Dan and Rocky’s Big Adventure -- Hiking the Appalachian Trail in 2024

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Dan and Rocky’s Big Adventure 
Hiking the Appalachian Trail in 2024

Hi All:

This blog is our attempt to share Rocky the Backpacking Dog’s and my experiences as we attempt to hike the 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail.  We’ll share what we did to train for the hike, gear we’re carrying, food preparation, and trail lingo.  Please follow along during our six-month journey and see how we progress.

This is a group effort.  While Rocky and I are on the trail, Sally will be home making sure that our real-world obligations are taken care of:  things like making sure the bills are paid and caring for our other two dogs, two cats and our bees, all while performing her duties as a lawyer and training for triathlons.  In addition, she will be providing other support services such as hiker transportation, shipping food drops and care packages, and occasionally visiting us along the way.

I expect to encounter cold, rain, snow, icy trails, deep stream crossings, heat, humidity, wind, mud, rocky/rutted trails, mosquitoes, black flies, venomous snakes, bears, interesting people, nasty people, trail magic, and that’s just a start.  Poor Rocky has no clue what he’s in for, he’s just happy to go.  If this isn’t an adventure, I don’t know what is.

With a group effort in mind, we’ll attempt to catalog this journey from the perspective of Dan the human hiker, Rocky the canine hiker, and Sally the human performing the mundane tasks at home.

Dan -- I’m 67 years old and have had desk jobs most of my adult life.  I recently retired and am ready for adventure.  While I am an avid hiker, road and mountain biker, Ironman triathlete, and backpacker, it’s time to try something a bit more challenging.  What could be more challenging than a 2,200-mile backpacking trip, especially since I’ll be hiking on a questionable hip and a pair of metal knees?  To commemorate my body augmentations, I’ve adopted the trail name, “Titanium,” that is until my fellow hikers find a more appropriate trait to rename me.



Rocky – I’m a 4-year-old Quarry Retriever.  My littermates and I were discovered at and retrieved from a quarry on the North Boundary Trail outside of Oak Ridge, Tennessee.  Some might say that I have questionable parentage, but Dan and I think it’s just right.  My favorite things in life are running, hiking, running, mountain biking (running while Dan rides), backpacking, and running.  Because of Dan’s metal knees, I’m trained as a support dog, and I have the collar to prove it.  Sometimes Dan falls, and it’s my job to “brace” and help him get back up.

Support Crew – Sally, Dan’s wife of 47 years; dogs, Rosie and Zap; and cats, Pogonip and Fern, will be providing support.  Someone needs to stay behind to pay the bills, make sure our house and cabin don’t fall down, keep things safe from intruders, catch pesky rodents, mind our beehives, and stick food drops and care packages in the mail. The cats always ensure that there is the appropriate amount of hair in the mailings.  If there is an open box, they’ll be in it.



Location: 157 Whippoorwill Dr., Oak Ridge, TN 37830, USA

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