By Leigh Ann Rutledge
Accent Editor
October 18, 2011
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| John Campbell, outside his home in Malvern, holds the banner he carried with him while he hiked the Appalachian Trail. Friends and family who hiked on the trail with him signed the banner. |
If someone told John Campbell to “take a hike,” he took it literally.
Campbell returned from that hike-a six-month 2,181-mile hike of the Appalachian Trail. Hiking the Appalachian Trail, or AT as it is referred to, was something Campbell always wanted to do. “I know people who have passed on early and I thought, ‘ I am in good heath, what am I waiting on?’ and I decided to do it,” he explained. “I told my family I was going to take six months and hike the AT and they were all supportive. There was never a negative comment.” Campbell quit his job at Colfor and set about making plans for his hike.
Thru-hikers, those attempting to hike the AT in a single season, go by a nickname. Members of Boy Scout Troop #155 gave Campbell the nickname “Fulltime” since he was going to hike the entire trail without interruption. Campbell drove his truck to Springer Mountain, GA. and signed in March 14, 2011, the 276th person that day. A former boy scout rode down with him and hiked the first 100 miles with him before going back to the truck and returning to Ohio. Campbell said when they reached the 100 mile-marker at the Georgia-North Carolina border, an old man was waiting to shake your hand. “He told me 35-percent of those who started have quit by this time,” said Campbell. “Half of those who started have quit by the time they reach the halfway point at Harper’s Ferry, WV.”
“You may go alone to hike the AT but you are not alone,” said Campbell. “You meet up with people along the trail and see them at different times.” He noted he frequently traveled with a man from Georgia and a woman from Maryland. Hikers also met up at the hostels and campgrounds along the way.
The hostels and campgrounds were the place to gather information about the rest of the world. There are notebooks where hikers sign in and can leave a note. “We found out about Osama bin Laden being killed through a note left in the notebook at the campground,” Campbell said. Hostels varied along the way, too. “The Cabin” in Maine is a large two-story log home, where hikers stay in the home and the owner lives in an apartment. Other hostels are a shelter area with a toilet and a shower with a curtain in the corner. Occasionally on a trip to the towns along the way, he would stay in a hotel. Often times, Campbell said he slept in his tent in the woods.
One night, while he was stealth camping, where the flaps are pulled back but the screen is closed, he heard rustling outside and the hair stood up on the back of his neck. Outside his tent was a bear. It didn’t attempt to get inside his tent but Campbell laughed the only thing he could think of was to bang pans together!
Another time, he was hiking a little ahead of a group and he saw a mother and her cub on the trail. He was watching the bears climb trees when members of his group saw him and yelled, scaring the bears. During his trip he saw seven black bear in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, five moose in Maine and a lot of deer and turkey.
Virginia was also the state where he had a run in with his favorite animal, the rattlesnake. Campbell said a tree was across the trail and the section in the walkway had been cut out. Lying in the middle of the trail was a four-foot rattlesnake. Campbell said he jumped and moved away. A fellow hiker said the snake struck at Campbell, apparently hitting just his boot.
Wild game isn’t the only hazard hikers have to be wary off. There are also tick bites and Lyme Disease. While he had blisters at the beginning, he did not have any problems until Vermont where he noticed a rash on his thigh with a white scab along the top. Campbell was told it could be a bacterial infection and put antibiotic ointment on the spot. The next morning it was worse and he noticed a line going down his leg, he decided it was time to go to the hospital. The doctor said it was an infection but not Lyme Disease and gave him strong antibiotics. Campbell said he was afraid the doctor was going to tell him to go home but instead told him to “get back out on the trail.” Hiking through Georgia in March, Campbell said caused you to get “fried” during the hot days since the trees did not have leaves on yet. Throughout the trip, it was often cold at night and he woke up more than one morning to snow on the ground in the mountains. “It was beautiful going up and down the mountains, seeing plants in various stages of blooming,” he said. “When everything was in bloom, it was beautiful. And the smells: you can’t describe them.”
