On 02/28/1999 I met Ed in the restaurant at Amicalola Lodge in Dawsonville, GA. I had asked the waitress if there were any other hikers there that were starting their hike on the AT. She pointed at Ed. So I went over and introduced myself to him and asked if he wanted to drive to the .9 mile mark on the AT with us.
He said that I was an answer to a prayer and explained to me that he had an argument with the person that brought him here from Clinton, NC. That person just dumped his gear on the ground and took off on him. So he drove with us (my ex-wife Nancy and her son Kevin) up to the .9 mile point on the trail. There was a parking area there. That is where the above image was taken.
So I said goodbye to Nancy and Kevin. Ed and I walked the .9 miles to the summit of Springer Mountain, took some pictures, then started our hike. Ed was again attempting a thru hike of the AT. I was initially going to hike from Springer Mountain, GA to Harpers Ferry, WV.
We hiked together for most of the 470 miles that I did of the AT between 02/28/1999 and 05/09/1999. We would get separated at times but would always find each other on the trail and continue. I said my final goodbye to Ed in Damascus, VA. My Mom was ill so I decided to do another few days and then get off of the trail at Bland, VA. Ed made it to Lincoln, NH that year.
This was Ed’s third attempt thru hiking the AT. He would try at least 15-20 times more. But something would always happen and he would get off the trail. Ed taught me a lot about backpacking. He told me that he had a son named Mike that took his life. Maybe that’s why he liked hiking with me as slow as I was.
Fast forward to 2016. Ed was going to attempt a flip flop of the AT. That is, he was going to start in Harpers Ferry, WV, go north to Baxter Peak, Mount Katahdin, ME, then travel back to Harpers Ferry and hike south back to GA. So I met Ed in Harpers Ferry, WV on 05/01/2016. I then hiked the state of Maryland from Harpers Ferry to PenMar, MD with Ed. It was about 40 miles. He continued onward for a short distance and then got off the trail.
Ed and I would keep in touch over the years. We’d talk on the phone and email each other. We always talked about the trail, gear and memories from the past. I emailed Ed a few days ago to remind him that it was 25 years ago on 02/28/1999 that we met and hiked the AT together for about 470 miles. I didn’t hear back from him. So I did a search for Edward Sessoms. The top search result was his obituary. It is at:
hopevalleyfuneralservice.com/obituary/EdwardEd-SessomsJr
Ed died on Monday, January 29, 2024. I talked to him before Christmas and he mentioned that he was going to see the doctor about his heart. And that he was going to attempt thru hiking the AT again in 2024. But he never got the chance to do so. Rest in peace, Ranger.
Mike C
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