The Appalachian Trail

Throughout my books I often mention hiking the Appalachian Trail. Usually, its context in my books deals with how Colonel Tyler who had a trail name of “Hardcharger” and his hiking companion Command Sergeant Major Smalls, who went by the trail name of “River Rat” used their hiking experiences to reflect on life. Not only do I use the Appalachian Trail I also use the Tuscarora Trail in my books. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts this is a recurring back story to help to expand upon the adventures of these two men. In most cases I use the trails as an escape mechanism usually as they are trying to compensate for grief in their lives. In the case of both men, it revolves around the loss of their wives either to cancer or to COVID-19.

So where do I draw this inspiration from? Well, I’ve actually hiked both of these trails and in both cases from end to end. My real hiking partner, whose trail name is “Johnny B”, and I began hiking together almost 30 years ago. Over the years we gained a lot of experience backpacking along Massanutten mountain in Virginia and other adventures that we took canoeing and bicycling together. On each of these adventures I’ve always kept a journal. My initial journal entries were never really detailed; I would write about where we started and how many miles, we hiked or traveled that day. I might talk about people that we met or possibly some very scenic portion of the trail that we had observed or in many cases how miserably hot wet or cold it was.

When I return from our adventures, I would sit down behind my computer take my notes from my journal and pull out the maps of the area and I would begin writing a story about our adventure. I would always include photographs of our adventures in my documents that I would save for posterity’s sake.

In 2008 we finished a hike in Shenandoah National Park. While we were hiking, we found ourselves hiking the Appalachian Trail. It was easy to tell because the trail was well marked with what we refer to as trail blazes. These little white markers were painted on trees and rocks and other items that were observable by hikers. We learned that there were methods of reading the blazes that told you to go straight ahead or right or left or in some cases they would turn blue to lead you down to some water source or cabin or shelter along the trail.

It was after one of these hikes that we decided that we were going to tackle the entire Appalachian Trail. The two of us were still employed at the time, I was teaching JROTC at the high school level and my friend John was working as a computer expert for a company. So, neither one of us could take off 6 months and hike the entire trail at one fell swoop. So, like that proverbial elephant we decided to take it one bite at a time.

We spent the winter of 2008-2009 researching the trail. We obtained maps descriptions and recommendations for equipment and food and all of the things that were necessary for us to make the hike.

Immediately after I got back from summer camp with my JROTC cadets we drove with our wives to Springer Mountain Georgia, and we began our hike. We drove to the trailhead and walked about 9/10 of a mile South to where the marker was for the beginning of the trail, the trail terminus.

Trailhead Springer Mountain GA

We even convinced our wives to walk with us to the beginning of the trail so they could take the necessary pictures to prove that we had actually started there. We also got an opportunity to show them what a standard Appalachian Trail overnight shelter looked like, and we introduced them to the outdoor Privy. And Needless to say, they were not at all interested in our accommodations. My wife’s idea of roughing it was a Holiday Inn that did not have a indoor swimming pool. John’s wife felt the same. After they dropped us off at the car they headed home. The plan was to pick us up in Damascus VA in about 5 weeks.

John or I always say that we walked 2,200 miles, and our wives drove over 10,000 miles. It said that the average hiker will spend approximately $2.00 a mile on the Appalachian Trail we figured our Appalachian Trail trip probably cost us closer to $20 a mile or more.

By the end of our hike, we made it to Irwin Tennessee. At that point I was injured and we had to stop and call for help. This would become a family joke that neither one of us were good for more than about six weeks on the Appalachian Trail.

Over a four-year period we covered the entire 2,200 miles. It was an adventure of a lifetime

As I mentioned I maintained a journal. When I would get home, I would expand upon it making sure that I had the right mountains named, the right gaps listed, the right water sources labeled, and the photograph indicating where we had been or what we had seen that particular day.

On the 30th of August 2012 we summited the top of mount Katahdin Maine ending or adventure. It was a wonderful experience one that I wished that I was capable of doing once again. Unfortunately, physically, I’ll probably never be able to backpack again. But that’s another story for another day.

End of trail, Mount Katahdin, Maine

Regards, “Hardcharger”

If you’re enjoying these blogs, please drop me a comment or if you have any questions that I might answer again submit a comment on the comment pages. I’m always glad to hear from you.

Again, please take a look at all of my books that I have listed. They can be purchased from Amazon.com with the click of a button directly from the website. Until next week, Have a good one.

The Advisor Series:

• “The Advisor, Kien Bing, South Vietnam, 1969-1970. A Novel” (Available on Amazon ASIN: B09L4X5NQ3)
• “The Province Senior Intelligence Advisor, Kien Song Province 1970-1971; A Novel” (Available on Amazon ASIN: B0BHL2XCX5)
• “The Hardchargers,” Vietnam 1972-1973; A Novel” (Available on Amazon ASIN: B0C7SPR1JY)
• “The Tuscarora Trail” (Available on Amazon ASIN: B0D3QY2GM6)

Check out my website for other books that I’ve written or edited.

Website: ptaylorvietnamadvisor.com