Hirsh - Is He for Real?

Another interesting character on the trail is Hirsh. Hirsh is a 28 year old man that seems to have already lived about three lives. He first hiked the A/T when he was 15 years old, took a 5-1/2 year bike ride around the world, did the PCT, did a stint in the Peace Corps and while he was at it did his undergraduate work and graduate work. While it's too crazy to be true, it seems as though it might well be.

Hirsh also does not choose to live in mainstream society. Does not have or carry money. For instance, for food, he has become an expert at "dumpster diving", knowing all the great spots (grocery stores, bakeries, etc.) to get the best assortment of foods. He is always on the move and can really put the miles out when he wants to...and when he is not moving, he is eating...like you wouldn't believe! It seems like half his pack is made up of a wide variety of stuff that it picks up along the way (he is vegan). He'll mix a bunch of stuff together (never cooks) and if it's the right combination will do the mixing of the food in his mouth to get the right texture for a torilla and spit it out again (he says, just like a mother bird does).

For Ben's sake - he is a huge Karouac (sp) fan and reminds me of the guy in the book "Into the Wild". Quite a character. It's funny, because after he describes all his life threatening adventures on his bike through the third world, he asked me what I did. I told him that I was just a mucky muck executive in the mutual fund business. His response: "Awesome, I would love to have you teach me what a mutual fund is and how they work". I thought, yeah, right, boy is my life interesting! Seeing him on the trail a few days later, he still wanted to know what a mutual fund was.

Interesting folks on the trail!