Obos – Florida Hikes

Getting our official photo taken at ATC headquarters in Harpers Ferry, we’re waiting for the volunteer to get us into their 2012 archive photo album. “You’re section hikers, right?” she asks. “No, we’re thru-hikers, but we jumped ahead,” I say.

Finishing the AT in a single year counts as a thru-hike, no matter how you walk it. To leave the bubble, we’ve jumped north with the intent of walking south from Harpers Ferry to Tennessee after we reach Mt. Kathadin in Maine.

We started as NOBOS – northbounders – and we’ll become SOBOS – southbounders – when we return to Harpers Ferry in the fall.

The volunteer looks up a number. “You’re 17,” she says, marking it on our photo with a brown pen. I look up the color code. “OBO” it says. “Leapfrog, flip-flop, etc.”

An hour later, John finds his new trail shoes. Brand name? Oboz. I guess that seals it for us.

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Sandra Friend

Author of 45 books, Sandra Friend established FloridaHikes.com in 2006 to expand on the field research she'd completed for her first six hiking guides. She has been honored with lifetime achievement awards from the Florida Trail Association and the Florida Outdoor Writers Association.