It was a magical moment.
From the summit of Maines Mount Bigelow, Shane Schauf, Piqua, watched the sunset gorgeous orange rays melting into pink, purple and blue as the sun dipped behind distant mountains.
Schauf then walked from the 4,145-ft. summit to the closest cowboy camp, where he and fellow hikers settled into their sleeping bags with the stars as their ceiling.
Turning to the person next to him, Schauf said, Disney couldnt write this. Thats how good it is.
As if to prove his point, a shooting star streaked across the sky, immediately chased by another.
Thats how it was for Schauf along the Appalachian Trail. One magical moment after another.
Id go to bed at night and say, That was the best day of my life. Then the next day would be better than the day before.
Schauf began his journey along the Appalachian Trail in late June. He would hike 2,190 miles across 14 states over five months.
SCHAUF cant recall what first sparked his interest in hiking the Appalachian Trail, aka The AT. Perhaps it was the book A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson, a 1998 best-seller full of amusing stories of missteps and encounters with wildlife, along with history lessons about the trail and towns along the way.
But for the past 15 or 20 years, Shauf has thought about taking on the AT. Its considered one leg of the Triple Crown of U.S. hiking, along with the Pacific Crest Trail through California, Oregon and Washington, and the Continental Divide Trail from Idaho to New Mexico. Of the three, the AT is the most forgiving for beginners (But its not the easiest, Schauf said). Its also the most social, with the most access to towns and plenty of places to find water and shelter.
Im from Kansas. Im not real familiar with climbing mountains in the snow. So it was just the most accessible for my skill level, Schauf said.
Schauf has hiked before, but never anything like the AT. His previous experience mostly includes hiking trails in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas. He spent a few days hiking the Ouachita Trail, a 223-mile trail from Oklahoma to Arkansas. He remembers how much his feet swelled after walking eight hours in a two-day period on the Ouachita.
I walked something like 22 miles and thought that was terribly a lot. Well, I was walking 22 miles in one day on the AT on a regular basis, he said. Once you got comfortable with walking, you could walk quite a bit more.
HIS ADVENTURE began June 20 and ended Nov. 29, about 162 days or five-and-a-half months. Thats pretty typical for a first-time hiker on the AT, though some finish it in fewer than 100 days.
Schauf, an adjunct instructor who teaches philosophy at Allen Community College and Butler Community College, passed on opportunities to teach during the summer and fall semesters. Most of the hikers he met along the way had quit their jobs or taken a leave of absence. Many came from other countries. Most were young and male, often recent college graduates hoping to find themselves before joining the working masses. Others were retirees, those who could afford five or so months of adventure. Middle-aged hikers like Schauf, in their career-earning prime, were more unusual.
Schauf also bucked tradition by choosing to start at the north end of the trail, in Maine, a more difficult route because the elevations are steeper and the terrain less forgiving. Only about one in four finish the entire trail. In 2017, just 715 out of 3,839 northbound hikers (Georgia to Maine) completed the route; just 133 out of 497 southbound hikers finished, according to the Appalachian Trail Conservancys website.
In addition, some start somewhere along the trail and go one way, then take transportation back to the middle and hike the other direction. Others hike sections at a time. Early on, Schauf met a man who was on the final leg of a 35-year quest. He told the man, Youre going to bawl like a baby when you finish.
