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By Ken Askew

Two pairs of hiking boots . . . 119 nights in a sleeping bag . . . 1,200 miles of trail . . . that’s what it took to trek most of the Appalachian Trail.

Mike Sauter at the halfway-point of the Appalachian Trail. Tradition has it that hikers should eat a half-gallon of ice cream in less than one hour to celebrate this achievement.

Mike Sauter, a 59-year-old Pleasant Hills resident, accomplished that feat (no pun intended) from March through July in 2015.

Completed in 1937, the Appalachian Trail is a wonderland of unspoiled scenic beauty, all the way from Georgia to Maine. The trail actually stretches 2,160 miles, but Mike only completed 55% of it--the section from Georgia to Pennsylvania. That’s when he exhausted his funds, and his knee became bothersome. Upon taking a bus back to the ‘Burgh, a doctor ordered an MRI and diagnosed his problem as an inflamed left knee meniscus and cartilage. Undeterred, he plans to return and complete the trail within the next few years.

Nights were spent in a variety of accommodations—his tent, 3-sided wooden shelters, or hostels. The hostels in small towns were a respite to sleep in a bed, take a shower, wash laundry, and just rest from the grueling and often mountainous, steep trail. Stopping for a few days each at 8-10 hostels curtailed his progress, resulting in an average distance of 15-18 miles per day.

Over 100 of his meals were prepared at home in dehydrated packages, which his wife mailed to him every 4 to 7 days. When the weight of the meals was added to his backpack, it increased from 35 to 55 pounds.

Mike’s meals typically consisted of oatmeal, hot chocolate, power bars, string cheese, pepperoni, and trail mix for breakfast and snacks. Lunch or dinner was tuna fish, chicken, or beef wrapped in a burrito. Despite consuming 4,500 to 6,500 calories per day, he lost 30 pounds. He utilized a portable water filter to obtain drinking water from streams.

He was viewed as a passing visitor by the animal residents of the pristine woods. Mike observed a multitude of wildlife, including rare sightings of wild boar, bears, a bobcat, and a few poisonous snakes. There were stunning views of waterfalls, rivers, lakes, and many square miles of uninhabited forest.

Mike’s worst days were when it rained hard and made the muddy trail slippery, but that was easily offset by his favorite memories of new-found friends enjoying the awesome sunsets and sitting around the nightly campfire swapping tales of the day’s activities. Other than his knee problem, his only injuries were insect bites, and blisters on his feet.

Nevertheless, at the end of his journey, Mike was happy to return home to his wife Deb, and his grown children, Katie and Matthew.
For more information and tips about hiking the Appalachian Trail, go to www.appalachiantrail.org.

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