I had intended to begin hiking the Appalachian Trail for the second time in March 2025, forty-two years after my 1983 thru-hike. That was a long and convoluted journey, but nothing compared to the twists that brought me to the realization that I wanted to do it all again in my sixties. I will probably write up a long-story-short version of that for my next post, but I am more interested in posting trail stories and trail pics here. If I create that second post it will be the last until the hiking begins this April.
Pen-Mar Park, a corner of the Cumberland Valley and South Mountain in Pennsylvania viewed from High Rock in northern Maryland during my 1983 hike. July 14, 1983.
My 2025 thru-hike almost seemed fated when Dave Malone, my friend and hiking companion for the first 250-plus miles in 1983, was put back in touch with me after losing touch for many years. We were reunited by another good friend and hiking companion from 1983, Alan Strackeljahn. Dave wanted to give an Appalachian Trail thru-hike another shot, too. We both knew we needed a hiking partner to more safely attempt the trek as senior citizens and suddenly each of us was reunited with a great trail partner who wanted the same thing. After a few conversations we settled on March 10, 2025 as our projected start date in Georgia.
Then in September 2024 Hurricane Helene devastated the southern third of the Appalachian Trail. Dave and I are both purists when it comes to our own thru-hikes. Neither of us wanted to do a lot of road walking around closed trail sections or do some complex flip-flop route to avoid the worst damaged sections down south until the end and hope they were restored by the time we got back to them. The thru-hike would have to wait until March 2026. We needed a new plan for 2025.
In 1983 I did not really appreciate most of the Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York portions of the A.T. One reason was the majesty of the North Carolina and Tennessee section plus the Mount Rogers area in extreme southwest Virginia and then up ahead in New England frankly spoiled me for the very pretty but less spectacular country in between. I often did not take enough trouble to look for the beauty here and just tried to rush through. The second reason was just the timing. In a northbound thru-hike the central states of the A.T. usually come along as you deal with the sweltering heat of summer. It happened for me in 1983 and will no doubt be the case in 2026.
I have long wanted to redo this stretch in a pair of section hikes: a late spring/early summer hike of the northern 570 or so miles from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia through northern Massachusetts and an autumn hike of the Virginia and West Virginia section, also more than 500 miles. Dave and I both wanted a spring 2025 hike, so we will be starting out from Harpers Ferry around April 14 and hiking to North Adams, Massachusetts, just a few miles south of the Vermont border. We expect that to take about two months, probably a bit less. Assuming our bodies hold up, I will blog that trip here. I am not being defeatist. I know I am now in shape to begin a long backpacking trip. No one knows how their body will handle the prolonged grind until they actually experience it.
The southern 120-odd miles of the Appalachian Trail in Vermont follow that state's famed Long Trail over the crest of the Green Mountains before turning east towards the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Many thru-hikers, including me, regret missing the remaining 150 miles of the Long Trail north to the Canadian border. We vow to return some day and hike the whole Long Trail. Following our A.T. section hike described above, we are taking the summer off at our respective homes (I plan to day hike). Dave and I expect to return to North Adams in early September and hike north to the Canadian border, completing the Long Trail. That should take about a month. I will blog about this journey, too, with photos and words posted here. I also plan to write a new book about this autumn journey. Again, if my body holds up.
After that comes March 2026 and my sequel Appalachian Trail hike, which I also plan to blog about here. This will also be the subject of a new book if these old legs get me to Katahdin. I hope you will come along.
The view from Baker Peak on the Long Trail/A.T. in the Green Mountains of Vermont, August 24, 1983.