APPALACHIAN TRAIL — Four young men, all graduates of Camden Hills Regional High School in recent years, are winding along the spine of the Appalachian Mountains this fall, adjusting their backpacks, tending to blisters and trading shorts for long underwear as the temperatures drop. The country’s 2,000-mile wilderness footpath called to them, and sometime during a summer conversation they agreed, “let’s do it.”

They researched the trip, packed their supplies, and by Aug. 24, they were off.  

“Our journey began after the 5,269 foot climb of Mt. Katahdin,” said Aiden Gordon, of Rockport. “Energy was high, but I don’t think any of us really knew what we were getting ourselves into. We hiked up with friends and family. The day was long, but the beauty and grandeur of the mountain was more than what we needed as a reward. The sun set as we reached the parking lot and we all timidly said our final goodbyes. We were off now. Set out to face any obstacles that the wilderness could lay before us.”

The four — Aiden, his brother Devon, Tristan See, and Taylor Benner, all also of Rockport — returned to town in early September to attend the memorial service of Jim Laurita. Then, they went back to the trail, resuming the hike to Springer Mountain, Georgia.

Devon Gordon called Sunday, Sept. 20, from Lancaster, N.H. A stomach bug had insulted his system, and he and his compadres were laying low for a few days. But by Wednesday, Sept. 22, they were on the mend, resupplied, and back on the trail.

“Georgia,” said Devon. “That's the goal. We will most likely finish in mid- to late-January unless something surprising happens.”

If they make it, they will have joined 14,485 who have walked the length of the entire trail. They are called 2,000 Milers.

“The first few days and the first 50 or so miles flew by us,” said Aiden. “The 100-mile wilderness proved to be more than we ever could have expected. We ate heartily, swam frequently and covered almost no ground. It seemed like a vacation, a forested paradise. This didn’t last long, though. The blisters set in and packs felt heavier and heavier. The miles began to feel longer, but we covered more and more with each day. We beat the rain and the hills and eventually found ourselves standing on the side of ME Highway 15. Following that we reconnected with friends and family and let our blisters callous over. We took two days off in the quaint town of Monson. A place where everyone feels like family.

“We collected our things and got our feet underneath us. We hit the trail with a fire. ‘Trail magic’ waited for us around each corner and we made easy days of long hard miles. We are all just starting to get used to life on the trail. Everything seems so simple. Things are hard, but they’re simple. It’s a really gratifying way to live, long hard climbs to spectacular views. The lifestyle really gives one time slow down and think about the world as it is. I wouldn’t trade this experience for the world, and it’s only just begun.”

But there are also dropping temperatures, and by the Equinox, the path from Rangeley to Gorham, N.H., got cold.

“We have already spent a couple nights on the mountains when it was below freezing,” said Devon.

In Lancaster, their boots were tightly laced back on their feet, and they were preparing for the White Mountains.

Creation of the Appalachian Trail was initiated in 1921, when “Benton MacKaye—former forester and government analyst and newspaper editor, now intermittently employed as a regional planner—proposed, as a refuge from work life in industrialized metropolis, a series of work, study, and farming camps along the ridges of the Appalachian Mountains, with a trail connecting them, from the highest point in the North (Mt. Washington in New Hampshire) to the highest in the South (Mt. Mitchell in North Carolina),” according to its history. “Hiking was an incidental focus.”

The Rockport contingent will be sending periodic updates when they descend off the trail and into towns with cellular reception. Until then, they will be up on the ridges of the East Coast, exploring an ancient chain of mountains.

Reach Editorial Director Lynda Clancy at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 207-706-6657