west coast girl, east coast culture.... bawlmer style, hon.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Appalachian Trail Re-visited

In 1998 Shawn set out on his own to walk the entire Appalachian Trail.  Along the 2,160 miles that run from Georgia to Maine he joined up with other adventurous souls.  Fellow travelers came from varied backgrounds. All old identities are shed while walking and hikers were known only by their trail names.  Among them were Dragonfly, 30 Seconds, Griz, and King Cheese.  Shawn was Birdman. His family met him at points along the way. Their RV was loaded with hundreds of pounds of food and gallons to drink that they shared with whoever wandered through that day.  These events became known as Bird Fest.

11 years later Shawn's family and I went to one of the Bird Fest sites in Pennsylvania to check out the new Appalachian Trail museum.


The museum has a database that lets you search through photos of yourself and fellow through-hikers.

 An example of one of the shelters along the trail.
Shawn finished the trail in 6 months.  A year later he came to Ketchikan where we met and started an new adventure.