Adirondack Sports March 2024

MARCH 2024 45
By John Slyer
COMMUNITY
Appalachian Trail Hike
for SkyHigh Adventure Center
The Dream – Just like every kid has
some far-fetched ideas, as a kiddo I had
plans for lots of crazy big adventures.
Flying a cardboard airplane with my
brother Charlie and jumping fire on
bikes like Evel Knievel with my brother
George were just the beginning. I was
lucky to grow up free-range with parents
who gave me freedom and the courage
to take risks. We regularly did 20+ miles
on our bikes and skateboards and even
started skydiving in high school. Our
childhood was filled with sky high
adventures.
In 1974 I went on a weekend backpacking
trip with Camp Scully to Little
Rock Pond in the Green Mountains of
Vermont. We backpacked to a shelter
on the Appalachian Trail where our
counselors gave us time to follow a
stream, scrambling up and down
the rocks. I tripped while rock-hopping
doing a swan dive into three inches of
water, hence my Appalachian Trail name,
Diving Swan!
I didn’t know much about the AT
until we met a thru-hiker on their way to
Maine. The distance seemed impossible
but thought I could do the AT someday.
The Planning – AT planning started
when I was a young man. I enrolled in
mountaineering, winter backpacking,
survival skills, EMT and rescue classes.
I joined organizations with lots of
like-minded folks.
The AT would be the thing I’d do when
I retired, until the pandemic hit and the
trail was officially closed in 2020. I put
off my hike and invested time creating a
not-for-profit, Sky High Adventure Center
(SHAC Center) in Averill Park. The SHAC
has a mission to help others be healthy,
active and engaged. I would head out
on the AT in 2023 and take a break from
the SHAC. Little did I know how hard it
would be to be away and that SHAC would
become my motivation to get through the
hard parts.
During the pandemic, I prepped by
doing research on gear, navigation, hostels,
history, challenges, and highlights of
the legendary Appalachian Trail. I knew
I was going to start
heavy and unload
stuff along the way.
▲ JOHN AND KATHY
SLYER (AKA DIVING
SWAN & SUNSHINE)
AT AMICALOLA FALLS
STATE PARK, GEORGIA.
I got my backpack weight down to 22
pounds, but with a full five days of food
and three liters of water, I would get up
to almost 40 pounds. Getting off-trail in
some areas is not easy; I chose to carry
more food than others and it worked well
for me. The biggest impact of carrying lots
of food was that I would not be able to
trail run as much when I was completely
resupplied.
As my start date approached, the
final plans were set. My wife, Kathy
(aka Sunshine), would hike with me up
Springer Mountain, Georgia on February
25. Springer is the southernmost terminus
of the AT and it’s where most thru-hikers
start for a northbound (NOBO) hike. I
would get off-trail at Harpers Ferry, W.Va.
in late May and flip-flop my hike. Flipflopping
would allow me to hike NOBO
so I could get off- and on-trail for family,
SKYHIGH Adventure Camp and Kids
Triathlon, and to compete at Ironman triathlons
in Texas, Lake Placid and Western
Massachusetts, along with the Bar Harbor
Marathon. During my time home I would
also tackle most of Massachusetts. At the
■ PACER AND DIVING SWAN
AT BLOOD MOUNTAIN
SHELTER, GEORGIA.
end of July, I would then flip up north to
Mount Katahdin in Maine, and return to
the trail SOBO where I would finish the
Appalachian Trail at Harpers Ferry on
October 15. That was the plan.
The Start(s) – I love the feeling of excitement
that I get before doing something
hard and scary. I was excited to meet new
people, and see new places, not to mention
the thrill of trying to do something that has
a 75% rate of failure. What’s so scary about
hiking in the woods or up some mountains?
I’ll be doing it with others, at least when I
start. Will the others be cool, will they be
know-it-all gear junkies, or will there be
■ PACER, DIVING SWAN
AND SWISS REACH
100 MILES NORTH OF
SPRING MOUNTAIN,
GEORGIA.
■ DIVING SWAN,
MOUNT WASHINGTON,
NEW HAMPSHIRE.
people like me trying to do something
hard that they have dreamed of for years?
I met them all. I was excited to push myself
without knowing just how far I would get
pushed physically and emotionally.
My NOBO start with Sunshine went
well and I found that the NOBO portion
of the trip went quickly. There were lots
of thru-hikers and the excitement of the
hike kept us all positive. There was rain,
snow, ice, very cold weather, and wind
that could blow you over – and yet it was
a thrill. Making the first 100, 200 and 500
miles was also thrill that was celebrated
with a trail family. The last miles of the AT
would be celebrated alone in solitude and
with some loneliness.
After completing the southern half
of the AT, Sunshine and I hiked up the
northernmost terminus, Mount Katahdin
on July 31. Katahdin is probably one of the
hardest climbs on the trail and the weath-
See COMMUNITY 47 ▶