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Your dad James called into my job today and told me about you! My name is Daysha 😊 I love this song hope you make it big!

Nicely done and shows how challenging this trek can get. However, the scatological humor and foul language are sophomoric and should have been left out.

The trail provides

The whole trail name thing always made me cringe. Idk why. Alot of the practices, sayings, expressions and whatnot on the AT made me cringe. The words "Tramily" "Trail Magic" "Trail Angel" etc. "Cotton kills.." "Hike your own hike.." And the "fun levels". To name a few. All of them just made me cringe for some reason. I hiked the AT in 2012 (March 3rd - October 13th - 225 days total) The trail name i was given was "Archer". While i love hiking and camping, and have been a lifelong hiker, hunter, and woodsman in general, growing up on a ranch in the Missouri Ozarks..and i loved being on the AT, and met some truly amazing and genuinely awesome people on the trail..i just didnt really feel like i fit in very well with the 'thru-hiking culture'. I had just gotten out of the military at the end of December 2011. I had been out just slightly less than 100 days when I got out. Spending a total of 13 years as an Infantryman in the US Army, and having deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan, i had quite a bit of an edge physically over even the very experienced hikers when it came to carrying a rucksack for long distances. It also surprised me quite a bit to see how many very experienced hikers lacked even the most basic land navigation/orienteering skills, not knowing how to read and use a topo map & compass. I felt as tho alot of the experienced hikers were just LARPing, and had no real wilderness survival skills. And that without a clearly defined trail to follow (which AT was fairly well defined and easy to follow) shelters to stay in along the way..the "trail angels" to offer handouts..and many towns along the way where they can take advantage of all the amenities civilization has to offer..most of them would die in the wilderness on their own. It was safe to say that i had a bit of a chip on my shoulder, and my mentally, i was still a Soldier, and still in the military. I was however very aware of this, and was very friendly towards people, although I made it a point to self isolate. I usually avoided shelters if there were others staying in them, and i would usually set up my camp in the evenings far away from anyone else. I maintained a fairly slow pace, and wasnt concerned with trying to get in as many miles as i could every day. I just wanted to take as much time as i could, and enjoy my time out there in the wilderness. There were quite a few times i would wake up in the morning, look around my campsite, and decide that I wanted to take a zero day, stay there, and just explore the area, and do some stump shooting. Yes, i said "stump shooting". Which is how i got my trail name "Archer". Ive been a lifelong traditional recurve and longbow archer and bowhunter, and i brought my recurve takedown bow and arrows with me on the AT. The bow broke down into 3 pieces, and was very light and took up very little space. I brought and extra bowstring with me, and 14 arrows, which packed away in plastic tube that i tied to the side of my rucksack with paracord. Yes, it took up some space, and wasnt an essential item to be carrying around everywhere, and many people pointed this out to me all the time. But for me it was absolutely essential, and there was no way i was going to go that long without shooting my bow. My rucksack was definitely heavier than most. I didnt really think so...as an infantryman i was used to carrying 100+ pounds at a time. The 40-50 pounds i carried on the AT felt pretty light to me. Besides, there were things that I was simply not willing to go without. My bow & arrows was one of them. A hot breakfast & coffee, and a hot dinner every evening at camp, along with some brandy, was another. This was non-negotiable for me, and the majority of the weight in my pack was food. The good thing about that tho was that my pack slowly got lighter every day on trail as i ate the food in it. Because of my slow pace, self isolation, tendency to take spur of the moment zero days, and just my all around loner behavior in general, i didnt really have a "tramily" that i stayed with for any significant length of time for the first half of the hike. Id hike with a group for a day or two, sometimes 3, but i would always eventually part ways with them, and they would carry on with their hike. Even though i dislike the saying, i was "hiking my own hike". Eventually i met 3 other guys who were also veterans. 2 were Army vets..one was an infantryman, the other was a cav scout. The 3rd was a Marine Corps infantryman. We instantly clicked, and i ended up sticking with those guys, and that was my team (not tramily, as vets we thought of ourselves as a squad..a team. And we also all hated the hiker culture names and sayings) We summited Katahdin together. The AT was definitely an amazing experience. But there were about as many shitty days as there were amazing days. And that doesnt get talked about anywhere near enough. Hiking the AT, and being on that trail for months and months on end, will definitely wear you down physically, mentally, and emotionally. There will be plenty of days where everything sucks, everything is going wrong, its raining nonstop, you are soaking wet and miserable, and you feel like you have just had enough and desperately want to be done with it and go home. Plenty of days where you are just completely over it, and it takes quite a bit to dig deep and keep moving forward down the trail. These long thru-hikes like the AT, PCT, CDT, etc are definitely not for everyone. Anyone can certainly complete these hikes, but not everyone is able to handle it.

