A hike to remember

Books have been written about it.
Movies have been made about it.
But maybe the best thing about the Appalachian Trail is the memories you take home after you’ve sampled it with a hike of your own.
Just ask the Boy Scouts of Troop 202.
Six of the Jay County scouts — all of them Life Scouts and aiming for their Eagle rank — and four adults hiked 50 miles of the 2,200-mile trail the week of July 4.
And they’ll never forget it.
“The best thing about this was just that you did something this cool,” said Seth Wilson.
“And bragging rights,” added Skyler Myers during a recent interview with the troop.
Seth and Skyler joined fellow scouts Austin Keedy, Hunter Ballard, Xavier Myers and Keith Turpin, scoutmaster Rick Imel, assistant scoutmaster Kelly Wilson and Imel’s two adult sons Paul and Joe for the five-day trek.
To advance to Eagle, the scouts had a number of choices of requirements they had to meet.
“They can’t swim, so we had to hike,” joked Rick Imel.
Even then, none of them had taken on a challenge of this magnitude. They’d hiked a few miles, but that was in Indiana, not in the challenging terrain they faced along the Appalachian Trail.
The trail begins at Springer Mountain in Georgia and ends at Mount Katahdin in Maine.
Troop 202, which is affiliated with Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Portland, started the hike at Garthland State Park in Maryland and ended at Caledonia State Park in Pennsylvania, about 10 miles west of Gettysburg.
“For a group of 10, the research and preparation are a lot of work,” said Imel. “Each person was responsible for his own gear and food. … They packed their own gear.”
And, added Wilson, each member of the hiking party had his own map.
All of that gear — food for a week, clothes, cooking equipment, tents and sleeping bag — had to be stowed in backpacks, which weighed between 40 and 50 pounds for each of the scouts.
“We did a lot of training on the hill at Hudson Park in full gear,” said assistant scoutmaster Kelly Wilson.
The group had plenty of camping experience to build on. They’ve participated in three or four Klondike Derby winter campouts, spring camporees, a weeklong summer camp and monthly campouts.
Still, this particular hike was something grander in scale.
Imel had hiked a 50-mile segment of the trail 13 years ago with scout leader Dale Widman.
“But hiking doesn’t get easier when you get older,” he said.
And when you’re carrying that much gear, it isn’t easy no matter how young you are.
“My hips were killing me,” said Ballard.
His backpack would bang into him as he walked and climbed, and he had to re-pack it routinely.
“There’s a lot of excess stuff that you realize by the end you don’t need,” said Skyler Myers.
“No MREs (military Meals Ready to Eat),” said Austin Keedy. “Those are heavy!”
The grandeur of the mountains made the heavy load worthwhile, however.
“All the sights we saw,” said Keedy. “You could see a clear open view of Chimney Rock.”
The troop spotted no bears but did encounter a rattlesnake, which created a bit of excitement.
One of the hikers took off running and “the next thing I know I’m flat in the dirt,” said Seth Wilson.
The biggest surprise was the complete absence of mosquitoes. Scouts said they had no need for Deet or sunblock.
Scouts agreed with Imel that the best night of the hike was on the Fourth of July.
They were hiking high up in the clouds in a drizzling rain when towns down below the mountains began setting off fireworks. With each explosion there was a chorus of echoes.
“That went on for like 45 minutes,” said Imel, likening it to the sounds of battle during the Civil War.
The group would camp each night and set out again early the next day.
“You have to pace yourself,” said Keedy.
“We did 16.2 miles on one day,” said Imel.
“There were a couple of days that were easy,” said Kelly Wilson.
Other days, not so much.
“Raven Rock,” said Seth Wilson, referring to the toughest segment of the hike.
“The worst,” added Skyler Myers.
That stretch took them up about 600 feet in elevation over the course of 1 mile.
“That was horrible,” said Xavier Myers.
But overall, said Seth, “It was fun. I’d probably do it again.”