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."
I saw the title and thought this was going to be about Mark Sanford.
From what I hear, even guys and gals that love to climb El Chorro hate that trail.
That rock formation looks like the one on Mt Philo in Charlotte, VT.
I was born and raised just a few miles from the AT. I have hiked parts of it, but the idea of hiking the whole trail never appealed to me. But then again, my hobby doesn’t appeal to a lot of folks - so if it’s your thing go for it. Just wanted to thank everyone for the photos. I live a long way from there now, and your beautiful pictures have made an old hillbilly homesick. I surely miss it.-—JM
Thanks for all the wonderful pix. Have been thinking about doing this. The trail goes right by property of my relatives in Virginia.
Remember the book “ A Walk in the Woods”
Nice that he completed his journey
how do you post a pic?
Now, now, we should all give Gooberner Sandford's staff a break on this. "Going on the Appalachian Trail" does sound a lot like "Getting some Argentinian tail"......
Glad he made it. It is a great accomplishment. The photo of the rocks looks like the Maryland part of the trail.
I attempted a 500 mile AT hike a couple summers ago and ended up falling a few times too many. Nearly broke an ankle when I stepped into a hole in some rocks and fell (again). I flattened my right patella and re-injured my left knee, shredding the meniscus even worse than before. Total falls 7, total miles 34.
So, now I’m kayaking. No plans for a long distance kayak but would love to kayak the inland waterway if I could find a few others who’d join me.
Great stuff! Congrats.
I did Pennsylvania - 232 Miles wearing the wrong shoes. The Trail enters the state at the Delaware Water Gap, following the eastern rim of the Alleghanies before crossing the Cumberland Valley on its way to Maryland. The Trail in Pennsylvania has the reputation for being just a wee bit rocky.
My wife and I have hiked all over the south end of the AT, but I have no desire to do the whole thing, although my wife does. My next door neighbor has done it Georgia to Maine and another time from Georgia to PA before his hiking buddy bailed on him due to an injury and the weather going to crap.
Last year my neighbor's wife contacted the guy he hiked the AT with end to end and got copies of all the pictures of the trip. She put them together in a scrap book for him for their 20th wedding anniversary. I've known this guy for over 30 years and I've never seen him shed a tear until the day he opened that present.....
See FReepmail
LOL
Yep thats the one.
Bryson didn’t finish the AT, but he acted like he did. LOL ...It was a great read! He’s a mighty fine yarn-spinner.
That was a good book. I didn’t like how it seemed to be broken into two pieces though. What was the name of the woman that called them ... was it wussies? I forget now, but she was funny.
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