Jeff and the Appalachian Trail

Jeff wasn’t always the owner of a wine shop in Portland! As he likes to remind me, he once found success as a salesman at a wine distribution company in New York. Suddenly, one day, a word grabbed Jeff and convinced him to walk away from the career he had spent many years building. That word? WOODS.

The Appalachian Trail

With a word like that, it’s not too surprising that Jeff ended up in Oregon! But before he set his sights on the West Coast, he decided to hike the Appalachian Trail. Only thing was, he had never really hiked before, and now he had set himself up for a real challenge. With 50 pounds on his back, he started on his way. This was pre-smartphone, mind you.

Jeff (center) and his cousins

The first day, Jeff made it 10 miles. It was raining and humid, and with the heavy pack on his back, Jeff walked down a hill to cross a creek, and ended up just laying in the creek for awhile out of sheer exhaustion. Finally, he made his way to one of the shelters set up along the trail—sort of a 3-sided structure—and passed out. When he woke up in the morning, his cassette player (I told you it was awhile ago!) had been stolen, along with an important tape he had brought especially for this journey. To make matters worse, his left hip was in so much pain that he could barely move his leg.

Did Jeff sit and become bear food? Well, he thought about it. But he ended up taking the trail 100 yards at a time, pausing to read from Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman, then resuming another 100 yards. Slowly, he made progress this way. He also gave away a lot of the items in his pack. If he didn’t need it for an emergency or use it everyday, it was gone. He started journaling, trusting the experience, and after 10 days, he had a new perspective on what it was that made him happy.

This journey helped steer Jeff away from his life in New York, and set him on a course to New Mexico. But that is the story for another time!