{"id":3144,"date":"2021-06-27T11:50:05","date_gmt":"2021-06-27T15:50:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/?p=3144"},"modified":"2021-06-27T12:03:24","modified_gmt":"2021-06-27T16:03:24","slug":"timothy-obrien-trailwalker-appalachian-trail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/timothy-obrien-trailwalker-appalachian-trail\/","title":{"rendered":"Timothy O\u2019Brien: Trailwalker"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Questions & Answers with community faces<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Timothy O\u2019Brien (55) graduated from Benzie Central High School in 1983. He has worked retail in Benzie County since 1989; he worked at Nugent Hardware in Benzonia for 12 years, and he has been at Crystal Gardens of Frankfort since 2003. For the past four years, O\u2019Brien has been in the Rock Shop at Crystal Gardens.\u00a0

That is where the editor of this newspaper actually first met O\u2019Brien nearly two years ago, when she was buying a new-to-her, used Canon camera and lens that O\u2019Brien had listed for sale on Facebook. He explained that he had begun selling possessions to help pay for a long upcoming trip: O\u2019Brien had planned to hike the Appalachian Trail\u2014all 2,190 miles of it\u2014beginning in March 2020.\u00a0

But, as we are all too aware, 2020 had other plans.\u00a0

Not to be discouraged, however, O\u2019Brien has made two attempts to this journey: the original began on March 11, 2020\u2014though that trip ended less than a month later\u2014and again on March 3, 2021.\u00a0

Twice now, O\u2019Brien has spent months training physically for this trip; he could often be seen walking around the Frankfort area with a 20-pound pack on his back. This time, it seems like O\u2019Brien will make it\u2014he is currently around 1,800 miles into the trek, with less than 400 miles left to go.\u00a0

O\u2019Brien has recently been interviewed from the trail by local television channels<\/a>, and although this is a little different than our typical interview series on impactful Benzie County characters, The Betsie Current<\/em> felt it was important to catch up with O\u2019Brien by phone in New Hampshire, as he gets close to finishing what has been a years-in-the-making journey.

The Betsie Current:<\/strong> When did you first get interested in hiking? What got you interested?\u00a0

Timothy O\u2019Brien:<\/strong> Well, probably just being a kid that was raised in the 1970s; my folks were into camping. I think I got introduced to it by them. It was kind of a renaissance period back then for finding ways to get into nature. I\u2019ve always been interested in the outdoors. As far as this particular trip, I think I saw a National Geographic<\/em> special on the Appalachian Trail that just happened to pop up in my Netflix queue, maybe about eight years ago. It was an \u201cI\u2019m gonna do that someday\u201d thing. Lots of people say that they want to do something like this, but not a lot actually do it. I got to the point where I was like, \u201cNo, I need to actually do this.\u201d But this is really my first big trip like this; I mean, I hadn\u2019t done any overnight backpacking until I decided that I was gonna do this. I did shake-downs to prepare for this; a couple-hundred-mile stretches on the North Country Trail\u2014the longest in the National Trails System, which stretches 4,700 miles across eight states, and a lot of it goes through Michigan. I didn\u2019t really have any experience with long-distance hiking before that.\u00a0

Current:<\/strong> \u00a0Why did you decide to take on this specific trip? And why do it solo?

O\u2019Brien:<\/strong> The Appalachian Trail is, like, The Pilgrimage. It\u2019s just what people do: most people out West will hike the Pacific Crest Trail, instead, but most people in this part of the country [the Midwest and Eastern United States] do the Appalachian Trail, because it\u2019s closer to get to, relatively speaking. Of all the scenic trails, it\u2019s probably the hardest one to complete. But more than that, it is America, what America\u2019s about. It goes through 13 states; starts in the south, ends in the north. It\u2019s rural America. It\u2019s so much more than just the trail; it\u2019s the people along the way, the Main Street towns that are along the way. It\u2019s one of those things that I\u2019ve always wanted to do, to see. As far as doing it solo, I actually did start with a friend this year. But the thing about hiking this trail is that everybody hikes at their own pace, and it\u2019s very difficult to hike with other people. If you don\u2019t want to do 20 miles today, let\u2019s say you want to do 14, but the group wants to do 20, then you\u2019re just sort of stuck doing what you don\u2019t want to do. I chose not to be in a \u201ctramily,\u201d a trail family, because it gets too complex. It makes things more difficult. \u201cHike your own hike\u201d is the big saying out here, \u201cHYOH,\u201d and part of that is you have to do what you want to do, not what someone else wants to do. I\u2019m not lonely out here; I talk to people I meet. You\u2019re never really alone out here. I just saw someone today who I haven\u2019t seen since Georgia. And I\u2019m not really scared of anything; some people are scared to camp alone. I enjoy the solitude. I have been hiking some of it with someone, on and off for about 700 miles of it, and as I get closer to the finish, I might try to meet back up with him; it might be nice to finish with someone, to go through that together.\u00a0

