Jeremy Ditto's Virtual AT Thru-Hike

Jeremy's Current Location: Between Springer Mountain, Georgia, and the Nantahala Outdoor Center in North Carolina

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Letters Archive

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"We shall soon before the break of day start on our long journey, a journey from which some of us, or perhaps all of us...may never return. It is a solemn moment."

--J.R.R. Tolkein, The Hobbit

This is the story of how Jeremy Ditto thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail, which runs from Springer Mountain, Georgia, to Mount Katahdin, Maine. However, this is not a simple narrarative of something that's already happened; it's a work in progress. He's on the trail right now. As he sends letters and film in, his updates will be posted to this page. You'll get to follow along with him as he completes this five million-step journey.

If you'd like to write to Jeremy along the way, please forward e-mail to: gratefuled@aol.com, or snail mail to the address listed at the bottom of this page. He'd love to hear from you.

Jeremy gets a last hug from his mother...for six months.

Status update:

He's gone! Today is March 3rd, and Jeremy Ditto (along with a gaggle of thru-hikers) left for Springer Mountain today. It was a gorgeous day to begin a thru-hike...sunny, dry, and mild. Last night a bunch of his friends give him a send-off that he'll almost certainly regret today...but that's the whole point, isn't? A farewell to civilization.
Jeremy's notes from a week ago: 

I have 20 mail drop boxes almost ready to go.
They contain mainly food and alot of toilet paper. 
I have already purchased all of my hardware 
(pack, boots, lots of socks and other stuff). 
The people at Rock/Creek Outfitters looked 
at me strangely when I purchased $75 worth 
of socks. My last day of work is Feb 23 so 
I'll have a week to do some paddeling before 
I go. So I mainly just lack the particulars 
of putting together the mail drop boxes. I 
hope to hear from some of you while I am 
hiking!

Hotlinks and Other Information

Appalachian Trail Information - contains a bunch of links to AT pages around the country

Educational Guide - Appalachian Trail Project

The Appalachian Trail Home Page

The Georgia Appalachian Trail Club

Nantahala Hiking Club

An Appalachian Adventure

Contact Information:

  • Jeremy Ditto
  • 8202 Thornewood Drive
  • Hixson, TN 37343
  • 423.843.0066
  • GratefulEd@aol.com

    • This page is part of:

    Whitewater Amphibian Habitats of the Great Southeast