Do Something Adventurous

Written By: Luke Osteen | Issue: 2019/08 - August

Mountain Man, that’s the name on his AMX card, was clearly made for adventure!

He is a man of adventure, including 50 years of high-paid out-of-town computer and communications consulting and a new-found adventure including long-distance backpacking adventures. 

The passion for backpacking adventures began with a spontaneous 2015-16 southbound Appalachian Trail winter through-hike. On an impulse, he purchased a book from a local outfitter, “Preparing for The Appalachian Trail.” 

Thirty days later he was getting off a plane in Portland, Maine, on his way to Baxter State Park and the beginning of a life-enriching adventure, all the way to Springer Mountain, Georgia, the Southern end of the Appalachian Trail. 

He recalls three important ideas at the beginning of his adventure  – The trail will get you in shape, your body will be your guide, and hike your own hike. 

Mountain Man was shown a desire for and appreciation of the wilderness and sense of adventure by his grandfather who’d lead him into the forest to gather bait to be used for fishing our local streams. Perhaps it is something in the genes. He is a descendent of James Knox, a Scot-Irish pioneer who settled in this area during the 18th century. 

It was a measure of this sense of adventure that he chose to tackle the Appalachian Trail, armed with a single three-bladed Swiss Army knife, a tube of Neosporin, some Advil, a tent and a sleeping bag. Starting on top of Mount Katahdin in Maine and hiking towards Springer Mountain made perfect sense to Mountain Man. It would be harder to quit in Maine. When the going got tough, he couldn’t call one of his sons or a friend and ask to be picked up in Maine on their way home from work that evening. Besides, every day he walked, he would be closer to home. 

Following his Appalachian Trail experience, there would be four months of pilgrimages to and from Camino de Santiago Cathedral in Spain to reach Paris. Then the Inka Trails of the Peruvian Andes including Machu Picchu. Most recently, he completed a 94-day Via Francigena pilgrimage from Canterbury, Cathedral through France and the Swiss Alps through Italia to the Vatican in Roma!

“This is why I promote Mountain Man Adventures; to encourage you to discover yourself and a new world of adventure,” Mountain Man says. “Go do
something adventurous!”

If you’re curious about this man and his life’s adventures, he’ll be a guest speaker at Brookings in Cashiers August 22, and Albert Carlton-Cashiers Community
Library August 30.

Interested in your own personalized Adventure? Contact Mountain Man via
[email protected].