The Jackson entrepreneur on Wednesday shared the highlights, as well as some lows, of his thru-hike along the Appalachian Trail earlier this year. The 59-year-old started the journey on March 23 in Springer Mountain, Ga. and encountered freezing rain on the third day after about 22 miles, or 1 percent of the trip.

"It was obvious it was going to be harder than how it looked on a computer screen or in a book," Mars said.

During the months-long hike, Mars said he saw areas in the mountains that rivaled the opening scene of "The Sound of Music," battled poison ivy and mosquitoes in places, enjoyed the hospitality of strangers through "trail magic," and got guidance on how to make the journey from fellow hikers along the trail.

However, Mars recalled the advise of one hiker that "you have to hike your own trail," meaning it is up to the individual hiker to determine how he wants to make the journey. He said that is a lesson for life as well.

"You've got to figure it out for yourself," Mars said.

After about a month, Mars said he got depressed and left the trail for what he planned to be a short break. After two weeks, he realized he was looking for an excuse to not continue, but he overcame those feelings and resumed the journey.

In that regard, Mars is in select company. Mars said about 2,000 a people a year start out with the plans to hike the trail, but only about 350 actually complete the trip.

In June, Mars said he got poison ivy and it served as an adversary as he went through Virginia. He said Pennsylvania included some of the rockiest terrain he traveled, as well as troublesome mosquitoes.

"I didn't think anything could be worse than the poison ivy, but the mosquitoes were," Mars said.

Mars relayed several instances of "trail magic," where residents along the trail would put out food or meet hikers at various crossroads to help and encourage them along the way. He mentioned that one town's mayor had a tradition of welcoming hikers to spend the night at his home as a tribute to his late wife.

Mars estimated about half of the nights on the trail were spent in shelters, three-sided open structures capable of accommodating up about 12 hikers, and half were spent in his tent. About once a week, he said, he'd get a hotel room to spend the night, refresh and restock food.

Mars said he learned quickly to travel light, even going so far as to cut out the labels of his clothes in an effort to shed weight. He said his backpack averaged around 30 pounds.

"After the first couple of weeks, you learn if it's not essential, you don't carry it," Mars said.

Mars completed the journey September 10 at Mount Katahdin, Maine. In all, Mars said he was on the trail 170 days.

Mars said he tried to go 100 miles a week, with one day off. He estimated he averaged about 20 miles a day, with his longest single-day distance being 28 miles.

"It was a very memorable summer," Mars said.