Wofford’s head of the philosophy department, Dr. Bednar, hiked the Appalachian Trail last semester over sabbatical. This hike takes months.

The state of Virginia took the longest time to hike through, being 550 miles long.

“People talk about the Virginia blues, and all the other states are under 300,” Bednar said.

He spoke about how getting through each state was a milestone, and to get through Virginia, he thought of it as two separate states.

Bednar decided to take the hike after his beloved dog passed. He adopted him in 2017 as a rescue, and together they went on many hikes. Bednar spread his ashes in places they had been together, and then places they hadn’t.

“I wanted to memorialize him so I sprinkled his ashes along the way,” Bednar said.

The most memorable thing that happened was Dr. Bednar receiving his trail name. Everyone who was on the hike got one, chosen by their trail buddies. These trail names are typically chosen because of an event that happened. Dr. Bednar’s trail name was special.

“I hiked with my dog’s ashes, and one day someone asked how I entertain myself, so I explained that I think of my dog as a ghost who’s hiking with me,” Bednar said.

His trail name became Ghost Dog, which was his dog’s trail name as well.

“There is no way that anyone knew that, so that was the most memorable moment,” Bednar said.

Another memorable moment on the trail happened at the end of Mount Qatar.

“I was a minute or two ahead, and suddenly I looked up and saw the sign, and it hit me that I completed the hike,” Bednar said.

In the duration of this journey, Bednar never once thought of quitting, even when he got injured.

“It turned out that I had torn three out of the four tendons in my shoulder,” Bednar said.

However, he was still able to continue on. The backpack was not painful to carry, and he only had 400 miles left in the hike.

“I realized that if I got my surgery within six months, I would be fine,” Bednar said.

That is an insane amount of dedication. The hardest part of the hike was the White Mountains in New Hampshire and then southern Maine.

“By this point, you have hiked for four months and you’ve burned through a lot of body fat, so having the energy to get through it was difficult,” Bednar said.

Bednar stated that he never thought of any part being especially hard.

“I’m sure that a lot of people thought it was, but for me, I felt like I was on vacation,” Bednar said.

For him, this trail was his happy place.

A typical day started around six or seven in the morning. Hikers would pack up their things, eat breakfast, and continue on until lunchtime. They would then hike to the campsite, usually around six or seven to set up for the night.

“You really get into a routine,” Bednar said.

Every three to seven days, hikers would reach a town and find somewhere they could take a shower and sleep in a real bed.

Although he loved every part of the trip, Dr. Bednar’s favorite part was freedom.

“It was nice to have a stretch of five and a half months to myself. You don’t have any obligations and you get to be your own boss,” Bednar said.

After the hike, a friend asked what he learned during the hike, because people usually do them for soul searching.

“I’m a philosophy professor so I spent a lot of time thinking, and initially, I just hiked to spend time with my dog, so for me, nothing changed,” Bednar said.

As for advice for people interested in hiking the Appalachian Trail, Bednar says to just do it.

“You don’t need to do much training. Over time, you just listen to your body and you adapt,”Bednar said.

What an incredible accomplishment.