Across the Appalachian

While most AHS students spend their summers relaxing and watching T.V. in their comfortable air conditioned homes, sophomore Nathan Clayton took a hike, a 2,000 mile hike.  Clayton traveled from Georgia to Maine, and no, not on an airplane, on foot.
Clayton and his father spent five months living out his deceased grandfather’s life long dream, to completely hike the Appalachian Trail, stretching from Georgia to Maine.
      Clayton said, “It is very time consuming but if I had the time I would do it again.”
    Their hike stretched along the east coast from North to South.  An estimated three to four million hikers have hiked a portion of the trail, but in the past 71 years only 9,583 hikers have completed the  2,000 mile trail in its entirety. 
    Clayton hiked in 2006, when there were only 488 people who hiked the full 2,000 miles.  The  average number of 2,000 milers over the past five years is about 400. Many hikers set out to complete the 2,000 mile trail but there is only a 29 percent completion rate.
Clayton also said he made the trip because his “Dad told me all about the trip and it seemed exciting.  Plus I wanted to miss half the school year.”                  Because the trip took five months, Clayton missed the last semester of his eighth grade school year.
Despite the fact that Clayton was gone for five months, he was still able to see his family.  Clayton said, “My mom and sister visited us like four or five times.”  Still, Clayton missed his friends, especially getting to hang out with them.
    Some hikers are called survivalists, meaning they live completely off natural resources.  Many hunt and scavenge for food in the wild.  Instead of relying on nature, Clayton and his father relied on the U.S. Postal Service.  “My mom mailed us food every week or so to towns near the trail.  We would go into town and get it,” said Clayton. 
    Survivalists also rely solely on nature for shelter.  However Clayton said, “[We solely slept] either in our tent or in a three walled shelter in the woods.” 
The trail not only contains many determined hikers, but also wild animals.  The trail is mainly populated with bears and snakes.  Clayton said the most interesting thing he saw was a moose.
    For Clayton, the 2,000 mile hike changed his life.  Clayton said, “It taught me that anything is possible if you put your mind to it.”
Since completing the hike Clayton said, “I have been only a few times since I finished the trail.”
The trip was not only a lifetime accomplishment but an experience that many people do not get to have. Clayton’s favorite memory was, “Meeting the new and interesting people. People that I wouldn’t meet otherwise.”
    Without  interesting people to talk to, Clayton probably would not have made the trip. They were a source of entertainment to him and his father.
Many people do not get to say that they are a “2,000 miler,” but this is not true for Clayton. He will be one of the few able to carry this accomplishment with him throughout his life.