because of all of the ups and downs. We went up 1000 feet in elevation, then down 1000 feet, and then repeated the process. Plus, our 30lb tent made it that much worse for us since we didn’t really pack light. Our expectations going in was that it wasn’t going to be too hard since we mapped everything out and it was going to be a lot of fun. One thing that I did not expect going in was how cool and nice the people on the trail are. I thought most of the people were going to be a lot different and kind of weird like Chris McCandless from Into the Wild. Fortunately, it was the exact opposite. We also read A Walk in the Woods and learned that a bear attack was perfectly within the realm of possibility as there are 500 certified attacks per year. So, we really expected to at least see a bear. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) we didn't encounter a bear. However, we did see a wild turkey which was about the only wildlife we saw. I think I definitely learned a lot while on the trail and this was definitely one of the best experiences of my life so far.