About the Hike > The Hikers

Blake Mannion

I'm 21, a 4th year student at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Hiking the entire appalachian trail has been a long time goal of mine and I am very excited about the opportunity to pursue this dream. Besides hiking, I stay busy by playing rugby at RIT and working as a short-order cook at on campus restaurant. I am also the web designer responsible for the Maine2Georgia website.

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You're doing what? WHY?

I remember learning about the AT as a kid and it seemed amazing that hundreds of people were hiking across the country and living in the woods. Since then I have always been drawn to the idea of hiking the whole trail and the adventure and freedom it offers.

I first section hiked through a rough portion of the White Mountains in New Hampshire with high school friend, Neil Mushaweh. Although Neil and I faced driving storms atop Mt. Washington, I loved every minute of it. I enjoy the simplicity of the trail, a world deprived of cell phones, pagers, and traffic jams. On the trail, your day is already planned out for you. wake up. walk.

In the Summer of 04', Mike and I went on an 9 day section hike along the trail and it was everything an AT hike is known for. Relentless ups and downs, heavy rain, rodent infested shelters...and again, I loved it. Somewhere during those 9 days I decided that I was going to give the whole trail a shot and that the summer of 05' would be perfect. And so, this June, Mike and I will be leaving for Georgia ready to begin the adventure. If I could leave today I would.

 

About the Hike > The Hikers