Why I wanted to do it

Before and during my hike, the most frequently asked question was, "Why?" Admittedly, spending 11 months alone, not having basic amenities, doing the same thing day-in-day-out, and camping in Michigan in January is not enviable to most. The purpose of this page is to explain why I originally set out to do it. The trip exceeded my expectations -- it was a better experience and a bigger challenge than I thought it would be, and my trip had a greater impact on others than I thought it would.

My hike was motivated by five factors, listed below in ranked order.

1. The experience

According to many who have taken I-70 across the country, western Kansas and eastern Colorado is the worst stretch -- 500-miles of a giant, flat, tree-less expanse. Yet I actually enjoyed the section because it was unlike anything I had seen before, coming from the eastern seaboard where trees, roads, and houses are everywhere.

My C2C hike will provide a similar experience to I-70, though everyday for about twelve months. I will hike through areas I have never gone before and might never go again like Washington’s Pasayten Wilderness and Ironwood, MI. I will catch sunrises and sunsets that no one else sees. I will photograph wildlife and leaf season. I will catch rides with nice local folks into town. And I will be caught out in torrential hail and thunder storms, soaked to the bone and feeling alive. In instances like these I say to myself, “Wow, I am so lucky to be out here right now.”

2. The challenge

By challenging ourselves, we learn things we otherwise would not have learned, and we push limits we otherwise would not have pushed. The C2C will be an unprecedented physical and mental challenge for me. At times, I will undoubtedly be lonely and bored, cold and wet, and tired and lost -- and pushing forward will be hard to do. But the expectation that an undertaking will be difficult is -- perhaps sickly -- also a large part of why we attempt it.

This concept is expressed well by blind mountaineer Erik Weihenmayer, in his book Touch the Top of the World (Plume 2001):

In the 1920’s when asked, “Why do you want to climb Mount Everest?” and George Mallory asserted, “Because it is there,” he was only stating the less important half of the equation. The unspoken half is that we are here. Striving and achieving is part of our nature, built into our genetic makeup. The evidence of man’s nature manifests itself in rocket ships to the moon, skyscrapers hundreds of stories high, and flags planted on summits all around the world (217).

3. To establish a transcontinental hikers trail

No theme is more central to our history than the effort to span the continent. The can-do spirit of that vast adventure captivated generations of North Americans. It is only fitting that we have a transcontinental hiking route from the Atlantic to the Pacific for modern-day adventurers. Much of the infrastructure for the C2C already exists, thanks to a dozen dedicated trail associations and thousands of generous supporters and volunteers. During my hike I will link together the pieces of this infrastructure, which right now are conceptually and physically disconnected, showing that a genuine coast-to-coast hiking experience is entirely possible with a bit of vision and ambition.

4. To increase awareness of long-distance trails

Most Americans can identify the Appalachian Trail, and most of the backpacking community can identify the Triple Crown, which refers to the AT, Continental Divide Trail, and Pacific Crest Trail. But few people -- avid backpacker or not -- know about the Pacific Northwest Trail, North Country Trail, Buckeye Trail, Finger Lakes Trail, or the International Appalachian Trail. These trails offer superb scenery and local flavor but are totally under-utilized, mostly because they are not well known, even in the areas through which they travel. I find it sad that the last person to thru-hike the NCT was in 1995 and that I did not learn of the IAT during my 2002 thru-hike of the AT until I was in Maine. I hope that my hike brings these trails deserved recognition.

5. To inspire others to use these trails and to get outdoors

Increased awareness of long-distance trails is good, but actual use of these trails is even better. I hope that I can inspire others to seek outdoor experiences, be it a thru-hike of the famed Appalachian Trail or just a weekend of car-camping with the family. My own life has been enriched by the outdoors and I think others can benefit similarly.

My earliest memories of the outdoors go back to family car-camping trips in New Hampshire at Pine Knoll Campground, which had a rickety movie theater that was full of bats (“It’s been years since anyone has been bitten,” an employee once told my mom). My parents were not backpackers but my father did lead a few family trips up New Hampshire's Mount Washington, to which I returned numerous times with friends when I was in high school. I never expected at the time that the outdoors would become such an integral part of my life as they are now -- but it definitely would not have happened if I had never exposed to them.