Our dream to thru hike the Appalachian Trail began way back in the early 2000s.
I already own an AT patch! (purchased in 2016 at the ATC Headquarters in Harper’s Ferry, WV)
Matthew and I met in Princeton, New Jersey. New Jersey hosts a small, but rugged, stretch of the Appalachian Trail. Matthew had several opportunities to hike NJ and PA sections of the trail, sometimes backpacking, sometimes day hiking. We began dreaming of an opportunity to thru hike.
Fast forward to 2008. Matthew was doing his internship in Annapolis, Maryland. It was a 11-month stint and then he would be looking for a full-time pastoral call. I decided to give teaching a try and spent a year attempting to teach 3rd graders in Baltimore. We knew that our time would be ‘up’ in Maryland after just a year – and there was our opening! We started dreaming more seriously.
Then an epilepsy (me) diagnosis and a surprise pregnancy (us!) sidelined our AT dreams. Everything about 2008-2009 whiplashed us at every turn. We wound up in Maryland for 2 years.
Fast forward a decade. We are now older, wiser wider, and a family of 4. We are MACK (Matthew, Amelia, Charlotte, and Kara). From Maryland we landed in Wisconsin for 5 years and now an additional 5 in the Chicagoland area. We also gained a small red dog, who Matthew likes 12.5%.
The C completes MACK – Charlotte joins the group in May 2013
We are always on the hunt for a new adventure. We have camped in national parks around the country. We have tried backcountry camping at Dinosaur National Monument and on Isle au Haut in Acadia National Park in Maine. We camped around the entire coast of Iceland. Matthew and I have walked the Camino in Spain twice, each time for 2 weeks.
Svartifoss Waterfall, Iceland – summer 2017
America’s Smallest Post Office – Isle au Haut, Maine – summer 2019
Then in the spring of 2020 coronavirus hit the world. Our plans for a Spring Break Camino trip for 4 was cancelled. A summer trip to London and Paris was cancelled.
What was the MACK family to do when we couldn’t be near anyone or touch anything? Backpacking! The perfect socially-distanced vacation.
Our family took our first true backpacking trip on the North Country Trail in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. We strapped on the backpacks we were intending to take to Spain and trekked into the park.
MACK at Chapel Rock, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore – summer 2020
The girls caught the backpacking bug! Or, at least a small mosquito bite. They loved the camping, swimming in Lake Superior, hiking, and sitting across a campfire from other campers.
They didn’t love the mice that moved into our car during our first 5 days of backpacking…
Lake Superior in the background, Acadia National Park hiking poles in the front – Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore – summer 2020
So, now it is the time to start planning. Matthew and I have wanted to take the girls on the AT since they were born. We don’t want to wait much longer as the girls will be good ages (3rd grade and 7th grade) and we won’t hit the start of High School for our oldest.
So now we are starting to plan for real. We are looking at a March 2022 start. Hopefully COVID will be behind us, or at least greatly managed, and the trail will be open and accessible.
There’s much to figure out – work, school, the dog, the house, and several dozens of extra pounds.
And, as of this moment, the girls are…less than excited. The prospect of trail birthdays and missed school isn’t sitting well with them. They aren’t excited about the months of trail walking and living. But they talk almost daily about their love of the NCT in the UP. So, I think they will get there.
61 weeks and 4 days to departure. I’m counting…
