Rigby man back home after 2,200 mile trek across the Appalachian Trail

RIGBY – It’s been over a month since Mike Perry summited Mount Katahdin, the highest mountain peak in Maine. Aug. 22, 2023 was the culmination of a five-month journey that began in Springer Mountain in northern Georgia.

In March, the retired 63-year-old Rigby High School teacher set out to hike the Appalachian Trail, a 2,200-mile trek that stretches across 14 states in lands that surround the Appalachian Mountains. It’s a journey that relatively few complete.

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy reports more than 3,000 people “attempt a thru-hike of the entire A.T. each year, with about a quarter of those completing the trail.”

It’s unknown how many Idahoans have completed it, but Perry tells EastIdahoNews.com the hike was physically and mentally demanding, and it was an emotional experience for him when he reached the end.

After some reflection, Perry summarized the experience this way.

“A thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail is mentally and physically challenging, but fully within the reach of the average person. It promises to keep you until it has taken your psyche to heights you may never have imagined,” Perry says.

Mike Perry poses for a photo along the Appalachian Trail | Courtesy Mike Perry

A trek years in the making

Long distance journeys have always been intriguing to Perry. He remembers being fascinated with the idea of cross-country motorcycle rides as a kid growing up in Alabama. He’s gone on numerous hikes throughout Idaho and the Pacific Northwest over the years.

Throughout his career as a teacher, Perry could be seen pedaling his Greenspeed GTR trike along Idaho Highway 48 and other places.

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 when schools transitioned to online instruction, Perry decided to retire from a 30-year career. Given his background and fascination with long journeys, it wasn’t far-fetched for the Appalachian Trail to cross his mind.

“One of the reasons I chose (the Appalachian Trail) is because I wanted to do something different than I’m used to in Idaho,” Perry says. “All the things came together at this point in my life to be able to do it. My wife was supportive of it. She had to stay home for five months here by herself, so it was a big thing for her also.”

His wife did hike a 100-mile section of the trail with him, and other friends and family members joined him for parts of the trek as well. Most of the journey was made with a fellow hiker he met in North Carolina. They got acquainted and remained hiking buddies for the rest of the trip.

‘Watch where you put your feet’

As the saying goes, completing a journey like this is done one step at a time.

“In the beginning, you’re not even thinking about the end because it’s just too far away,” says Perry.

Mike Perry poses for a photo at the beginning of his journey. | Courtesy Mike Perry

The distance traveled per day varied, but on average, Perry says he hiked between 16 and 20 miles a day.

“Twenty miles would be an eight to nine hour day,” Perry explains.

The natural landscape in that part of the country is green with lots of trees. Perry says it’s often referred to as the green tunnel because of that.

The terrain is constantly climbing, Perry says, and there’s a lot of rain.

“It’s never really flat,” he says. “By the time you get to northern Pennsylvania, the trail starts to get real rocky. It makes the hiking harder. You’ve got to watch where you put your feet. You can’t just mindlessly walk. When you get to Vermont, you run into a lot of roots, a lot of mud.”

A leg of the Appalachian Trail | Courtesy Mike Perry

It gets steeper in New Hampshire and continues that way until the end of the trail, says Perry.

One particularly difficult stretch for him happened in Maine. It had been raining a lot, and the river was unusually high as a result. Perry says they had to “bush whack” around the river because it was too dangerous to cross.

They inadvertently ended up on the Ralph Odom Military Training Facility in Redington, Maine. It’s in a remote area that’s not marked on a map.

Though it wasn’t actively being used at the time, Perry says civilian contractors escorted them off.

“They were pretty nice about it. They let us know that if the facility was actively being used, they wouldn’t have been near as nice to us,” he says. “It wasn’t super uncommon for hikers to wind up there.”

Along the trail, Perry noticed stone walls, remnants of dwellings and historic sites of people who once lived there. He walked away with a greater appreciation for how people lived and what they accomplished without the modern conveniences that exist today.

Since returning home, Perry has given multiple presentations about his trip. Though he’d like to do another long distance hike again, he’s leaving it up to his wife for now to determine what’s next for him.

Mike Perry using the phone while overlooking a ledge along the Appalachian Trail. | Courtesy Mike Perry