Jackson man completes 14-state hike along the Appalachian Trail

The Appalachian Trail, which spans 14 states, is known as an ultimate hiking experience.

Many have tried to traverse its entirety -- a few have accomplished it.

Twenty-three-year-old Caleb Bess of Jackson now joins those ranks.

Bess can list all of the 14 states and said the full hike is no joke.

"Its reputation of being treacherous holds true. It's like Elephant Rocks on steroids," Bess said, referring to the state park in Iron County, Missouri.

The idea of hiking the trail was first introduced to Bess during a high school cross country camp. As he listened to the man who had hiked the trail give his presentation, Bess thought that might be a cool thing to do. But, he realized he would need to do it before he got a real job. Few employers would give a person five months off for such a pilgrimage. Bess' parents showed support by meeting up with him at mile 536 at Atkins, Virginia. His girlfriend, Kali Beussink, met him when the trail led him near New York City.

After he finished the trip, his sister, Ashley, and her husband, Holt, created a video -- a mash up of the highlights of the trip.

This photo collage shows Caleb Bess at the beginning and end of his four-month hike of the Appalachian Trail.Courtesy Caleb Bess

Even though Bess hiked solo, he was rarely alone. He met up with others and for many days, they hiked along together. He referred to them as his "trail family."

One hundred thirty-three days and four pairs of worn-out shoes later, he had accomplished the feat.

During that time, he had 122 day of hiking, and only 11 days off. On those days there was a lot of climbing and crawling through places.

He said the great freedom he felt was one of the best parts of the trip.

"Each day, I had one task in front of me -- to hike at least 20 miles that day," Bess said. "It was like a 133-day vacation."

Caleb Bess poses at a marker along the Appalachian Trail. The Jackson man completed the 14-state hike this summer.Courtesy Caleb Bess

Because of the coverage on social media, people would offer to send him packages, but he would have to decline because he had no idea where he would be at the end of each day. Other people, offered to help financially and at first, he declined, but as more and more of them explained they wanted to be a part of it but would never do this themselves, he did accept some help.

"Whenever I would get into a city, the first order of business was to charge up all of the devices, get a hot meal and take a shower." Bess said.

He ate lots of Ramen noodles, instant potatoes, tortilla wraps and pepperoni. He admitted pepperoni is something he is kind of burned out on now because he consumed so much of it. But, he really developed a love for chocolate milk, which he drank whenever he could.

Caleb Bess poses at a marker along the Appalachian Trail. The Jackson man completed the 14-state hike this summer.Courtesy Caleb Bess

Bess said he lost about 21 pounds during the hike.

Even though he did not worry about quitting, he knew that if something happened at home, he would stop and return.

"The hike became like a mini life. I felt such freedom. All I had to do was hike to get to the next point. Lows would come, but then later, I would be happy," he explained.