2010 Appalachian Trail Circle Expedition Expectations

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A) To join the circle, one must fully understand, accept, and honor the three expectations below.

B) To walk with the 2010 Appalachian Trail Circle Expedition, one must fully understand, accept, and honor the first two expectations below.

EXPECTATION #1 – Everyone will walk the entire Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine.

The Appalachian Trail is the second longest continuously marked footpath in the world. There are white blazes the entire distance marking the official route of the trail. No one in the expedition will consciously take another route. Even if someone inadvertently takes a wrong turn, they will have to backtrack and make up the missed section that day or early the next morning. There are several blue blaze routes that are generally shorter and easier. We are not interested in people taking the easy way out in this regard. If a circle member doesn’t honor this, the circle will be broken. (The only exception to this expectation is the fording of the Kennebec River in Maine which may be done by canoe for those individuals who have an unreasonable fear of fording it by foot.)

EXPECTATION #2 – Everyone will start and finish the trail at the same time.

We will form the first circle atop Springer Mt. during the early evening of Saturday May 1, 2010 and form it for the last time atop Katahdin on Saturday morning, September 4, 2010. The circle will only be formed if everyone who joined it has met all three expectations. The ‘unbroken circle’ atop Katahdin is the most important goal and sole purpose of this expedition.

The second expectation implies that a 127-day schedule will be planned out and accepted by the group by April 5, 2010. During the expedition, the only changes in the schedule will be very few, and minor in scope, due to recent, unforeseen trail relocations and/or severe weather conditions (i.e., severe storms; actual tornadoes; flash flooding; active, on-the-trail forest fires; and, snow and/or icing above timberline)

Although we won’t have to walk all together during the day since each individual will have their own hiking pace, there will be minimum miles to do each day. You can walk ahead of schedule if you like but without the use of the support van, because the van serves the people who are following the schedule. However, you  cannot fall behind schedule. You have to make it to the end of each day by at least 8am the next morning. The only reason to fall behind schedule would be an injury which is being rehabilitated while walking or a death/serious injury/illness in the immediate family back home.

If you have a wedding, job obligations, etc. to attend during the spring/summer of 2010, you can leave the group only under one of the two following conditions:

1)      You hike ahead of the group, unsupported by the van, to gain extra ‘rest days’ to go home and then to come back to join the group at the point you left; or,

2)      You hike that section of trail you have to miss during the actual expedition before the actual expedition starts (5/1/10). You also have the opportunity to ‘bank’ up to fifteen additional days depending on how many preparation hikes you complete. We have 3 three-day and 1 four-day backpacking practice hike, in addition to 2 day hikes planned on the Appalachian Trail. These fifteen days of practice hikes will cover the following two time periods of the expedition:

Wednesday-Thursday    May 26-27, 2010

Thursday June 23 – Tuesday July 6, 2010  

The only times all expedition members have to be together is when we have our meetings before the circle. Those eligible, and willing, will form 12 circles during the 2010 Expedition. The circle can only be unbroken (i.e., the symbolic task of the expedition) if everyone has hiked all of  the trail up to the place where the circle is formed.

EXPECTATION #3 – Everyone who starts will finish.

There is no quitting, except for an unavoidable, structurally deteriorating/debilitating injury and/or a death/serious illness/injury in the immediate family back home. Many injuries can be avoided by not:

carrying too much weight; walking too fast; running downhill; rock climbing without proper safety lines; jumping/diving/sliding into shallow water; knocking down a dead tree on another expedition member; indulging in common horseplay; playing rough Frisbee/football; fighting; hiking too far/too fast; being clothed improperly for the weather; playing practical jokes; disclosing/recognizing a pre-expedition illness/injury; walking while intoxicated, high, or numbed my medication; getting sick from overeating; doing anything illegal that would prevent you from walking freely and on schedule (i.e., getting arrested).

Everyone will be expected to join the circle before we reach the summit of Katahdin.

In an ideal world, everyone would join the initial circle on Springer as the members of the 1975, 1977, and 1980 Expeditions did.

Remember, once you join the circle you cannot quit.

On joining the circle north of Springer:

To be eligible for the first circle, one must:

1)      attend at least 16 of the 20 days of group preparation

2)      complete two, three-day 60-mile backpacking hikes with the group between April 3, 2008 and April 5, 2010.

(The support van driver is exempt from #2.)

3)      start the preparation period by October 3, 2008

If an eligible person feels uncomfortable/unsure about joining the circle on Springer on May 1, 2010 due to:

a) a lack of understanding of what is expected;

b) self-doubt/fear as to whether than can honor the expectations; or

c) knowledge that they will be unable to honor the expectations, they would still have to follow the first two expectations to be an expedition member.

People may decide to join the circle later on in the journey based on the consensus of the circle members. People who join the circle this way will have had to honor the first two expectations to be eligible to join.

Anyone who makes a start-to-finish commitment (127 days – less ‘banked days’) to the expedition as either a hiker or support person is eligible to join the circle.

Those members who have missed up to eight days of the preparation period will be eligible to join the second circle on Day #8 (Wayah Bald). Those who have missed more than eight days of the preparation period will be eligible to join the third circle on Day #16 (Max Patch).

Please do not hesitate to ask Warren about anything you don’t understand on this sheet. There is too much at stake to not know what is expected.   Thank you!