Tom Lange at the summit of Mount Katahdin, the highest mountain in Maine and the end of his 2,178-mile trek.
Lange was one of only 438 people credited with hiking the entire length of the trail nonstop last year.
Posted on 07/25/2009 6:07:59 AM PDT by JoeProBono
Several weeks into Tom Lange's attempt to hike the Appalachian Trail, some fellow hikers voted him "Least Likely to Succeed."
It was hard to blame them. Lange, an Ohio State graduate and longtime Columbus resident, was older (50) than the average trail hiker, overweight, and limping along on a badly injured foot.
But while appearances justified the doubts, nobody knew the depth of Lange's inner fire.
"I wanted to prove to myself I could do something really, really hard," he said. "I had quit things before, and I wasn't going to quit this."
He didn't quit, despite the foot, stomach problems, the death of his father, and the usual array of weather and terrain issues that all Appalachian Trail hikers encounter.
On Oct. 8, 2008, nearly seven months after his journey began, Lange reached the summit of Mount Katahdin in Maine, the end of the 2,178-mile trek.
The Appalachian Trail has existed since 1937, but through 2008, only 10,668 people have been credited with hiking the entire length nonstop (called "thru-hiking.") Lange was one of 438 to do it last year.
"I'm not an elite athlete, but I belong to an elite group," he said.
The seeds for the journey were planted a few years earlier. Lange, a licensed massage therapist who also worked in retail, felt his life was in a rut. One day, he had a serious conversation with his father, Vern, who had suffered from multiple sclerosis for decades.
"He basically said he had lived a very full life and had done everything he wanted to do," Tom Lange said. "I got to thinking about that, and I realized I hadn't done all the things I wanted to do. I didn't want to get to the end of my life and wish I'd done this and that."
He began researching what it would take to hike the trail. He bought about $2,000 worth of gear and took several "shakedown" weekend hikes.
Lange, who is single, eventually moved out of his apartment and put his possessions into storage before beginning his journey March 16 at Mount Springer, Ga.
Despite taking precautions, such as not overdoing it early in the hike, his left foot soon began to ache. Two of his toes somehow got twisted the wrong way, and he rolled his ankle nearly every day on the often rocky, root-covered or muddy trail.
Orthotics didn't help. He began popping over-the-counter pain medication. About halfway through, he forgot to sterilize his drinking water and picked up a parasite that caused intestinal problems.
He woke up one morning in New York and discovered that his socks and boots were frozen solid. He sat on them for about 45 minutes to thaw them out.
And on Sept. 1, he got a call from home. His father had suffered a heart attack a few days earlier and was fading fast. Tom and Vern shared one last tearful phone conversation before Vern passed away at age 80.
After flying home for the funeral, Tom resumed the trek. Katahdin was the last of about 650 mountains he climbed.
After the journey, his foot required major reconstructive surgery. Surgeons inserted nine screws and two plates -- rearranging ligaments, fusing bones and otherwise repairing the damage.
"I just looked at athletes on TV working through pain and thought, 'If they can do it, I can,' " Lange said. "I'm not heroic or anything. I just wasn't going to quit unless I broke my leg."
In the aftermath, Lange decided to make some major life changes. He has moved in with his mother, who is in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. Having met eight male nurses on the hike and listening to their stories of helping people, he decided to enter nursing school.
Hiking the Appalachian Trail will not be the last notable achievement of Lange's life.
"I want to move into the future," he said. "The most important thing about the trail is I don't want to end up being like that Bruce Springsteen song Glory Days. I want to make other memories."
Tom Lange at the summit of Mount Katahdin, the highest mountain in Maine and the end of his 2,178-mile trek.
Lange was one of only 438 people credited with hiking the entire length of the trail nonstop last year.
Good for him!!!
Franconia Ridge in New Hampshire, along the Appalachian Trail.
Great story. Every year my dad, grandfather, and myself hike a portion of the Appalachian trail in one day. My grandfather is now 79 years old. Up until about 3 years ago we used to do 28 miles in one day. My grandfather just couldn’t finish that year. He does run 5 miles every morning though.
I've done a lot of day hiking and the women are always lovely in a healthy sort of way. Nothing like fresh air and a couple of thousand feet of climb to put roses in your checks.
Wow, good for him.
"Originally built in 1901, this walkway now serves as an approach to Makinodromo, the famous climbing sector of El Chorro in Spain’s Andalusia."
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