Hello World!

My name is Gene Glover and I will be thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail in March 2027. I will begin at Springer Mountain in Georgia and hike over two thousand miles to Katahdin in Maine. My plan is to finish sometime around Labor Day 2027. If I speak it into existence here on the internet, then it will become manifest.

I am 50 years old. I live alone in Austin, Texas. I work in AI and technical customer support and was in the Army Reserves for 22 years. I am in decent shape but nothing special, hopefully decent enough to walk repeatedly for multiple days on end.

I am starting this blog to document my journey as I get physically and mentally prepared for this endeavor. This blog will also serve to hold me accountable for making sure the thru-hike happens. I would look pretty stupid if I made a blog for a year leading up to my hike and chickened out at the last minute.

In this blog I want to share my tips for getting into peak hiking shape, my honest opinions and recommendations on hiking gear and clothing, and the many cool pictures and experiences I will have along the trail. If you are thinking of doing your own thru-hike (or other similar personal stretch goal), maybe this blog can be something to inspire you to achieve it. Maybe this blog instead will become a great resource for “how not to prepare for the Appalachian Trail”. Who knows?