The experience will “remind us we are incredibly fortunate. We’re lucky to have the opportunity to hike, let alone the opportunity to be educated,” Koenig said.

He estimates that he will spend around $2,000 during the trip.

“The rule of thumb is a dollar a mile, for food,” said Koenig. “This will be saying goodbye to my savings account for quite some time.”

In preparation for the possible dangers and physical exertion of the hike, Koenig trained in the Wilderness First Responder course, and has been running and doing other cardiovascular exercises.

He has adopted a strategy of “eating lots, trying to put on weight that we will ultimately lose,” he said.

“It’s a fantastic excuse to eat absolutely whatever we want. That’s been a real luxury,” he added.

According to Koenig, “being willing to take a rest day” is important, as is “not letting weariness or exhaustion morph into some serious calamity that can knock us off the hike.”

The large numbers of hikers on the AT provide help in case of emergencies, as well as a sense of community.

“People who hike the AT come up with trail names. Robert will probably not be known by Robert by the end of the trip,” said Lucas T. Laursen ’05, president of the Mountaineering Club. “It’s just a trail thing. People will sign on bulletin boards...They all get to know each other along the trail.”

Koenig said that, based on this experience, other trails may be in his hiking future.

“There’s definitely a romance to the big three trails: The Appalachian mountains, the Pacific Crest trail out in California, and the Continental Divide trail [in] the Rocky Mountains,” said Koenig. “That air of romance will always have an appeal to it.”

Another student, Andrew J. Bestwick ’07 of Adams House, plans to take next spring semester off to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, which extends from the Mexican border up to Canada.

“I’m sure I’ll be asking [Robert] plenty of questions,” Bestwick said. “I imagine he’ll have tons of stories when he gets back.”

—Staff writer Tina Wang can be reached at tinawang@fas.harvard.edu.