He was hoping no one would notice, obviously.
He couldn't have been on the Appalachain Trail, despite his claims. He was in Columbia on Thursday. His own staff had to ask SLED to search his phone records, which is the only reason why his phone was found to be 'pinging' in Atlanta, 80 miles from the Appalachian Mountains. Further, if you know anything about our state, the Mts are a 2 hour drive away. Atlanta is a 4 hour drive--in the wrong direction. Law enforcement spotted him at the atlanta airport boarding a plane. Obviously, that goes against his claims to have been hiking. But, most importantly, he left without telling ANYONE where he was, how to contact him, what to do in the event of an emergency, who was to be in charge in his absense. Clearly, he's hiding something. I don't know what, but Democrats AND Republicans in my state are angry over his actions.