Hi guys, been a while since I have posted, but a few of you may remember me. I hiked in 1999 "Superfly SY".

I am writing a book about how the AT has had a trans formative affect on some of us who have taken this journey. I have been struggling with this for quite some time. In a few weeks time it will have been 20 years since I took the first steps on a path to the unknown, and I could never have guessed where it was going to take. I look back and it seems so improbable it must be someone else this has happened to. I began my hike as a walk away from everything I knew and had, and somewhere along the way, I began walking to something so much better. I remember the moment it happened like it was yesterday. It was at a shelter in the pouring rain and a light went off in my head that changed my entire outlook on life and how to live. Then I met a guy on the trail that would provide a precise direction. That guy was Jack Tarlin. Hiking the trail and meeting Jack transformed my entire life, and what it means to be alive. There are two distinct parts to my life, before and after the trail. Each part is uniquely different and unusually separate. I think our brain chemistry changes on the trail and the connections many of us make, create an intellectual and spiritual change in who we are at our very core that renders us completely incapable of going back to what we were before.

If you are one of those hikers whose life was radically transformed by your hike, please write to me. I want to hear your story and share it, along with mine with the rest of the world. The working title is Exceptional Human Experiences: Transformations of Self and Life Paths on the Appalachian Trail.

Please reach out if you are willing to share your stories; or if you know of another hiker with a story of their own please forward my information. Thank you very much for your considerations and please be assured I will treat your stories with the greatest level of respect and care possible.

Many thanks for reading if you got this far.

Cheers!
SY
603-727-8846
[email protected]