The Appalachian Trail is 2,200 miles long. It takes the average hiker five to seven months to complete it.

     The distance between my house and my father’s house is considerably shorter. It takes the average motorist seventeen minutes to make the drive.

     Tonight, Dad made the trip in thirteen minutes- a personal best.

     I greeted him at the door. “That was fast,” I said. “Does this mean you’re excited to hike the Trail with me?”

     “Are you kidding?” He handed me the backpack. “Eighty percent of the people who try to hike that thing end up dead.”

     The pack went heavy in my hands. “What?”

     “Good...

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