Alice and I have both wanted, long before we even met, to hike the Appalachian trail (AT). The biggest goal was to do a through hike but we have come to realize that that is not going to happen so we thought section hiking the AT was a doable do with the goal being eventually hiking almost every foot of the AT or at least a significant portion. Well, that dream has also faded so we determined to hike a section of each state, particularly the WV portion as it was so short and close by. So, back in July (2024), Alice and I headed to Harpers Ferry, the AT Conservancy and the WV portion of the AT. While at the ATC we discovered that there is a 14 state challenge; hike a piece of the AT in each state!  A piece is as short as a foot, you just have to step on it.  We have taken on the Appalachian Trail 14 state challenge and our progress is documented below.

We had already hiked about 2 miles in PA back in 2022 at Delaware Water Gap and we did a few thousand feet on the approach trail in Amicalola Falls in GA when we drove back up from FL this past January (2024). So, upon discovering the 14 state challenge, we hiked a 1/2 mile or so in WV and on into MD that afternoon. The day we left Harpers Ferry, we drove over to a trail head in VA and did a few thousand feet in VA. As part of a trip to  the NC outer banks, Duck NC if you want to GPS it, for the first week of September 2024, and Alice and I added about 100 miles to the journey over to NC in order for us to go to Hughes Gap, NC where we could knock off TN and NC of the 14 state challenge, which we did 31 August, 2024.

On our trip back from Florida this year (2025), we decided to do an official Georgia AT state challenge.  We stopped by Neel Gap on 17 February, 2025 to officially check off Georgia on our 14 state challenge.

In the early part of the summer, we got ourselves a class B camper and did several local overnighters and thought that we had the routine down sufficiently to tackle a quick out and back complete the remaining seven states.  So we left WV on 3 August, 2025 and completed our challenge on the sixth of August.

Pictures with us touching the white blazes in each state are below with a screenshot of the location information of the blaze photo in case you needed proof.

AT 14 state challenge Status

Pennsylvania - First state

Georgia - Second state

West Virginia - Third state

Maryland - Forth state

Virginia - Fifth state

North Carolina - Sixth state

Tennessee - Seventh state

Georgia for real this time!

Earlier this summer (2025), we decided to get ourselves a Class B camper.  We took a few "shake-down" trips and decided that we were ready to make a final big push to complete the 14 state challenge.  We planned a 7 day quick out and back, leaving on 3 August and returning home 9 August with completion of the 14 state challenge occurring on 6 August.

New Jersey - State number eight

New York - State number 9

Connecticut - state number 10

Massachusetts - State number 11

Vermont - state number 12

New Hampshire - state number 13

Maine - Saving the best for last, number 14