WILMINGTON – Two UNC Chapel Hill graduates braved the heat Saturday to begin a journey celebrating part of the school's history.

Bryan Jones and Nicholas Becketti started walking in Wrightsville beach Saturday morning, and they said they won’t stop until they get to Chapel Hill, about 160 miles away. The purpose of the walk is to honor Hinton James, who walked from Wilmington to Chapel Hill back in 1795 and became the school's first student.

Jones and Becketti say the trip so far hasn’t been easy.

“I already drank three liters [of water], a couple bottles of water from a gas station and a Gatorade,” Becketti said. “I'm thirsty again."

Jones had a similar experience.

"It has been hot, humid, sweaty," he said. "We've drank more water than we thought we would."

But they say that James’ walk must have been much more difficult.

“But for him to have done it back in 1795, and he did it in February even, in the snow, with the kind of gear they had then – he had a much harder job than we do," Jones said.

They expect their journey to take about two weeks. At the end of every day, they'll find a spot to camp.

And although it's not an easy trip, they hope others will follow them in the future.

"That's the goal is to set up a tradition, make it an annual event, and hopefully more students and alumni and faculty and staff will go with us next year and we'll get a group of 20 to 30 students," Jones said.

Jones and Becketti expect a couple other friends to join them along the way.