Drum Hike

Monday, April 12, 2010

A couple of weeks ago my wife brought home a flyer that was left on her car entitled "Drum Hike".

Intrigued, I took a look at the website listed. Here's what I found out:

Beginning at 9am on April 17th at the Louisville Slugger Museum in Louisville, KY, Iraq War Veteran Troy Yocum will begin a 7,000-mile hike across America - while banging a drum.

With Emmie the SuperDog by his side, Yocum will beat his drum to sound the call in order to raise $5 million to help military families in need. He believes it will take him 16 months to complete his quest.

Specialist Troy Yocum was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. He joined the Army National Guard on August 21st, 2001 just days before 9/11 and spent the next 3 years at duty in various capacities. In 2007 his battallion was called up for a 13-month deployment in Iraq and Kuwait.


In addition to a military career, Yocum is an accomplished drummer, having played with several up and coming artists spanning many different genres. While in Kuwait, he made an attempt at the Guinness World Record for the longest drumming time, but had to end his attempt after temperatures reached over 100 degrees which forced him to cramp up on the second day.

Yocum's journey, beginning this Saturday, will take roughly 16 months to complete. He'll pass through 30 states and 38 large cities. He plans to average over 20 miles a day, and will be taking an estimated 50 million steps across America.

Yocum will make appearances at 20 baseball parks. During his journey, Troy will be carrying a custom Louisville Slugger bat for mayors and governors to sign along the way. Troy will then present this bat to the White House on May 11th.

If you would like to help Military families in need of financial assistance, please consider making a donation or make a pledge based on each mile Troy walks. 100% of all donations will be distributed to needy Military families through the Soldiers' Angels' financial assistance program.

Please click here for more information.


Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com Detailed information on trails in the Smoky Mountains; includes trail descriptions, key features, pictures, video, maps, elevation profiles, news, hiking gear store, and more.

3 comments

David said...

Wow, that's one heck of a journey he has ahead of him. If he swings by Jacksonville I'll go cheer him on.

smoky scout said...

I've been watching this guy for the last couple of months and his marketing is phenomenal. You can become a fan on his Facebook page.

The Smoky Mountain Hiker said...

Yes, he's been on the local news a couple of times. In addition to having a great cause, he done an excellent job of promoting himself.

Jeff