- February 25, 2025
Dave Freeman has hiked several southern sections of the Appalachian Trail over the past few years. Starting March 16, Freeman will embark on a bucket-list adventure — doing the “thru-hike” of the entire Appalachian Trail beginning at Springer Mountain in Georgia and ending 2,200 miles later at Mount Katahdin in Maine.
Freeman is the chief of operational services for Flagler Schools. Superintendent LaShakia Moore has granted him a six-month leave of absence so he can hike the historic trail which winds through 14 states.
Warrior Expeditions, a veterans nonprofit outdoor therapy program, is sponsoring Freeman. He is one of about 20 veterans who will participate in this year’s Warrior Hike.
“I have a great opportunity through a great organization,” he said.
Warrior Expeditions sponsors a variety of outdoor expeditions for combat veterans. In addition to the Appalachian Trail hike, there are two adaptive trips: a cross-country bicycle expedition from Washington D.C. to Washington State and a paddling trip down the entire Mississippi River.
Freeman applied to do the hike after discovering Warrior Expeditions online last fall. He said they interviewed over 400 veterans for those three expeditions and selected 40, including 20 for the Appalachian Trail hike. On Christmas Day, he received a call telling him he was accepted.
“I've always had the desire to hike the Appalachian Trail,” he said. “Over the last five, six years I’ve been doing some section hiking where you go about 40 miles. So, I’ve had the opportunity to do all of Georgia and about halfway of North Carolina.”
He’s always hiked with groups of friends. Indian Trails Middle School Principal Ryan Andrews has hiked with Freeman along several segments of the trail during the past few summers. Last year, Marcus Sanfilippo, Flagler Schools’ coordinator of special projects, joined the group.
“Dave was certainly the organizer,” Andrews said. “It was something we’ve all talked about for a while. Dave and I were both Eagle Scouts. We’ve been hiking, camping, being out in the wilderness all of our lives. (The trail) is a break from day-to-day life. You are exposed to rain, cold, wind and heat. You’re not thinking about emails, work, text messages. You’re in nature.”
They talked about doing the thru-hike, but with families and jobs, a six-month break didn’t seem realistic, Andrews said.
“We figured we would do it in segments and one day finish the whole thing,” Andrews said. “At our rate, doing 50 to 60 miles (each trip), it would take us an extremely long time.”
Freeman, 63, plans to complete the 2,200-mile hike in September. Warrior Expeditions provides all the equipment, including clothing, tents, sleeping bag and a food stipend. He will start in a group of 10 other veterans.
You can choose to walk with somebody or you're going to hike by yourself. But this time of year, there are so many people that are hiking the Appalachian Trail, you're going to see people.
— DAVE FREEMAN
“We start off together for the first four days or so, and (Warrior Expeditions officials) kind of shadow us just to make sure that we know what we’re doing. And then after about the fifth day, they say hike your own hike," Freeman said. "You can choose to walk with somebody or you're going to hike by yourself. But this time of year, there are so many people that are hiking the Appalachian Trail, you're going to see people.”
As much solitude as there is on the trail, Andrews said, it is also very busy.
“You meet up with people from all over the world,” Andrews said, “sometimes just passing, sometimes walking miles with them.”
Freeman will carry about five days of food with him at a time. He will fill use a water filter as he fills his water container from streams. Through most areas, there are roads every five to 20 miles that lead into a town. He will carry what he needs for five or six days, then take a “zero day,” where he can go into town to wash clothes, take a shower and sleep in a bed.
Warrior Expeditions provides a list of community supporters along the way that veterans can call, Freeman said.
This is the second time Freeman has taken an extended leave of absence. When he was a physical plant director at Augusta University in 2006, he took a leave of absence to return to active duty.
Freeman had been in the Army for 21 years and had retired as a lieutenant colonel in 2004. Two years later, when the Army was sending more troops to Iraq, retirees were asked to come back.
“I felt like I had kind of missed the Super Bowl, because I had not been in combat, and so I volunteered to go back in the Army,” he said.
He served overseas from 2007 to 2008 as a transition team chief advising an Iraqi general and his team during combat operations.
Now he can cross off another bucket list item.
“It's just a great opportunity,” Freeman said. “They highlight combat veterans. The first person to (thru-hike) the Appalachian Trail was a combat veteran. Earl Shaffer, a World War II veteran, hiked it (in 1948). He said he needed to hike the war out of him. So that’s what this organization goes back to.”
“I’m super happy for him,” Andrews said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I can’t wait to hear all the stories.”
