What would make a person want to hike for six months along the spine of the Appalachians? Were they seeking anything from their experience, and if so, what?
Perhaps it is the physical challenge that drives them? The men and women who attempt this hike are walking along one of the world’s longest marked footpaths, running roughly 2,200 miles (depending on annual trail variations) from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine. The trail climbs a staggering 515,000 feet from beginning to end over the Smokies, the Shenandoah’s, New Hampshire’s rugged White Mountains, and Maine’s craggy wilderness. For some perspective, that's like climbing Mount Everest eighteen times, an astounding feat even when spread out over more than 2,000 miles. Add to that the rocky, muddy, and switchback-less trails of the East Coast and the thru-hikers face a truly grueling adventure.
Maybe it is the sustained connection to nature that lures them in? In total, the trail touches fourteen states, several national parks, eight national forests, and twenty-four wilderness areas which include some of the largest remaining tracts of untouched forest east of the Mississippi. From the verdant temperate rainforests of the Smoky Mountains to the barren high alpine ridges of the White Mountains and Katahdin, thru-hikers get to see a wide gamut of unspoiled wilderness. Since many hikers spend six months on the trail, they experience snow, rain, wind, sun and even the transition of seasons on a day to day basis as few of those living under a roof ever will.
For some, it is certainly the simplicity of life on the trail that draws them away from civilization. As Robert Moore eloquently states in On Trails: An Exploration, “Complete freedom is not what a trail offers. Quite the opposite; a trail is a tactful reduction of options.” Wake, eat, walk, eat, sleep, repeat. One foot in front of the other. The uni-directional days on the trail can offer a reprieve from modern society’s seemingly boundless choices.
If a hiker is looking for solitude, however, the Appalachian Trail is not the place for them. With more than 3,700 hikers setting off on the trail last year, every hiker is bound to overlap with others throughout their journey. To most, these relationships become a key tenet of their hike. They have eaten and slept on shelter floors together, walked through injuries and illnesses together. The people on this trail share a bond, a brotherhood, a sisterhood and a friendship that few others in the world experience.
It was a curiosity about the motives of thru-hikers that started me on this photo project eleven years ago. Over this time I’ve sat along the side of the trail and around campfires talking to and photographing hundreds of hikers. Some stories surprised me with their complexity, other hikers had simple reasons for being in the woods. Some didn’t have any reason at all, or if they did they decided to keep it to themselves.
All of these images were taken on the trail in Maine, so these (northbound) hikers have walked roughly 2,000 miles to get to the point where they are standing. These are the people who haven’t quit, haven’t run out of money or motivation, haven’t gotten injured or sick enough to leave the trail. Only the vast wilderness of Maine’s north woods stands between them and their goal—Mount Katahdin, that towering pinnacle that acts as a beacon for every northbound thru-hiker. For some, the mountain can’t come soon enough, while others enjoy every step along the way.
Maybe when the time is right, you will be motivated to explore the trail yourself, if you haven’t already. Maybe it is after you retire, maybe the time is now. Maybe it is a thru-hike, maybe it is a day hike. Whenever it is, prepare to be touched by the trail forever.
Natalie “Wild” Belongie
Natalie is a boom operator on an Airforce KC-135 tanker. Yup, she’s the one that controls the refuling arm at 30,000 feet between two multimillion dollar jets. Deployments have taken her to Qatar, Kurdistan, Turkey, Spain, Japan, Guam, England, Germany, Albania and Saint Croix. Natalie was in a weird place with her job a couple of years ago. She didn’t feel like the same happy person she used to be. After talking to a friend who’s girlfriend hiked the trail and hearing how eye opening the experience was for her and how much she learned about herself, Natalie thought it would be an awesome idea to hike the A.T. too. She talked to her boss about getting a little reboot on life by hiking the trail and he agreed to give her the leave of absence. When the trail is done she heads right back out on a two month deployment.
Jeff “Atlas” Ferguson Jr.
Atlas didn’t even know about the Appalachian Trail until a month before he started hiking it. A buddy of his wanted to do it and Atlas agreed to tag along. The two of them started the last day of April in the pouring rain. Jeff’s hiking companion bailed after one night, “this isn’t for me” he said to Jeff. Atlas continued on, even with his 110lbs pack which led to his trail name, a reference to the character in Greek mythology. Atlas said he didn’t mind the weight, he is a former Marine and is used to carrying a pack. It’s worth noting that his pack weight is now down to 60lbs, still twice what most thru-hikers carry. “Appalachian Trail hikers are the tightest community I’ve come across since leaving the Marines” Atlas says. “You can leave your wallet out and no one will touch them. Everyone has your back.”
