Three alumni and a former teacher have decided to take on the Appalachian Trail. Abraham and  Benjamin George with their father, Mr. Bruce George and Max Wittlinger started their hike together on May 14th at the Pennsylvania-Maryland border. Ben stopped in Eastern Pennsylvania after 5 days. Max continued on the trail for 22 days ending at the New Jersey-Pennsylvania border (229.3 Miles), while Bruce and Abe are continuing North to Maine. Max said, “The main reason I did this was to feel better mentally. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but if I always take the easy road I’ll never get anywhere in my life. The hike brought pain, lots of it. You don’t realize how much you love roofs until you walk 8 miles in a thunderstorm with hail but, the hike really brought out the beauty in everything. It made me feel way more alive.”

Max met a 70-year-old Navy Vet on the trail and told him a story with an analogy. “Why squeeze the orange if you aren’t gonna drink the juice. That analogy perfectly describes life. What’s the point of being here on this earth if you aren’t gonna squeeze every drop of experience, adventure, joy, and love out of your life that you can. I feel like I am a lot closer to being able to live my life in that way now and if I ever lose touch again I know that the trail will always be there for me.

All photos were given by Max.