Alice and I have both wanted, long before we even met, to hike the Appalachian trail (AT). The biggest goal was to do a through hike but we have come to realize that that is not going to happen so we thought section hiking the AT was a doable do with the goal being eventually hiking almost every foot of the AT or at least a significant portion. Well, that dream has also faded so we determined to hike a section of each state, particularly the WV portion as it was so short and close by. So, back in July, Alice and I headed to Harpers Ferry, the AT Conservancy and the WV portion of the AT. While at the ATC we discovered that there is a 14 state challenge; hike a piece of the AT in each state!  A piece is as short as a foot, you just have to step on it.  We have taken on the 14 Appalachian Trail 14 state challenge and our progress is documented below.

 We had already hiked about 2 miles in PA back in 2022 at Delaware Water Gap and we did a few thousand feet on the approach trail in Amicalola Falls in GA when we drove back up from FL this past January. So, upon discovering the 14 state challenge, we hiked a 1/2 mile or so in WV and on into MD that afternoon. The day we left Harpers Ferry, we drove over to a trail head in VA and did a few thousand feet in VA. As part of a trip to  the NC outer banks, Duck NC if you want to GPS it, for the first week of September and Alice and I added about 100 miles to the journey over in order for us to go to Hughes Gap, NC where we could knock off TN and NC of the 14 state challenge, which we did 31 August; 7

AT 14 state challenge Status

Pennsylvania - First state

Georgia - Second state

West Virginia - Third state

Maryland - Forth state

Virginia - Fifth state

North Carolina - Sixth state

Tennessee - Seventh state