Gary “Cornchip” Germany
“I heard about the trail when I was a Boy Scout. I always thought about the trail but life happened and I never did it. I got divorced and then decided to retire early just so I could hike the trail. I’ve learned to take life as it comes, that everything doesn’t have to be perfect. I’m a volunteer fire fighter back home and when I get off the trail I plan to go to paramedic school. When I got through the white mountains I was pretty beat up, I thought I had seen everything I wanted to see and I thought I was ready to get off the trail, but Maine really rejuvenated me and all of a sudden I don’t want it to be over!”
“Towlie”
Appalachian Trail thru-hiker “Towlie” “I started hiking from Georgia. I had a desire to challenge myself, to grow. I’ve done lots of healing and I’m more at peace with my past. I have more drive, tenacity and I know how to stick with something day after day, something increasingly rare these days.
“Foxy Shizam” (right) and “Old Mate”
Appalachian Trail thru hikers “Foxy Shazam” (right) and “Old Mate” This hiker couple met at Burning Man a few years ago. Old Mate had read Bill Bryson’s “A Walk in the Woods” at a hostel in Nepal and they both decided to give the Trail a try. About Maine they say they love the wildness and remoteness. Towns are fewer and farther apart. Mainers are kind and the sense of community here is noticeable.
“Bulletproof”
Bulletproof started at Springer Mountain, Georgia on March 16th. She used to spend summers in Maine at a Canadian camp for kids. One of the last years she was there they made a trip to Katahdin and she fell in love with hiking and the Appalachian Trail. When she got older she always wondered whether hiking the whole 2200 mile trail was something she could do, so she gave it a try after graduating from high school. Now she finds herself in the final state not wanting the hike to end, falling in love all over again.
Richard “Hot Legz” Banks
This is Richard’s second thru hike, he has previously done the Pacific Crest Trail in 2014. Recently he had felt the pull of long distance hiking so he decided to hike the AT and started on May 4th in Georgia… except nothing has gone to plan. While only 100 miles into his hike he got a call that his mom had passed away. When he got home he learned the details. She had been murdered while on her way home from Wal-Mart one night. After being home for several weeks and dealing with the after-death details, he realized that his mom wouldn’t want him to sit around and be sad. On June 4th he decided to get back on the trail and keep hiking. He found to be the trail to be healing, and although he had to keep getting off to deal with issues surrounding his mom’s death, Richard always looked forward to getting back on the trail. “I’ve made a lot of really great friends, thru hiking is a great way to heal. At first it was really hard, I would sit at night and cry. I’d have nightmares and think of all the things I wish I could have said but didn’t. But when all you have to do is hike all day, you get a lot of time to think. You don’t have to work, you don’t have stuff to do, your’re forced to face the problems that come at you. I’ve heard so many stories of addicts and people in bad relationships hiking and using the trail as a way to heal. Its not a cure all but it definitely helps. I’m thankful to be out here.“
Chris “Winger” Siwanowicz
Chris was fired from his machinist job in the spring of 2017. Like most people would, he panicked and stressed about finding another job. After a couple of months and letting the job loss sink in he thought to himself “F–k this, I’m going to hike the Appalachian Trail. Work will always be there and I’m going to take this opportunity to enjoy life and connect with nature.” Chris is both an Iraq war and Afghanistan war veteran, serving with the 3rd Ranger Battalion. He had wanted to hike the A.T. since getting out of the military, so he sold his truck, bought some surplus military gear, tried to get in shape the best he could, watched a few Youtube videos and set out from Georgia. “The trail is really helping me get over my anxiety from Iraq and Afghanistan, helping me be at peace and live in the moment. It’s the best decision I’ve ever made.”
Amanda “GI Jane” Lourenço
I met Amanda near Stratton, Maine. She talked at length about the trail in her very unique accent, a mix of French and Brazilian, due being born in Brazil and living in France for seven years. Amanda was given her trail name because she shaved her head before she started hiking. Travel is her passion and she has been on the road for the past few years. She spent a couple years in South Africa and three months living on a sailboat in the Mediterranean off the coast of Greece. Then she thought about travelling to North America, a place she had never been. “I decided to hike the Appalachian Trail because of the challenge,” said Amanda. “Its something really hard to do, I wanted the adventure. Its my first time here in America! I’ll get to know the country by walking!”
“Wandering Star”
Appalachian Trail thru hiker “Wandering Star,” she comes from England and speaks with a raspy voice and a thick British accent. She has hiked the triple crown. That means she has done the Continental Divide Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, and this is her third time hiking the Appalachian Trail. That’s 17,000 miles of trail in the U.S. She has also hiked the Camino in Spain and every long trail in the British Isles. “It started in the winter of 1988” says Wandering Star. “A friend told me she had just read about the A.T. In National Geographic, and we were dissatisfied with our place in life, so we decided to do it. By the time we got to Katahdin it was closed for the season. So we hiked the trail again and made it to Katahdin with no issue. The rest is History. Wandering Star works with the Homeless and lobbies for victims of domestic violence back home in Britain. When she’s saved enough money, she picks out a trail somewhere in the world and hikes it.
