The inspiration that hangs on the wall of our bedroom.
«Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.» -Mike Tyson
Some of you, especially other hikers, may think we’ve lost our minds in the depths of the planning, preparation and logistics (PPL) that took place to prepare for this almost crazy undertaking. The plan is practically perfect on paper, but the reality is that it can be a house of cards that explodes into pieces as we make our way through the rocks, landslides, and brush of the backcountry known as the 100 Mile Wilderness. And that’s just week 1.
We have always been thorough planners when it comes to mapping our hikes. This time we had to multiply one of those 5-day trips by 33. For the naysayers who think this is excessive, I only have one cliché to share that has been walked to death: «Walk your own walk.» God willing, we will achieve it with His grace and mercy, and with our hard work.
What was our PPL like? Well, find yourself a comfortable chair and prepare to walk along with us in the process we took before even taking our first steps on the AT.
When do you start an AT hike? That was our first and most difficult question to answer. Years ago, we had discussed a 2025 start date, but one of our sons got married that summer. The real question was, «Who has 5-6 months of free time to just get away from their family, their job, their home, their friends, their pets, and all their other responsibilities?» Most people probably won’t do it unless they do a LOT of planning. And that’s what we did. After much prayer and debate, we decided to do a SOBO (southbound) trip from Maine to Georgia on June 13, 2026.
We immediately contacted our children and gave them three simple rules to help us: 1) no one can get married (4 out of 5 already are), 2) no one can die, and 3) no one can have a baby. Well, praise the Lord, rule 3 will be broken in the middle of summer, so we moved up our start date to June 1, 2026. With the start date set, the actual AT PPL was able to begin and the flight to Maine was booked.
I’m not sure when the planning for this really started because it was an idea that grew as we walked. It seems that all previous trips have led us to this”final exam«of some kind. Not that we’ll ever finish walking, but this one is going to be EPIC.
Grinding the miles. Fit, fabulous and over 50
At first, our main priority was to get our bodies in the best physical shape possible before leaving for the northern terminal. This started years ago and I know I’m in the best shape I’ve been in over a decade. Lisa also increased her exercise routine. We both started eating healthier. We know this “walk in the woods” will take a beating on our bodies as we complete the average daily hump of 13 miles. We will get tired. We won’t eat our “normal” food either. We will not be eating badly; It just won’t be as healthy.
Day 1 of OAT26
In September 2025, we sat down and had a strategic planning session on how we wanted to conduct our PPL (planning, preparation and logistics for those who didn’t hear before). This is what Lisa excels at, and by Excel I mean putting together a 5-tab, 11-column, 168-day MS Excel spreadsheet that covers EVERYTHING from our daily itinerary, gear purchases, canceling subscriptions, necessary permits along the trail or reminding Josiah to keep the cats alive, etc. This document is the soul of our trip. By doing all this heavy lifting, we hope to reduce decision fatigue once we hit the road. If something doesn’t go as planned? We adapt and overcome in that moment. This is just a guide, not the “Ten Commandments” of AT hiking carved in stone. It will be a living document. **
Eat. Hike. Eat. Sleep. Repeat. Every day for approximately 160 days. Every once in a while we’ll be able to hang out at a trail town to get some rest, do laundry, and find our resupply box. Fortunately, it won’t all be work all the time.
Updated OAT26 Command Center
We have a real “job” while we are on the road. That job involves walking an average of 13 miles per day. The rest will be just the two of us living our lives while on an adventure.
We sat in the Operation Appalachian Trail 2026 (OAT26) command center night after night, hour after hour, planning each day’s hike, taking into account terrain, campsites, and other unknowns. Gaia GPS and FarOut were our preferred apps for this planning. We also searched the web and leveraged artificial intelligence to help us research our mileage needs, which cities were best for mail delivery, where to stay when we were in town, and shipping logistics.
After completing our daily mileage, we started preparing food. During the first half of our trip, we had to plan about 360 meals. This included repackaging the freeze-dried foods we already had, making our own trail mix, and making sure we had enough calories to stay alive. We then packed and labeled 13 replenishment boxes to be shipped.
7 days of meals for the 100 Mile Wilderness
Proper proportions perfectly planned.
We also consider other items we may want to ship later, including footwear. This led Lisa to set up a small «shipping center» in our basement.
Shipping center warehouse area.
Shipping center office area.
Our good friend and neighbor, Chris, has kindly volunteered to be our lead replenishment manager. She is an expert and we couldn’t be more grateful for her invaluable help.
Our last and final PPL was to do a test hike with all our planned gear. We loaded up our backpacks and took a short 5 mile hike. Adjustments were made and now we are ready to set sail, or should I say ready to put boots on the ground?
Although our PPL was a long and complicated task, it was a lot of fun. We learned a lot about AT and I know it will benefit us in the long run.
There are so many details I wanted to share. I love the details. Ask Lisa. My previous profession probably did that to me, but I’m afraid I may bore you to death if I continue. Plus, with my “money back guarantee,” I want to be short, bold, and leave you wanting more.
For the sake of Lisa’s sanity, I will keep my words and details to a minimum. There are so many little things that incessantly filled my head. I wanted to include each and every one of them. I am so grateful for Lisa’s editing skills and keeping me on task. I was hoping to post this blog several weeks ago, but little things kept popping up and I thought, «Oh, that would be great to add to the PPL blog.» Then the blog would be delayed (edit by Lisa: and too long). Lisa finally sat me down and told me I was grounded until this was over. So if there’s anything you’re ever wondering about, feel free to leave a comment and hopefully I’ll be able to get back to you at some point. This applies to this post or any in the future.
We did the planning. Built the spreadsheet. He packed the boxes. He trained the bodies. But once we enter Maine, the road gets a vote. And if the path votes to knock us down, we will help each other up and keep walking…
**Lisa also clarified and let me know that she used Google Sheets and not MS Excel. Either way, it’s amazing and she’s amazing.
