From Georgia to Maine: Walking the Appalachian Trail

by Alex Carrier
Published: April 17, 2008

In a culture where success is often determined by how close you can park your car to the door you want to enter, it can seem unimaginable that someone would want to take a walk from Georgia to Maine.  Greene County resident Lauralee Bliss and her son Josh did just that.
The Greene County Library invites you to visit on Thursday, April 24 at 7:00PM when the hiking duo will share their experiences hiking the length of the Appalachian Trail.
“I’ve dreamed of doing this since I was a teen but like many dreams I had to put it aside while I went through life’s ups and downs,” says Lauralee.  “When my son Josh was three, I told my husband that when Josh was a teen he and I would walk the trail together.”
A year ago in March 2007, Lauralee and sixteen-year-old Josh started at the Georgia end of the Appalachian Trail.  Six months later in mid-September they reached trail’s end in Maine. 
“You can prepare all you want but there is nothing like being on the trail itself,” says Lauralee of their adventure.  “I had read about the fog/rain/snow/hot/cold but until you are in it, you have no idea what it is like.”
“We got stuck for two days in a shelter surrounded by snow and 60 mph winds.  We ran out of food but other hikers in the shelter helped us out.  Our mail stop with fresh supplies was only nine miles away but we could not get to it because of the weather.”
Lauralee also hurt her ankle and made a temporary visit to the hospital with a gallbladder attack after she shared a half-gallon of ice cream with her son.  The ice cream is a tradition for hikers who reach the half-way mark of the trail.
Another tradition is taking a trail name.  Lauralee’s was Blissful based on notes her husband Steve Bliss sent when they were dating.  He signed them Blissful and she liked the positive nature of the name.
Husband Steve joined his wife and son several times along the trail, hiking some of the distance with them or just meeting up for a visit and to bring supplies.  Steve was instrumental in encouraging Lauralee when she wanted to give up.
“At two weeks away from the end, I wanted to quit,” she explains.  “I was just tired of hiking.  There are a lot of challenges you hear about but don’t really think about until you are facing them.”
Lauralee’s son Josh admits the challenges of the trail provided the biggest lessons he learned during the hike.
“I discovered you can push yourself a lot more than you give yourself credit for,” he explains.  “The approach to the Appalachian Trial is a gravel road going up hill at a 60 degree angle.  I looked at it and thought to myself ‘You’ve got to be kidding.  What am I doing here?’ The only thing that got me through was my mom.”
His mother and the hiking community were an inspiration to Josh.
“It is a whole other culture on the trail,” he says.  “People leave their homes for six months and even change their names.  When they meet up with other hikers, they talk about how far they have hiked, how far they plan to go the next day and what they have seen.”
“My biggest surprise was the number of rattlesnakes,” says Josh.  “I must have seen 20 or 30 and did have a close encounter when I put my walking stick down on a coiled up snake.  I must have stunned him because he just rattled a bit and I took off.”
“The best thing about the hike was spending time with my mom,” Josh says.  “I talked with her, learned from her, found out what she had been through in her life.”
Lauralee Bliss may have realized the hiker’s dream of walking the Appalachian Trail but along the way she appears to have realized every mother’s dream of quality time with her child.
She is writing a memoir of her experiences on the Appalachian Trial.