Powell's Appalachian Adventure

Inspired by tales of fellow hikers and his own experiences at Northfield Mount Hermon, Don Powell ’64 has begun a quest to hike the Appalachian Trail from beginning to end, all while raising money for his 50^th NMH reunion.

Powell’s passion for hiking began when he picked up a copy of Ed Garvey’s Appalachian Hike: Adventure of a Lifetime. Inspired by the tale, the account of a retired government worker who had hiked the entire trail in his 50s, Powell bought backpacking equipment for his family. He started to take them on short backpacking trips across the country, exploring different sections of the trail. As Powell writes on his blog, “That was the beginning of my love affair with hiking the AT.”

Powell spent the next 35 years buying Appalachian Trail guides and maps, hiking small stretches of the trail, and reading the accounts written by other hikers. As he writes in his blog, some of the devotion to nature stemmed from his experience in boarding school. He began attending NMH in 1962, as a junior, and described both the school grounds and the surrounding area as “aesthetically and spiritually pleasing.”

“Since I disliked going to classes, I took full advantage of the scenic beauty there by playing a lot of outdoor sports and going on walks on gorgeous fall days,” Powell wrote on his blog.

Powell started his own trek across the trail on March 19 after an intensive program that involved working with a personal trainer on his physical fitness and spending a week crafting his itinerary.

Powell decided to honor his NMH memories by turning his Appalachian “adventure of a lifetime” into a fundraiser for his 50^th Reunion, which will take place in 2014.  Powell wrote, “I’m hoping folks will pledge per mile to contribute to the gift the class of ’64 plans to make to the school.”