My friends and I had backpacked ten听miles to our campsite in North Carolina鈥檚 Nantahala National Forest when I discovered that I had my tent鈥攂ut no poles to prop it up. We were deep in听the woods, far from civilization, and keeping a close eye on the dark clouds gathering overhead.

It was the summer of 2018, and I was in the midst of an overnight hike on the Appalachian Trail with three other women and a听dog named Cora. Katie, Yasirah, Sarah, and I had known each other for nearly two decades, ever since we played on the same high school soccer team.听

We decided to pitch the other tent first, before dealing with mine. It was a good call; soon after we set up camp, the skies opened. We all crammed into the tiny tent听with Cora to wait out the storm. We laughed about how bad we all smelled, brainstormed ways to construct a makeshift shelter, and traded stories from our high school days to keep morale听up.

Our soccer team wasn鈥檛 exactly a winning one. What we lacked in talent, though, we made up for in spirit. I still have a 2002 season preview from our hometown newspaper in which Sarah is named as a key midfielder, Katie and I are identified as defenders to watch, and Yasirah is singled out as our formidable goalkeeper鈥攁ll very encouraging descriptors.听Our coach, Rick Corwin, however, gave a more听measured assessment of our team鈥檚 chances:听鈥淲e鈥檒l probably be in the middle of the pack.鈥�

His words didn鈥檛 exactly spark the greatest enthusiasm, but they were fair. We were members of a team that wasn鈥檛 guaranteed to win听but was determined to try.

Although we were in three different grades, Katie, Yasirah, Sarah, and I were drawn together by our shared determination to keep our teammates鈥� morale high when frustrations soared higher. We were dubbed the Sunshines听for our ability to find the bright side of things whenever our team was down on its luck.听

As it turns out, that ability proved valuable far beyond the soccer field.

My packing mistake led to the four of us hoisting my tent between two trees with rope and clips鈥攁 stopgap that lasted through the stormy night. While I wasn鈥檛 proud of the mishap, I was proud of how we responded to it. I couldn鈥檛 help but notice how our collective problem-solving brought us even closer together. We had committed to spending a night on the Appalachian Trail听and were hell-bent on making it work听no matter what.

Over the years, the four of us moved to different states. Yasirah, a school counselor and married mom of two, lives in Georgia, where we all met. Katie and Sarah, doctors who are also both married, moved to different cities in North Carolina. I鈥檓 widowed but dating, work听as a journalism consultant, and live in Florida. Finding time to get together has become听increasingly difficult.听

Sarah came up with the idea for us to do an overnight hike on the AT in 2018, with the hope听that we鈥檇 make it a yearly tradition. Her parents live in听Franklin, North Carolina, not far from the trail, which gave us an easy meeting point and transportation to and from our hike.听

Our first backpacking trip, in July of that year, was an overnight 18.2-mile trek听from North Carolina鈥檚 Wayah Bald Trailhead to the Nantahala Outdoor Nature Center. It took a lot of coordination to make it happen, but once we were on the trail, we were hooked. This summer we reunited again, making our way from Deep Gap听to Albert Mountain, North Carolina,听adding another 15.1 miles to our collective distance.

We already have next year鈥檚 hike mapped out: we鈥檒l complete a 19.4-mile stretch of trail that will connect our previous two treks. By the time that hike is over, we鈥檒l have walked an unbroken 51.8 miles of the Appalachian Trail.听

Given that the AT spans a total of 2,190 miles, that distance isn鈥檛 much to brag about.听In comparison, we鈥檝e barely scratched the surface of North Carolina over the course of two years.

We were just a few steps into our hike last July when Yasirah shouted, 鈥淚鈥檓 so glad we鈥檙e doing this!鈥� Being in nature and away from life鈥檚 daily stressors feels incredibly freeing.听Hiking gives us the opportunity to trade our fast-paced lives for the quiet and calmness of nature, if only for a precious weekend. It allows us to break away from the anxiety of work, social media, and news听and focus instead on the present moment. It helps us feel more grounded and better connected听to ourselves, each other, and the environment.

More than anything, though, being together on the AT gives us a chance to talk about the things that matter most, topics we don鈥檛 always have time to discuss in our everyday lives. We share our various dreams and fears, hopes and uncertainties, setbacks and wins. At the end of a long day of hiking, our first step is to take off our heavy backpacks. From there, we set up our campsite. And before too long, we settle into deep conversation, unburdening ourselves of the myriad things we鈥檙e carrying in life. We鈥檝e talked through job dilemmas, relationship scenarios, and other areas where we鈥檙e feeling stuck. We work through our personal challenges as a team, making collective progress on the trail and in our own lives.

So far听we鈥檝e ended both of our hikes feeling lighter. We鈥檝e returned to the real world with a sense of pride and accomplishment听and a renewed enthusiasm to do it all over again the next year. It鈥檚 fitting, I suppose, that some much needed time in the sunlight and nature winds up recharging all of us Sunshines.

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy suggests that mental fortitude is just as crucial, if not more so, as physical stamina when it comes to completing a thru-hike. 鈥淯ltimately, completing the AT is more of a mental challenge,鈥� the website reads. 鈥淎 fierce commitment to the goal of completing the AT is one of the most important ingredients of success.鈥�

We Sunshines have many skills that help form a good hiking team, and mental fortitude is at the top of that list. While on the trail, we鈥檝e faced torrential downpours, steep ascents, and one disturbingly large creature that may have been a bear (the mystery animal kept its distance, and so did we). Through it all, we鈥檝e managed to maintain a positive outlook and solid sense of humor. Together听we鈥檙e able to keep problems in perspective and respond to them calmly. And like any good teammates, we鈥檝e each learned when and how to step up if someone else needs an extra boost.

At our current pace鈥攖wo days and less than 20 miles every year鈥� it would take us 134 years to complete the Appalachian Trail.听Call me cynical, but I鈥檓 not entirely sure we鈥檒l make it. But that鈥檚 not the goal of our hikes. We鈥檙e outside to get away from our busy lives, reconnect with nature and each other, and return to the real world rejuvenated. Oh, and next time I鈥檒l remember the tent poles.

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