Vicksburg native Sam Thompson, 23, looks out across the rolling hills of Pennsylvania. Thompson spent more than three months running the course of the Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia. (Submitted to The Vicksburg Post)

[11/30/03]Three months, one grueling journey.

Sam Thompson now has seen it all.

From the sharp, unforgiving rocks of Maine to the rolling plains of Georgia, Thompson ran 2,172 miles in 99 days through the Appalachian Trail. He became the ninth person this year to complete the journey.

Carrying only a light backpack, the 23-year-old Vicksburg native and Warren Central graduate was one with nature. No compass or maps, no matches or lighters, just him against the elements.

Thompson was a new man, and he was at peace.

The idea popped into his head when he graduated from Rhodes College in Memphis in May.

Why not take an adventure down the Appalachian Trail?

“I’ve always been into hiking and camping and all that jazz, but never really to this extent,” Thompson said. “Probably the longest camping trip I’ve been on is maybe like four or five days before this one, so it was a pretty big change.”

Thompson, an outdoors fanatic, began running 20-to-30 miles a day around Memphis to prepare his body for the physical strains he would experience in the wilderness.

At the time, he was working as a manager at a clothing retail store. Thompson said he hated his job, and it didn’t take much motivation to leave.

Most people travel the trail from Georgia to Maine, but at the time of year Thompson was approaching, that was not a realistic possibility.

“Had I started in Georgia, I wouldn’t have made it to the end because the northern terminus is Mount Katahdin, and it actually closes Oct. 15,” he said. “You’re not allowed to go up there because there’s too much snow.”

So Aug. 1 became the targeted date, and Thompson started to look for a companion for his journey.

“I tried to find somebody else to go with me because that would probably be more fun,” he said. “But nobody really wants to drop down and go through the AT, so I didn’t find anybody.”

Realizing he’d be alone, Thompson had another revelation. Why not run the trail instead of hike it?

“I was like, well, I might as well run it as fast as I can,” he said. “I guess just the challenge and adventure of it is what made me want to do it.”

Thompson quit his job, made his preparations and soon found himself in a plane heading to Katahdin, Maine, soaring above his home for the next three months.

Dawn broke, and Thompson emerged from his tiny, one-man tent. He packed up his equipment and prepared for his run.

It was a typical day on the trail. Thompson would eat his breakfast meal usually a granola bar or sometimes a treat of a Snickers bar and take off for that day’s adventure.

Thompson found it to be more difficult than he ever expected.

The first problems came with the mountains in Maine one can’t exactly run when climbing rock faces. For the most part, he kept his pace of 20-to-30 miles. It was the same distance for which he prepared, but yet it wasn’t quite as easy.

“I was doing 20-to-30 miles a day just running in Memphis, so I was in great shape when I started,” Thompson said. “But doing 20-to-30 miles a day in Memphis is not the same as running through the mountains of Maine. It was still just a shock.”

He kept his energy by packing on calories from Powerbars. It was all he ate for three months, with the exception of a rare treat.

“The trail crosses roads periodically,” he said. “So if it crossed a road and it was convenient and I was hungry, I’d hitchhike into a town, eat some real food and buy more Powerbars.”

Completed in 1937, the AT is dotted with rectangular marks on trees known as “white blazes” to guide travelers along the trail. But Thompson said it wasn’t always easy to find the way.

“The trail goes through the Smokies and other big national parks like that, so the trail through there is very well-marked and very easy to see,” he said. “It’s just not a problem, but there are other parts where it’s a lot worse and not well-maintained, just kind of overgrown.”

Thompson managed to stay on course without a map or compass. He got turned around a couple of times but never panicked.

“It was pretty tough,” he said. “I got lost a couple times, but nothing major. I’d go maybe a couple miles out of the way and then realize I wasn’t on the trail. Then, I’d go back and find it again.”

With the exception of a few rainy days in Maine, the weather was favorable. Thompson never saw snow, which is notewrothy because most hikers will experience snow at some point in the long trip. He did experience some cold weather the temperature dropped to about 20 degrees at one point.

“I didn’t have matches or a lighter or anything either,” he said. “So I just hunkered down and tried to stay warm.”

Physically, Thompson had no problem. His legs never felt sore, he never got tired. He just kept churning out the miles.

“I fell a lot because I was running and there were a bunch of rocks and roots and stuff,” he said. “So I’d fall and my knees were really beaten up and legs and elbows and what not.

“That was pretty bad, but honestly the physical part wasn’t too terribly bad.”

The mental aspect was a different story. His thoughts would wander, swirling with random thoughts and minute details about the tiniest pebble or a grass blade in a field.

Then came the self-doubt.

“I had thoughts of quitting pretty much every day, I’d say. I don’t know how you couldn’t,” Thompson said. “Everytime I was like, Aw, it’d be great if I could just hitch into this town and fly home, no problem,’ but I always thought about the next day, tomorrow.

“No matter how bad I felt one day, I knew I’d feel better the next day. So I’d just wait until the next day. If I felt the same, whatever, I’d just keep going.”

And so he did. Thompson kept his daily pace and never quit.