McAfee Hikes

A Little About Myself

I’m Ryan, a southbound Appalachian Trail (AT) thru hiker. I am currently a student at Ohio Northern University (ONU) working towards an Electrical Engineering Degree. Don’t worry, I’ve planned my course load (with help from my advisors) to fit my hike in and still graduate in the traditional 4 years. 

I grew up in a family where most of our free time involved some sort of adventure, usually camping, water sports, skiing, running, and backpacking. I went on my first “backpacking” trip in 2004 to McAfee Knob, my dad carried me in a backpack! Since then, I have gone on numerous backpacking trips all around the east coast totaling around 800 miles. Backpacking became a huge part of my life, and I would spend nearly all my free time researching, planning and organizing trips.

How It Started

After my first semester of college, I started throwing around the idea of thru-hiking the AT someday. My dad had hiked it in 1999 and it had been a dream of mine to hike it myself. Most people that hike the AT do it right after college or after retirement because taking 6 months off of work just isn’t realistic.

I began thinking- What if I took a semester off of school? I’ve taken a few college classes in high school, and I’ve been doing well with my heavy course load thus far. I spent some time thinking and when meeting my advisor, planning my classes for sophomore fall semester, I brought up these ideas. He seemed fond of the idea, and we began shifting my schedule around to fit the hike, all while being sure I can still graduate with no delay. To my surprise, if I took a class over the summer, I would be able to take the fall semester of 2024 off. Not a day has passed since then that I have not thought about this incredible opportunity.