Bobby Zerwick left his comfortable home in Pennsylvania last March 10 with two goals: To hike the entire Appalachian Trail this summer and to raise much-needed research funds to find a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. The hike started at Springer Mountain in Georgia, and Bobby will hike north for a total of about five months. His journey will be completed this late summer or early fall when he reaches Mount Katahdin in Maine, having traveled more than 2,175 miles.

This week Bobby reached the halfway point of the trail at 1,090 miles. We spoke with Bobby’s mom, who told us he felt pretty great to have reached this point after just 12 weeks on the trail. This milestone is located at Pine Grove Furnace State Park, about 30 miles north of Gettysburg, Pa. Bragging rights come with a free half-gallon of ice cream and a small commemorative wooden spoon stamped in red letters with “Member of Half Gal. Club.”

While he is at 50 percent of his climbing goal, at this writing Bobby is at 72 percent of his fundraising goal of $5,000 for Cure Alzheimer’s Fund. You can help put him “over the top” by going to his fundraising page at:  www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/bobbyzerwick/hikingforacureontheappalachi….

Bobby, far right, and some of the nice folks he’s been hiking with.