Current:<\/strong> What does a typical day look like for you right now?

O\u2019Brien:<\/strong> I wake up at probably quarter to 5 right now. I pack pretty quickly now that I\u2019ve been doing it for a while. I don\u2019t eat breakfast right away, so I usually start hiking around 5:15 or 5:30. I hike a few miles, eat a snack, brush my teeth, go to the bathroom usually. Depending on my pace, I\u2019m usually done at 4 or 5 at night. I\u2019ve been doing 20 to 28 miles per day lately; my biggest day was 32 miles. I snack during the day\u2014I don\u2019t stop to make a formal lunch, I just graze as I\u2019m hiking. When I get done for the day, the first thing is to set up my tent, eat dinner. I\u2019m usually asleep at 8. I look at it as work that I have to do each day. I\u2019d rather get the work done quickly, and then have the rest of the day to do what I want, to relax. Some people sleep in out here on the trail, and I just feel like that\u2019s such a waste of the best part of the day.\u00a0

Current:<\/strong> How did your plan for this trip change when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States?

O\u2019Brien:<\/strong> That was pretty weird. So, I started last year on March 11 [of 2020]. Just before everything got crazy. And I initially asked the people from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy what they thought. And they said that they thought it was gonna be the same as the year before; that they\u2019d have just as many people hiking as in 2019. Then, it changed a bit, and became, \u201cWell, if you\u2019re already on the trail, go ahead and finish, but we don\u2019t want anyone new to start it.\u201d Then, it changed again; round March 23, they put out a bulletin that you should get off trail immediately. Initially, people said I was in the safest place in the world\u2014being on the trail, no people. But it was scary as hell, because if I got hurt, where would I go? What would I do? It was such a weird thing to have to quit last year, but I think I did the right thing. Then this year, it was kinda like, \u201cWell, I gotta live my life. I\u2019m gonna do this again.\u201d I think everyone was fed up with COVID stuff at that point, and I felt like I wasn\u2019t doing anything that was taking any more risks than I would have been at home, so I felt like it was the right thing to start again, on March 3 [of 2021]. If I hadn\u2019t started last year and had to quit, I don\u2019t know if I would have done it this year, though. But because I had had to quit last year, it was like, I wanted to be able to finish what I\u2019d started, and I was anxious to get out there. But things really worked out good for me, in being able to do it this year instead of last year: I was able to save twice as much money, the weather has been awesome this year. And I hiked 134 miles of it last year, a good shakedown, to sort of prepare. All in all, it was a very hard pill to swallow when I had to quit last year, but it\u2019s all good now, and I think I prefer the way that it worked out.\u00a0

Current:<\/strong> What are some of your favorite places that you have been so far? Top three memorable moments? Anything scary or unsettling happen?

