Introduction to My
1999 Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike
This page will be added to as the need arises.
On March 1, 1999 I am beginning my AT thru-hike. A journey of 2160 miles covering 14 states from Springer Mountain, Georgia to Mount Katahdin, Maine. Needless to say I'm very excited about this my longest backpacking journey. Without the support of my family I wouldn't be able to begin this journey.
In my early Boy Scout days I was introduced to the Appalachian Trail in New Jersey. We took several day hikes from Delaware Water Gap to Sun Fish Pond and the surrounding area. I had those dreams of hiking this trail someday. Over the years I've returned to this area and the enjoyment and desire to hike the trail was ever present. This year the decision was made to hike the AT. The whole AT.
My backpacking list is almost complete. Some minor changes will occur before my departure date. You can view my current backpacking list at My Ultralight Backpacking List For My 1999 AT Thru-Hike
I've decided to better enable me to communicate with my family, friends and journal transcriber that I'll use a Sharp Telmail http://www.sharp-usa.com/products/telmail/ during my thru-hike. This will allow me the ability to transmit over any phone personal notes to my family, friends and entries to my journal. The number I call is a 800 number which will save me money during my 6 month hike. Using this system my journal can be updated almost daily. The money saved using the 800 number rather than a toll call could be better spent on pizza, soda and ice cream. The Sharp Telmail weight is 8 ounces. Sharp lists its weight at 9.5 ounces. You can view additional information at my TelMail page.
You can e-mail during my thru-hike and I'll make every effort to reply to all incoming e-mails with TelMail. My start date is March 1, 1999 and e-mail is athiker99@pocketmail.com Pocketmail won't transmit attachments and length of e-mail has to be less than 4000 characters. I can assure you my responses will be well under 4000 characters.
I've chosen the trail name John O. I've been called this for many years mainly due to the fact people slaughter the pronunciation my last name. The only time I could be assured it would be pronounced properly was during my visits to Ireland.
That reminds me of one of the funny stories that happened during a visit to Ireland in 1975. My wife and I were traveling the country side looking for a monument with relatives names engraved on it. Needless to say we got lost. We saw a older gentleman walking down the road with his walking stick and his dog close by. I stopped the car and say hello and ask him, "how would you get to such in such monument"? He replied, "I'ld just go up the lane a piece (every where in Ireland is just up the lane a piece) you'll come to the Malloy's make a left onto the lane. You know the Malloy's are great people they have kin in Chicago and New York they do they do. Oh, the house is a stone structure and its the first one on the right you come to. So as you turn onto the lane continue to the Mahon's home and take the lane to the right. The Mahon's also have a lot of kin in the States. Their children come back and visit almost every year. Mr & Mrs Mahon have flown to the states many a time. I think the children pay for the fare, I do i do. Ah yes the Mahon's is the big house on the right after you pass over the creek then take the lane. Now just go up the lane a bit and take the second lane to the right and go a piece further and the monument you want is right there. So you have family in the area do ya?" I said no not any more. "Ah I see I see well bye to ya." Off he went with his dog following close behind. So we drove to the Malloy's and took the lane. Then we drove to the Mhon's and took the next lane. The lanes were getting very narrow almost like a cow path. The next lane I couldn't get the car down it. For sure it was a walking path for the cows. My wife and I went over the directions and it sure seemed we had followed them to the "T"? We must have missed something? So I backed up "a piece" as there was no room to turn around. Back at the Malloy's I was able to turn around and headed back to the main lane. The gentleman was still walking along with his dog close behind him. I stopped and nicely said that we followed your directions and weren't able to drive to the monument as the lanes were to narrow. He looked at us funny and said with a straight face," You asked how I would get there and I told you how I would get there. If you want to go by car you have to go past the Malloys..." So make sure you ask the proper question to get the proper answer.