At 88 year old, one Virginia man is setting off on his biggest adventure yet. He plans to hike 107 miles on the Appalachian Trail. I already feel winded, and I'm only 29.
"On my 80th birthday, I went on a hot air balloon ride, and on my 87th birthday, I went ziplining," Bill Kingrea said. Kingrea decided to hike the Appalachian Trail after hearing about a 83-year-old man completing it. Kingrea realized hiking all 2,200 miles was a fool's errand, but he wanted to hike some of it.
"I thought, 'Well, I can put a little month's worth of work into this,' and if I can raise a little bit of money and I said, 'Well, doing it as a fundraiser would be the ideal thing,'" Kingrea said.
Previously, Kingrea has loved volunteering and working with the nonprofit Hope Distributed. He decided to raise money for the charity, which provides food and hygiene items to families in need. Thus, he created Hike for Hope.
Hiking The Appalachian Trail For Good Cause
Executive Director Jeff Wilhelm said that he is thankful for the man.
"Having someone like Bill who's willing to just roll up his sleeves — or in this case, put on his hiking shoes — and just get motivated and moving to serve a greater purpose is amazing," Wilhelm said. "At 88 years old, I only hope to walk 107 feet, let alone 107 miles, so what Bill is doing on our behalf is amazing and more importantly, it's for the people of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County who really need the help."
Kingrea plans to have one person walking with him each day on the Appalachian Trail. He plans to complete the goal of hiking 107 miles by his birthday on October 17.
