A Virginia woman is living a dream — by moving out of the executive office and into a tent.
A couple weeks ago, Cris Howard was living in Reston and in her 33rd year of an executive-level biopharmaceutical career. This week, the scenery is very different in her world.
“I am at mile 55 of the Appalachian Trail,” Howard said. “I’m going from south to north, and I am sitting in the kitchen of a hostel called AroundThe Bend, about 15 miles from the border of Georgia and North Carolina.”
What made her leave the executive office for half a year in the wilderness?
“It started when I was at a friend of mine’s cabin and he had a map of the Appalachian Trail,” Howard said.
At that time, Cris was frustrated with her life. She had been an Ironman athlete, but had to abandon that passion due to a back injury. She had been recently diagnosed with melanoma and was feeling pretty helpless and stuck.
“When I saw that map of the Appalachian Trail, it felt like a lightning bolt hit me and I hadn’t been able to … think about anything since,” said Howard. “And so two months later, here I am on the trail and without a job.”
‘I’ve never camped before’
You read that right, she planned and prepared for two months, and on Good Friday quit her longtime job. Two days later, she was in Springer Mountain, Georgia, starting her trek on the 2,200-mile trail.
“I think the biggest challenge is … that I’ve never camped before,” Howard said. “So just learning how to set up a tent, the basics, you know, start a fire and cook over the fire using dehydrated foods. It’s been such a big learning curve.”
But she says she has been surrounded by more seasoned hikers and campers from all walks of life, who have taken her under their wing and shown her the ropes.
“I feel like a lifetime has passed in just five days,” said Howard. “It just kind of blows my mind what’s gonna happen in the next five and a half months.”
(Howard is also blogging about her journey).
To survive, she has to carry everything she needs with her. A tent, sleeping bag, clothing for varying weather, cooking gear and food are all crammed into a 30-pound backpack.
She also prepackaged boxes of supplies that have been shipped to locations along the trail so she can restock on food and essentials as she goes.
‘I need to live my life now’
She says while it may seem odd to some to leave your job to go on a six-month hike, an encounter she had on the trail illustrates for her why she’s doing it now.
“There was a gentleman just on day one and he was 62 years old and he had just retired. So finally, he was able to live this dream to hike the Appalachian Trail with his daughter,” Howard said. “And he couldn’t even make it past the first mile, because his heart would not let him. And I thought, you know what, that’s the reason why I’m doing this now before I retire. I’m just taking a sabbatical because I just need to live life now while I can and before it’s too late.”
Her next hurdle, literally, is the Smoky Mountains, which she admits are a little intimidating.
“There’s a lot of bear activity and a lot of rain,” Howard said.
Is she prepared for bears? Does she have bear spray?
“Everybody asked me about bear spray,” she said, “You know what I have? I have a whistle. If a bear is too close for me to use bear spray, I’m dead.”
The 2,200-mile journey will take her through 14 states and should see her, to the end, on the peak of Mount Katahdin in central Maine in mid-October.
