Kalona 77-year-old swaps restful retirement for 2,193-mile Appalachian Trail trek

Many people dream of traveling in retirement. But most envision that happening by plane or by car, involving hotels or at least beds, and affording them the chance to relax and take it easy.

Not George Hanson. Next month, the soon-to-be 77-year-old will embark on a six-month mostly solo hike spanning the 2,193-mile Appalachian Trail. He’ll bring along one change of clothes. A tent will serve as his makeshift home for the trek. Peanut butter, tortillas, and “protein, whichever way I can get it” will sustain him.

“I don’t understand why I wanted to do this,” Hansen of Kalona told The Gazette. “There’s a lot of unattractive things about it. The weather is sometimes pretty miserable. A lot of rain.

“But I needed a challenge.”

Hansen — who spent part of his career farming, another chunk pastoring a Mennonite church in Kalona, before launching a painting company, and then serving as a landlord — said he’s seen too many people “quit fighting” as they age.

“I have a belief system that when we get old, we tend to quit fighting for our health, we quit fighting for purpose,” he said. “And I’ve been determined that I'm going to keep fighting.”

Inspiring Hansen’s personal fight are the many in his life who’ve battled cancer — with his grandmother, four aunts, a niece and cousin all dying from various forms of the disease. Hansen himself is a cancer survivor, as is his brother, mother, two nieces and sister-in-law.

“My family has been plagued with cancer,” Hansen wrote in a summary of his fundraising intentions for the Appalachian adventure. “I want to hike this trail over six to seven months … in my desire to ‘fight back’ for my personal physical and mental health, and for all who are struggling or have struggled against this disease.”

Hansen is hoping to raise $10,000 to $15,000 for the University of Iowa Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center in support of research and “ways we can all fight back.”

His trek along the historic trail — that runs through 14 states, eight national forests, six national parks, and crosses numerous rivers, streams, swamps, and boulders — will begin April 6 or 7, just a day after his wife, Marilyn Hansen, plans to drive him to the trailhead on Springer Mountain in Georgia.

“I’m not fast,” Hansen said. “I’m not going to be doing the journey in 30-mile days like the young people do. But if I can do 12, I can get there in six months.”

Although Hansen plans to spend most his nights alone in his tent along the trail, Marilyn hopes to visit him on occasion — pulling him off the route and into town for respite in a hotel or a relative’s house, fuel at a restaurant and grocery store, refreshment in a shower or laundry mat.

“There’s a lot of shelters along the way,” he said. “So we’ll be staying in shelters when we can.”

According to Hansen’s optimal schedule, he’ll arrive at the end of the trail in Maine at the start of October — with its forests erupting in oranges, reds and golds. Nearer the end of the trail — in the Maine backcountry — is a “100-mile wilderness” Hansen said could prove to be his greatest obstacle.

“There’s no supply places in that stretch,” he said. “That’s the most concerning because it will be a minimum of 10 days to get through that and some difficult hiking.”

Although this will be Hansen’s longest on-foot journey to date, he’s done plenty of hiking over his years — visiting the Grand Canyon at least annually, if not more often, pulling off 40-plus-mile hikes.

“The longest day I’ve done at the canyon is about 13 miles,” he said.

To prepare for the journey, Hansen has been carrying his 25- to 30-pound backpack on long local walks for up to 19 hours.

“I go to the gym, I do the spin class, I do yoga,” Hansen said.

But he has no doubt this next six months is going to test him and push him — which, again, is the point.

“Once I say I’m going to do something, I want to get it done,” he said. “So I set this goal, and now I really have to work at it.”

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com