Previously, On the Trail…

1068.7 / 2189.1 miles 48.8% Deer Lick Shelters
Location: Deer Lick Shelters (1068.7 miles)

The morning started off with a light rain, continuing from last night, getting the day off to a somewhat miserable start. But, as much as I might have wanted to lounge around in the shelter for awhile, I had to get moving; there was family to meet in Pen Mar.

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Other Recent Posts

Tuesday, July 11, 2017 11:26 am
Hike: News

I was interviewed by Suzan Bond for the Indiedotes podcast. We talked about my Appalachian Trail thru-hike in the context of lessons that can be applied to goal and career management. This was the first podcast I’ve ever been on, and it was fun talking with Suzan. Check it out!

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Wednesday, February 8, 2017 10:03 pm

One year ago today, I made a decision that would forever change my life: I decided to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. 42 days later, I stood atop Springer Mountain in Georgia, the AT’s southern terminus. 176 days, 2200 miles, and three pairs of boots later, I reached Katahdin, Baxter Peak, Northern Terminus of the Appalachian Trail.

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Thursday, January 19, 2017 8:34 pm

An open letter to all prospective 2017 (and future) AT thru-hikers:

It’s natural to get pre-hike jitters or fears, or doubts. But don’t let them scare you away. There is such a thing as too much planning. It’s very easy to overthink, and over-stress, and over-worry. Sure, bad stuff could happen on the trail. But worrying about it now won’t help, or stop it from happening. You’ll just have to deal with setbacks if and when they arise.

You are about to embark on an absolutely amazing journey, that (relatively) few people have started, let alone successfully completed. Between fellow hikers, trail angels, trail maintenance clubs, and all the local communities and trail towns, the AT has an absolutely wonderful community surrounding it. Everyone wants you to succeed, and everyone will help you along the way.

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Thursday, January 12, 2017 4:11 pm
Hike: News

I’m pleased to announce that in May, I will be giving two talks at the excellent php[tek] conference in Atlanta, GA. One will be a technical talk on computational algorithmic complexity. The other is a comparison of long-distance hiking and software development, which I developed over the course of my Appalachian Trail thru-hike, and which I’m particularly looking forward to giving.

I missed last year’s php[tek] because I was on the Appalachian Trail at the time. This was the first tek I’ve missed since 2010, so I’m happy that I get to go this year partially to talk about why I wasn’t there last year!

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Friday, January 6, 2017 12:48 pm

What’s an Appalachian Trail thru-hike cost? While it’s very possible to do a low-cost hike, mine wasn’t. While starting somewhat price-consciously, the final three states destroyed my budget. Read on to find out why.

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