O\u2019Brien:<\/strong> Top three would have to be Roan Highlands in Tennessee; Grayson Highlands in Virginia; and gosh, there are so many places that have been beautiful. Probably the Smokies in Tennessee\u2014those were beautiful, even though the weather was crappy for half of it. But when the weather got nice, it was just beautiful. Everyone has been asking what my favorite spot was, but it\u2019s so hard, because I could list 20 places; it\u2019s hard to pick one or two. And they tell me that I haven\u2019t even gotten to the prettiest part, people say, which is coming up. As far as memorable moments: it\u2019s funny, the things you remember. I\u2019ve had a few equipment failures. My air mattress leaked the first night, so I had to sleep the first four nights with no air mattress in 20-degree temperatures. There were some storms that I had to go through; one where water was up to my knees, with thunder and lightning, and I could barely see the trail. Nothing that\u2019s really scared me, but definitely memorable. I\u2019ve had other equipment failures, like the pack that I started with ripped, so I had to get a new pack, which is a little heavier. I\u2019ve got a GPS watch that just died on me; I just bought a new one yesterday. I\u2019m on my fifth pair of shoes. Just small stuff; I\u2019ve lost a few things, like my spoon the other day, which was no fun. There is a point where it feels like everything is falling apart, like the wheels are falling off the bus. I\u2019ve had this feeling for the past week or so: the closer I get to the finish, the more I want to be done, but part of me says, \u201cSlow down, enjoy it,\u201d while the other part is like, \u201cMan, just finish it up.\u201d Other through-hikers feel the same way. It\u2019s a bittersweet feeling, because this is supposed to be the best part of the trail, the prettiest part. But the point that defines my whole trip was when I had shin splints, and I thought it was the end of my trip, I thought I wasn\u2019t going to be able to keep going. But I was able to overcome that, and after that, I just felt unstoppable. I look back and, for some reason, overcoming that has been the part of this trip that I like the best.\u00a0

Current:<\/strong> How has this journey changed you? How do you hope that you will continue to grow? What is next?\u00a0

O\u2019Brien:<\/strong> Oh boy, man, well, I\u2019ve always lived a pretty simple life. This is not much different than that. The feeling of accomplishment is going to be amazing. What\u2019s next? I actually would like to go on a hiking trip with my son. Kind of connect with him. He actually called me the other day, and he asked me that. I don\u2019t think I want to do another hike that is this long of a distance\u2014it\u2019s a once-in-a-lifetime thing for me. It\u2019s such commitment, just the logistics of it all, and I don\u2019t think I could pull it off again. But maybe a month-long trip, that would be nice.\u00a0

Current:<\/strong> Back in Benzie County, what kinds of things do you do for fun? What other things are you involved with? What are your favorite local events and activities? Any favorite dining, recreation, hiking spots?

O\u2019Brien:<\/strong> I like to go rock hunting. Hanging out with friends\u2014sounds like something a high school kid would say, but it\u2019s true. Photography. I used to enjoy the Elberta Solstice Festival; that was always my favorite, but they don\u2019t do it anymore. I wish there were more summer activities like that, for locals. I really enjoy going to Stormcloud, Fusion, Cabbage Shed. The Frankfort and Elberta beaches are hard to beat; Point Betsie. I like the dunes trail in Elberta. That boardwalk down in Arcadia is awesome; that\u2019s probably one of my favorite places now.\u00a0

Current:<\/strong> How have you seen Benzie County\/Northern Michigan change since you grew up here? What are your hopes for the area in the future? What could Northern Michigan do to attract more talented young people to this area? What else does Northern Michigan\/Benzie County need?

O\u2019Brien:<\/strong> Boy, it has changed a lot. I\u2019ve been in Benzie County since 1975. It\u2019s kind of like everything in the area has changed, though, so I don\u2019t know if Benzie County is any different than the rest of Northern Michigan. For instance, I grew up out by Lake Ann, near where Mistwood Golf Course is now, and that was just cow pasture then. Now you see golf courses. Part of me is like, \u201cIt\u2019s sad,\u201d but part of me knows that the economy has to grow, that people need jobs and things to do. I don\u2019t mind the direction it\u2019s going; the people who live here need to make a living. It\u2019s a fine balance. Look at Crystal Mountain; it just used to be just a ski resort, and most places that were just ski resorts didn\u2019t make it. But they made it into something that is year-round, and it survived, and now it\u2019s thriving and employs all those people. And I think that\u2019s what Benzie County needs: to figure out how to make things more year round. As far as what do we need here: affordable housing is always on top of everyone\u2019s list. It\u2019s so hard to find a place to live, especially when you\u2019re young. I struggle with that, and I\u2019m 55.\u00a0

Current:<\/strong> What are the biggest challenges and rewards of living\/working in Benzie County and in Northern Michigan, in general? What is the best or most rewarding part of your job?

