Video - https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-0dcBWIRNm/?igsh=ajh6YjNkbzlwd2kw.

On the 20th September, Ferg and I will set out to hike approximately 500 miles of the Appalachian Trail in America. Walking roughly 20 miles a day, we'll be raising money for The Brain Tumour Charity and My Name'5 Doddie Foundation.

For those that aren’t familiar, the Appalachian Trail is the longest hiking-only footpath in the world, beginning at Mt Katahdin in Maine and finishing almost 2,200 miles south at Springer Mountain, Georgia. The trail zig zags through 14 US states with a total elevation gain of over 460,000 feet, the equivalent of climbing Mount Everest 16 times!

We intend to hike the c. 500 mile section from Damascus, Virginia to the southern terminus of Springer Mountain, including over 110,000 feet of elevation (3 and a half-ish Everests) along the way.

Damascus was the final point on the trail that my late father reached as part of his southbound thru-hike during shore leave from the Royal Navy in 1988, similarly, alongside one of his best friends.

We will be walking roughly 20 miles a day and camping almost every night, most notably trekking through the 'Blue Ridge Mountains' made famous by John Denver's eponymous song, Country Roads. For the majority of our section hike we'll be spending three or four days in the wilderness between rural towns, carrying everything on our backs throughout. As such, over the last few months and for the remaining weeks before we leave, we’ll be spending our weekends on long, multi-day training hikes and avoiding using lifts at all costs!

My father Andrew and his friend, Steve, undertook their walk to raise money for Muscular Dystrophy and Ferg and I will similarly be looking to fundraise for charity, this time for the Brain Tumour Charity and My Name’5 Doddie Foundation. It has been a long-held ambition of mine to complete what my dad initially set out to do and to raise money for the Brain Tumour Charity in his honour. We’re also proud to be supporting the My Name'5 Doddie Foundation, a charity close to Fergus' heart as his grandfather, 'Poppa Frank', battled valiantly with MND for the final 16 years of his life.

For those that are able, we have set up this page with an ambitious target of £5,000 - ten pounds for every mile - with all donations received to be split 50:50 between the two charities.

In summary...
- 2 mates
- 6 weeks-ish
- 4 US States
- 466 miles of hiking on trail (+ approx. 40 additional miles walking to and from towns off trail)
- 34,867m / 114,393 ft of elevation
- 2,025m the highest point on trail (Clingman's Dome) - 1.5x taller than highest peak in the UK (Ben Nevis)
- 2 fantastic causes, raising money in memory of 2 extraordinary family members
- £5,000 charity fundraising target

We can’t wait to hit the trail and look forward to keeping everyone updated throughout the journey.

Pete and Ferg (the Appala-chums)