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.
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.....