AT hike

In the year 2015 Michael Leonard Episcopo, trail name Drifter, walked, climbed, and crawled through 2189.2 miles of torrential rains, snow, sleet, hail, freezing rain, extreme heat, and hurricane driven winds from Springer Mountain Georgia to Katahdin Mountain Maine along the Appalachian Trail. He hiked through 2189.2 miles of tick, mosquito, snake, black fly, poison ivy, and mice infested trail and shelters, harshness one can't even imagine and came out clean on the other side. Along the way he saw spectacular vistas and panoramic views that most people just dream of. 2189.2 miles.....that's the length of 38 thousand football fields, just shy of halfway to the center of the earth. One hell of a hike for a man in his 60's. All the forest rangers ever saw of him was a pair of torn-up hiking boots and two hiking poles damn near worn down to the nub. Drifter remembered thinking it would take a man a full year to hike that far. He did it in just 5 months. Michael being done with the AT is now heading toward his next great adventure. We have to remind ourselves that some birds aren't meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright.


So I reached the summit on Tuesday 7-28-2015 at 11:30 am.   I flew back to El Paso yesterday.