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Gray Blazing the

Appalachian Trail

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream."

C.S. Lewis

On April 15, 2019, John and I will embark on our adventure of attempting a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. 

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When you hike the AT, you follow the white "blazes" painted on the trees and rocks along the trail. As time has gone by trail lingo created other "blazes." Blue blazes head to water, yellow blazes take you down the highway and pink blazing is chasing love on the trail. We decided that since we are both over sixty it was time to coin the phrase "gray blazing" which is hiking the trail when you're a bit more seasoned in life.  

 

We are creating a journal of our trip to share with friends and family who would like to follow our adventures and misadventures on the trail. We are starting with a few posts that attempt to explain our love of this trail and once we are out there we will try to post about once a week. But keep in mind our priority is to simply survive the trip, so documenting might take a back seat. You can sign up below if you would like to get notices when we post anything.
 

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The Cost of a Dream

  • Writer: John & Becky
    John & Becky
  • Apr 14, 2019
  • 2 min read

by John (no trail name yet)


So finally it‘s time to go! Our dream is now reality! We have wrapped up all the loose ends, loaded and weighed the packs, boxed the food for re-supply, planned our routes for the drive, and detailed our first week’s hike! Brimming with excitement, we got ready to tell our family and friends goodbye - and then it hit us like a ton of bricks!


These people we love dearly and spend time with each day, these grandkids, kids, parents, friends, church family - we would not be seeing them for months! No ballgames, no family dinners or RV excursions, no birthday celebrations, no Easter sunrise services or 4th of July, no church gatherings - our normal was just going away! Sure, we had thought about all that, and knew it was happening, but now it was real. And the tears started flowing and wouldn’t stop. One “last hug” led to another. One last goodbye turned into a mini-series and sometimes a full documentary!


Hiking the AT no longer means going off the grid - phone service is available somewhere almost every day. But email, text, FaceTime, Skype, Twitter, blogs, and Facebook just can’t replace a hug or a handshake. There‘a no way around it - we are going to miss the people in our “normal” lives. And not just a little!


The cost of pursuing a dream is very high. So why do this crazy thing? We both came to the same conclusion. If something is going to cost dearly, then somehow we have to it make sure it’s worth the investment!


Here is what we hope is our return:

1. To grow even closer as a couple. We both absolutely LOVE working and accomplishing things together! And it ALWAYS draws us closer.

2. Setting an example for others with dreams. Whether we succeed or fail, we hope our kids and grandkids (and any one else) will see that the joy is in the journey when you go after your dreams!

3. A renewed and refreshed spirit. We know God isn’t finished with us until He takes us home. We hope this dream gives us a vision of whatever He has planned for the next chapter of our lives.


And ready or not, tomorrow morning our boots hit the trail!!




 
 
 

1 Comment

tschletzbaum
Apr 19, 2019

Hope you guy’s are having a great time

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©2019 by Gray Blazing the AT 2019. 

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