It is recommended hikers attempt to finish their journey in six months since Mount Katahdin, ME, closes after the first snow falls. In order to finish the 2,181 miles, hikers must hike 12-miles per day. Campbell said, he usually met the criteria but did hike a high of 22 miles and a low of six miles during his trek. The trail ranges from a two-lane highway to a six-inch path through farmers fields. It is marked with a white paint blaze for hikers to follow. According to Campbell, New Hampshire was not only the best state to hike through, but the hardest. “The White Mountains were breathtaking,” explained Campbell. “But they were hard to climb. Often times, we had to grab onto rebar placed in the ground along the trail to hold onto and pull ourselves up. But the reward was at the top. The view was breathtaking.”
The last miles in Pennsylvania and through New Jersey were the worst hiking. “Hiking the last part of Pennsylvania was rough because it was all rock and then you crossed into New Jersey and it was all swamp,” said Campbell.
During his trek, Campbell had the support not only of his family, but his friends, community and former and present Boy Scout members. Troop #155 traveled to Harper’s Ferry, WV, the mid-point and spent five days with Campbell, hiking 10-miles each day and earning their 50-mile hike badge. Campbell said the troop arrived and parked their trailer at a KOA Campground before heading off.
Mark Manson is a former member of Troop #155 who last saw Campbell in 1981 when he graduated high school. Mark’s mother, who lives out of state, wanted to take a long weekend and go camping. She convinced her son to take Friday off and they ended up at a large KOA Campground in Harper’s Ferry, WV. Manson and his mother claimed their camping space beside a Boy Scout trailer marked Troop #155. Manson commented he was in a Troop #155. He walked over and saw it was indeed his troop.
Campbell asked, “What are the odds of them camping beside our trailer? And still being there when we came off the trail?”
Manson, whose father was an outdoorsman and who knew Campbell, decided he wanted to climb Mount Katahdin with Campbell when he finished his journey. Campbell reached the summit Sept. 16. Manson then brought him home, which Campbell thought was “so cool.” To date 824 hikers had reported finishing the entire hike when he checked in at Harper’s Ferry, WV, to pick up his certificate.
A total of 82 of Campbell’s friends and family met up with him during his six-month trek and hiked with him. He said, “ Most told me they just wanted to hike with me and be a part of the experience.” They all signed a banner Campbell carried with him the entire trip.
Campbell, who turned 60 while hiking in Maine, said he is glad he hiked the AT. “The people I met on the trail and along the way were fantastic,” Campbell noted. “I wanted to talk to people in the towns, see the sites and scenery and that is what I did.”
When he stopped in one of the towns to get a haircut, the barber told Campbell the history of the town and county. He was doing his laundry along the way and an older black man in the laundromat asked Campbell if he could say a prayer for him. “We ended up having a prayer circle in the laundromat,” he explained. “Those were the types of people I met. I was hiking and I wondered up to this grave. I took a picture of it and the saying about the man who lived alone and died alone. As I was walking back, these two gentlemen were going up the path to see the grave,” he stated. “They told me to go back to their car and wait so they could take me to get something to eat. They told me the story they heard about the grave.” Campbell said when people learned he was a thru-hiker, they were glad to give him a ride into town or buy him a meal. On the trail, he met hikers from Great Britian, Australia, New Zealand and Germany.
A group of friends flew into Lexington, VA, and spent the weekend with Campbell. During that time, they visited museums and toured the town. A history buff, Campbell visited the grave of Robert E. Lee.
While the majority of the trip was good, Campbell did say he had a “dark” period when he considered quitting. “I hiked for three solid days without seeing another person,” he admitted. “I thought this is not fun and almost quit.” Fortunately, that time passed and he continued on.
Organization is important when planning to hike the AT. He had several food boxes ready for his brother to ship to him. When he received them, he would often ship them three towns ahead so they would be waiting for him. He also shipped clothes back and forth so he was not carrying winter clothes during the summer months
After six months of living at his pace, Campbell admitted he had a difficult time adjusting to being home. “You know the lawn needs mowed, the bills need paid,” he said. “For six month, I just made sure I knew where water was available and which town my food box was being shipped to.”
Campbell, 42-pounds lighter, has adjusted and held a bonfire and wiener roast at his home Oct. 15. He had a 20’x20’ screen set up outside to show pictures and Scouts put a soundtrack together for the slide show, featuring “Hello World” by Lady Antebellum, which Campbell said he listened to on his journey. During his 40 years as Scout Master, he had 103 reach the rank of Eagle Scout. |
