MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Mike and Tina Bennett traded in their hiking boots and backpacks for flip flops and beach chairs.
The Shelby couple has earned a well-deserved rest.
As they have done for the past 25 years, the Bennetts are spending this week soaking up the sun with family in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The difference this year, however, is once their vacation is over they will board a plane for Maine to continue their 2,189.2-mile odyssey along the Appalachian Trail.
Three months, six states and 1,193 miles down. Three months, eight states and 996 miles to go.
“We planned the vacation because we thought we would be about halfway through,” said Mike Bennett, the retired Shelby police chief. “We are actually ahead of where we thought we would be.”
The Bennetts, who are hiking the AT to raise money for longtime family friend John Gurney is his battle with cancer, began their trek atop Springer Mountain in Georgia in mid-April. After reaching central Pennsylvania hiking northbound, they will perform what in distance-hiking parlance is called a flip-flop. They will summit Maine’s 5,270-foot Katahdin, the AT’s northern terminus, and complete their journey as southbound hikers.
“We have decided to … flip-flop our Appalachian Trail hike so that we don’t get into bad weather in Maine in October and not be able to finish our hike,” Tina Bennett wrote in a recent blog entry at chiefandtoad.com. “We will still cover all 2,189 miles just in two different directions.”
The toughest stretch of the trail, Maine’s 100 Mile Wilderness, awaits the Bennetts. Hikers are encouraged to pack in at least 10 days worth of food as there is nowhere to re-supply along the way.
While the ruggedness and remoteness of the 100 Mile Wilderness may seem overwhelming, the Bennetts have logged almost 1,200 northbound miles to steel themselves for the journey — and what a wild 1,200 miles they have been.
“The first seven days on the the trail it rained day and night,” Mike said. “We were hiking to Helen, Georgia and we got to a muddy area. I walked through and all of the sudden, half the path gave out. There was a 500- to 1,000-foot drop off the side of the trail.
“We were able to laugh about it afterward.”
With the elements conspiring against them and the Bennetts still getting their trail legs underneath them, the couple managed only about seven to eight miles a day early in their trek. By the time they reached central Pennsylvania they were regularly churning out 20-mile days.
The Bennetts have encountered rattlesnakes and bears and one large cat — “We think it was probably a bobcat. It ran right by our tent in the middle of the night,” Mike Bennett said — along the way.
One mama bear refused to leave the trail as her two cubs retreated up a nearby tree.
“She refused to let us go up the trail,” Mike Bennett said. “Every time we would move toward her she would pound the ground with her paws and act like she was going to charge. Eventually we had to go through the brush because she wouldn’t leave.”
This week’s return to civilization has offered some challenges as well.
“The first time driving was different,” Mike Bennett said. “Every hour driving is about a week’s worth of hiking.”
Despite all the challenges, the Bennetts are looking forward to getting back onto the trail.
“We have not seen one person that we started the trail with who stayed on the trail,” Mike Bennett said. “We have a reason to stay. We want to help John and his family any way we can.”
To follow the Bennetts on their journey, visit chiefandtoad.com.
