Ranch man tackles Appalachian Trail

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Ken Knowles calls hiking the Appalachian Trail his “pipe dream.”

But after attempting the trail twice, Knowles finished the, 2,183-mile trail Sept. 1, and returned home Sept. 6.

“I don’t know that it’s even sunken in yet,” Knowles says.

Knowles, 30, says he hadn’t planned on hiking the trail again, but decided to when he learned his younger brother, Sean, wanted to try. He had just returned from traveling and wasn’t working at the time.

The duo set off on their journey April 6.

“A lot of people who start this type of journey are relatively inexperienced,” Ken Knowles says. “The first month, I spent sharing my experience with others along the trail.”

He and his brother hiked together at first, but later separated so they could each hike at their own paces.

Ken Knowles was about a day and a half ahead of his brother when he learned from another hiker that Sean had rolled his ankle. Ken hiked into town the next morning to get in touch with him.

Sean had a torn tendon and bought a bus ticket home. He’d hiked about 300 miles of the trail.

“From that point on, I decided I needed to hike for myself,” Knowles said. “I started to put on some heavy mileage. I was bummed when he had to go home, but I started to enjoy myself a lot more, hiking at my own pace.”

Knowles says the hiking the trail gets progressively harder as hikers head north into tougher terrain, particular the White Mountain Range in New Hampshire. The experience shifts from one of hiking to one of rock climbing. There are times when you climb straight up, holding on to the rock itself or bits of rebar planted to help hikers.

“Every minute of it is 100% worth it; it’s amazing view after amazing view,” Knowles says. “It’s hard to grasp that this is what I’m doing.”

Knowles ended his hike alongside Sean, and their father, Kenneth, who drove up to Maine to complete the last portion of the trail with him before heading home.

When they made it to the top, Knowles popped open a bottle of non-alcoholic ginger beer he’d carried for the occasion.

Mind over Matter
Harpers Ferry, W.Va. — While not quite halfway, it’s considered the ‘mental halfway point’ of the trail. “I was the 571st thru hiker to come through Harpers Ferry in 2014,” Knowles says. “They ask you to fill out some information about yourself on the Polaroid.”

Climb Harder
New Hampshire: Franconia Ridge in the White Mountains —  “It’s a very difficult climb up to a little over 5,000 feet, then two miles of exposed ridge line with, hands down, some of the most beautiful views on the entire trail,” Knowles says.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].