Jake I SO loved your taking us along with you on the AT! I got to walk part of the trail up by Blairsville in 2007. Your wit, your smile, and the upbeat of everyday on the trail with you is just awesome! Thank you so much for sharing it with us!

Well it's gonna be hard now to get water from water sources after watching you wash your feet in it

22:25 This was the funniest shit ever😂 I had the same feeling about Jeremy.. almost having too much fun, glad it worked itself out😂🙏🏼

Awesome video, Congratulations!! The music at 1:28:26 is freaking epic! (I couldn't find it on your list of music at the end @jakemosca6587 😅 ) I loved that you took time to play tunes to the cows and ponies 🥰

Outstanding DOcumentary .

I thru hiked in 2019 best thing I ever done. Hard but fun. Thinking about doing it again

Just heard you on 101.5 tonight and plugged this in. Looking forward to watching it

Powerful! Watched it all. Very inspiring!! Thank you. What an accomplishment. Cheers to you brother. I’m 51. Considering doing this….your “movie” has been a large motivator. Thank you

Excellent cover! Although the title of this song is cowpoke, catlle call is a similar but different song from Eddie Arnold.

Lolol hiking drunk🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

Nailed it. Best single video summary I’ve seen. Thanks for sharing and happy trails,where ever they may lead you ✌️.

What was that first lean-to?

50:25 Primitive.

Robbinsville,north Carolina? Fontana Dam.

Deers Leap/Sherburne Gap Vermont!

I could have gone for 10 minutes of this fella 56:16. : )

So much better than Beyonce's version.

When did you start?

Hi it Nice meeting you

Sounds just a little...better than thee original!!

Great version of a great song. 🇺🇲🇦🇺👍

Amazing 🎉

Not for me.

pretty good! Stevie would be proud.

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! Song…video!!!!!!!

What was the overall weight of the bag?

unreal bro!

I love what the Hostel owner said….If you just keep putting one foot in front of the other….You’ll end up where you’re supposed to be!!!! Profound 💜 And I also love what You said…..It’ll take years for you to see how the trail has changed you…. To put your thumb on it….also Profound 💜🫶 thank you for everything here 😊

Great video, thanks, Jake!

🔵⚪️☘️☘️

What a tuff tuff hike…….Kudos to you all🎉🎉❤

Saw a lot of these guys at Blackburn Trail Center close to the middle of their hike and it’s cool to see them again near the finish. Great video!

The words and music beautifully created !

Wonderful, Jake. Thanks for putting a voice and music to my words. It was a pleasure to meet you here in the Déise.

Someone Sign this man…..

excellent!

YES JAKE !! HOW EPIC PLAYING YOUR ORIGINAL IN IRELAND!!

Love this Jake !!

Another good one man! Enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing!

Great documentary

These are the very best moments when you’re out in nature! Thanks for sharing!

Nice video keep it up 🎉

oustanding! and....... NO CHEESE!😁

Awesome documentary of your adventures! What shoes worked best on trail for you? Cheers

Magic

I saw Stevie Ray back in the day sing the first song….great cover by you.