By Anne Collier Phillips

In the summer of 2018, Collegiate Upper School biology teacher David Privasky, began his multi-year journey on the Appalachian Trail (AT). 

Privasky on the AT.

Privasky joined the Upper School science department in 2015 to teach biology. Privasky’s teaching career began at Tomahawk Creek Middle School in Chesterfield County, where he taught seventh grade life science. He was there for six years when another teacher told him about the job opportunity for an Upper School biology teacher at Collegiate. His first thought was “What’s Collegiate?”

He then was hired for the position, and his wife Pam was hired in 2018 as a Middle School Algebra I teacher. Together, they have two kids, Maddy (’26) and Kevin (‘29). 

The Appalachian Trail is a hiking trail along the Eastern side of the United States. It stretches 2190 miles, from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine. Many people “thru hike” the AT, hiking the entire trail distance in one direction over around six months. This method is for hikers who are able to block out a chunk of their year to only focus on the trail and who have the physical and mental ability to do one activity for six months. Another easier option is to split up the trail over the span of months or years. This method is called section hiking, tackling a long trail in smaller, planned-out increments, which is what Privasky is attempting over six years. 

Privasky originally planned to hike the whole AT with his son, because he had read about many father-and-son pairs hiking the trail together. That plan lasted only a week on his first leg of the AT, however. 

They started hiking the AT at the start of the trail in Fannin County, Georgia in June 2018. About a week in, they got caught in an alarming thunderstorm, and Privasky realized that the hike might have been too much for his then seven-year-old son.

Privasky delivered an emotional speech about this moment on the trail with his son at Collegiate’s 2018 Thanksgiving assembly. Looking back, Privasky said he was so thankful to have his son there and to have those memories with him in that week, and he is glad Kevin still has a love for the trails. Privasky says, “The trail has really become a family journey, a family adventure. It’s not my adventure, where I get away from my family; rather a way that we can all get excited and incorporate our love of nature.” The following summer, in 2019, Kevin and Maddy both joined him for a week on the trail.

Detailed log of Privasky’s 2020 section hike.

Appalachian Trail map showing how Privasky has planned out his sections.

Privasky plans to begin his next section of the hike this summer as soon as school ends next month, on Saturday, June 12. He spent summer 2020 hiking the Virginia section of the trail, the longest section within a single state. 

He will pick up the trail in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, where he left off last summer, then hike through Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. These sections of the trail are about 430 miles in total. 

The following summer, in 2022, Privasky plans to hike through Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, and a part of New Hampshire. These sections together are about 370 miles. 

Finally, his last summer on the trail will be the summer of 2023. Privasky will be starting in New Hampshire and finishing up in Maine, at Mt. Katahdin, the official end of the AT. This hike length is about 360 miles. During the last 100 miles of Maine’s wilderness, Privasky has plans for his family to join him so they can finish out the trail together. 

Appalachian Trail.

Privasky on the Trail.

When asked about reflecting on life on the trail, Privasky said, “You have so much time to think, and that is almost the hardest part, because physically, it’s challenging; physically, it’s painful. It can be horrible weather, raining, storming, hot, cold, and when you’re just kind of plugging away hiking, it really is a mental battle, so you’re just thinking the whole time.” Privasky said there were points where he just had to do something to occupy that silence while on the trail, and he would go through about one audiobook a day.

He added, “I am certainly thankful for my wife and the support she gives me.  Pam allows me to adventure for a month each summer while she cares for our kids, dogs, and household.  I am excited to be able to finish the trail as a family.”

Privasky also has a message for Collegiate students: “One of my reasons for sharing the information about my hike is to encourage the students to get out and enjoy the outdoors. Camping, hiking, and backpacking have had a huge influence on me as a person.  I hope many of our Collegiate students will give backpacking a try and take a hike on the Appalachian Trail.”

All photos courtesy of David Privasky.