Whenever Kathy Olson hears from her daughter, Jessica Sweeney, she immediately heads to the refrigerator.
That's where her five-foot map of the entire Appalachian Trail is posted.
Sweeney, who graduated from Barnum High School in 1997, began hiking it with a friend on March 23, after two years of planning. They are hoping to complete the entire trek in the span of about six months.
"I mark her location every time she calls," Olson said. "She's already into North Carolina and has gone over 100 miles."
With the Appalachian Trail consisting of a 2,175-mile long footpath through 14 eastern states from Maine to Georgia, it's a challenge that many start, but only about 25 percent finish. It takes approximately five million footsteps to walk the length of the entire trail, according to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy Web site.
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Conceived in 1921 and first completed in 1937, the trail traverses the wild, scenic, wooded, pastoral, and culturally significant lands of the Appalachian Mountains.
Sweeney first learned extensively about the trail from a friend in Colorado who had made the journey, according to Olson.
In her online journal, Sweeney refers to the trail as her version of the traditional "white picket fence dream." She compares it to the dream many people have of having a white picket fence and the lifestyle it can bring.
She and her hiking companion are carrying very small "white picket fences" to "celebrate how life works in mysterious ways," she wrote online.
Sweeney has also adopted the common practice of using a trail name while hiking. Hers is "Torpedo," a nickname her grandfather gave her when she was young.
When her mother first heard of the trip, she admits she was apprehensive.
"I've got to admit I was hoping she'd change her mind," she said. "It's a major undertaking. I always told my children to follow their dreams, but I never thought their dreams would take them so far away from me at times."
As Olson learned more about the trip, and her daughter's dream, she became supportive.
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"People ask me why I let her go," she said. "She's nearly 28 years old and she's exactly where she wants to be, doing the one thing she wants to do."
Sweeney's approach to the trip is very safety-oriented, which also makes her mother feel better.
She holds an outdoor recreation degree from Colorado State University-Pueblo, and has spent plenty of time living and recreating outdoors.
"I think she'd rather sleep in a tent than in a house," Olson said.
Most recently, she's guided trips for Girl Scouts in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
Track Sweeney's progress through her online journal and sign her guestbook at www.trailjournals.com/jessicasweeney .
Pine Journal Editor Lisa Baumann can be contacted at: lbaumann@pinejournal.com .