O\u2019Brien:<\/strong> To make a decent wage and afford to live here is the biggest challenge. But I say that I get to live here and do what I like to do, whereas I see people who feel like they have to work 50 weeks of the year at a job they don\u2019t like so that they get two weeks of heaven when they visit here. It\u2019s that old saying, \u201cView of the bay is half the pay.\u201d But it\u2019s true. Other rewards are that I really enjoy working with the public; I really like working retail. Now I\u2019m making jewelry, and it\u2019s very rewarding to have people look at something I made and want it and appreciate it. I can consider myself an artist now. Which is weird. In school, I couldn\u2019t draw a stick figure. I was in band, not art, for a reason. Now I\u2019m an artist, and I\u2019ve got people from all over the country who buy stuff from me and are excited to buy stuff from me, which is cool. And all of the people who seek me out for help; even when I was at the hardware store, I was the go-to guy to solve people\u2019s problems, which is pretty satisfying.\u00a0

Current: <\/strong>\u00a0What is the first thing that you plan to do when you get home?

O\u2019Brien:<\/strong> I will tell you this, one of the main reasons that people get off the trail isn\u2019t because they\u2019re hurt, it\u2019s because they\u2019re homesick. I\u2019m not homesick, I wouldn\u2019t say that, but I do miss my friends. I want to hang out with my friends and just relax, not feel like I have something that I need to do each day. I will have to get back to work pretty quickly, though, not much time off. But I am looking forward to sleeping in and relaxing. I took a \u201czero\u201d yesterday, meaning that I didn\u2019t hike and did a rest day instead, and it was such a hard thing to do, not to feel like, \u201cMan I gotta get out and hike these miles.\u201d It\u2019ll be nice to wake up in the morning and not have to go anywhere. To be able to see my friends. It\u2019s funny, because I moved away [from Benzie] a couple of times, and you live in a small town, and you think, \u201cIt sucks, everyone knows my business.\u201d But then there\u2019s the other side of it: it\u2019s nice to go to the gas station and have whoever is working say, \u201cHi, Tim.\u201d The small things like that, that you take for granted. I ultimately do like small-town life. It\u2019ll be nice to see everybody. Catch up. It\u2019s so weird out here. Like, I don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on in the world right now. Going back to one of the most challenging things: I\u2019ve been through 12 states. I\u2019m at 13 now. And I hate to talk about COVID, bring it back to that, but every state that I get to, they\u2019re dealing with it differently. I\u2019m in New Hampshire right now, where some of the places you have to wear a mask when you get in. But some states along the way, you didn\u2019t see a mask at all, nobody was wearing them. Then, some states, everybody\u2014even on the street\u2014was wearing one. And I\u2019m not trying to be a rebel right now. I just don\u2019t know, because each state is doing it differently. The other day, I got on a bus to go into a town, and the bus driver gave me the dirtiest look in the world, because I didn\u2019t have my mask on at first. \u201cSorry, dude, I didn\u2019t know what it was like here.\u201d Part of it is that I kind of don\u2019t want to know about what\u2019s going on in the rest of the world, in the real world. Like, most days, I don\u2019t know what day of the week it is; until it\u2019s a day when there are lots of day hikers, it\u2019s Saturday. I\u2019ll catch up on the world and current events soon enough. But what I am hoping is that things are almost normal when I get home. I don\u2019t know if they are or not. That\u2019s been my little fantasy\u2014that I can go down to Stormcloud and have a beer with a friend and not have to wear a mask. I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s gonna happen or not, but that would be kinda neat.\u00a0

Timothy O\u2019Brien started the Appalachian Trail on March 3, 2021 in Springer Mountain, Georgia. He expects to finish around July 15 or 20\u2014which is about three weeks ahead of what he initially anticipated, as he has been going faster than he expected\u2014ending at Mount Katahdin, Maine. He is carrying about 20 pounds on his back, enough for four days of food and water.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Featured Photo Caption:<\/strong> Five years ago, Timothy O\u2019Brien suffered a heart attack that almost killed him. Two years ago, he started preparing to hike the 2,190-mile Appalachian Trail. But last March, he only made it 134 miles before the COVID-19 pandemic got in the way of his plans. Not to be discouraged, O\u2019Brien kept training and re-entered the trail in Georgia on March 3, 2021. As of print time, he is closing in on 1,800 miles, with less than 400 miles left to go from the finish line in Maine. O\u2019Brien is on his second backpack, second GPS watch, fifth pair of shoes, and he is down about 35 pounds from when he started. Photo courtesy of Timothy O\u2019Brien.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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