“Papa Bean”
“Papa Bean” has a simple story about his time on the trail. He tells me in his his lyrical, soft spoken voice “my daughter called me up one day and asked if I wanted to hike the trail. It took me two seconds to say yes.”
Wendy “Stormy” Ferguson
“I heard about the trail probably 20 years ago and I’ve wanted to hike the trail since I heard about it” says Wendy. “The reason why I wanted to do it is because I knew it would be difficult. It’s always in those difficult things you do that you learn the most about yourself, the most about life lessons. I just wondered what I could learn from this trail. I sat on the side of the trail in Maine, talking to Wendy when she only had 200 more miles to go. She continues “I think somewhere along the way I learned those lessons and I learned to pour myself into it and it became even more important that I finish to show people that they can do things that they didn’t think they could do.” I asked Wendy if she had any doubters. “Absolutely” she said, “especially myself. I didn’t even think I would make it out of Georgia.” Wendy quit her job to free up time to hike the trail. When she finishes she plans to open a food truck!
Maxwell “Fingerbang” Greenspan
“I was a mechanical engineer, and I got in a bad car accident. I was just sitting around for a while and heard about the Appalachian Trail while listening to a podcast. It sounded crazy enough and hard enough… just something I wanted to do. I sold all my stuff. I own everything that’s on my back, and that’s all I own. After the car accident I felt like I was existing, not living. I didn’t like my job, I didn’t like where I was living, I wasn’t feeling challenged. This was such a big challenge. Only 20% of people who start make it all the way, and I had never hiked a day in my life, I wasn’t in any physical condition at all. So I sold everything and quit my job and jumped on the trail.”
Gabriel “Pay It Forward” West
“I started the trail April 23, two years after the passing of my mother. I spent the last two years getting my dad and family squared away and healthy and finally realized that I was the only one who hadn’t truly healed yet. A friend recommended I hike the Appalachian Trail and get it all figured out. The first 500 miles I had a whole lot of issues to straighten out. Every mile after that has just been a gift. Being able to get my mom’s passing out of my head and into my heart… it took two years. It was never about getting to the top of Katahdin and getting a picture… it was about the journey, it’s been a blessing.”
Eric “Paddington” Stroud
“I’ve lived in monasteries a good bit of my life. When I was 19 I went into a Cistercian Abbey for the first time. That was the first time I really got the noise of life out of my head; it was a real powerful experience. I did it again for an extended period when I turned 30. Then I was diagnosed with cancer in 2009. It really upended my priorities. At the time I was working 60-80 hours a week, really putting it to the grind. I was making a lot of money and doing really well for myself; I had a great career track. But I knew something was wrong. Maybe I worked myself sick? I don’t know, I was probably going to get cancer anyway… but ever since then I’ve tried to structure my life in a way that I won’t have any regrets. If there is something that I want to try or do then I’m going to go out there and do it. I first heard about the trail in high school, and after I had cancer I decided I wanted to do it. I have no kids, no wife, no girlfriend. The trail just kind of creeped in. Its one of those ideas that just seeps in and takes hold. I started researching last fall and on March 6 found myself walking the trail in Georgia.”
Briana “Tangerine” Crawford
“When I was young my family would take me every fall to Amicalola in Georgia to see the leaves change. Amicalola is where the Appalachian Trail starts. I really enjoyed it and I think someone probably told me while I was there that the trail went all the way to Maine. Ten years later I was in my early 20s and I was watching the movie Wild, I was in a relationship, I had a job I didn’t really like even though I was making good money, and I started to think about hiking the trail. I really wanted to do this to have an accomplishment for myself. I wanted something that I put my mind to and finish for myself, not because society told me to. Last year I started the trail and made it 623 miles to Pearisburg, VA, but had shin splints really bad because I was trying to do too many miles per day. So this year I started over again. I started on Feb. 25 and hiked on my own, connected with a few people and then after Harpers Ferry decided I wanted to hike alone again. Its been nice; I’m walking slower. I was out here to establish myself or find something within me. I’m not perfect, but somewhere in Vermont at the five-month mark I just accepted who I was, and that was a very powerful moment.”
Warren Doyle
Warren owns the record with the most number of traverses of the full length of the AT, 18. He also once held the fastest known time on the AT—66 days–in 1973. “I just completed my 18th traverse of the Appalachian Trail. It was a section hike. I’ve thru-hiked nine times and section hiked nine times, spanning 45 years. That will be my last traverse. I will not traverse the entire Appalachian Trail again. I’m an educator and all of my educational beliefs and values and ideals come from the trail rather than the classroom. Eight of my nine thru-hikes I organized groups of people and we hiked the trail together as a group to help facilitate people’s dreams. I strongly believe that a country’s strength is not in its military might but the amount of people in that country’s society that have fulfilled their dreams. Helping these people along the trail is my way of serving my country. The trail is apolitical, it’s nondiscriminatory. It’s one way for a person to be free in an unfree society.”
Fred “Santiago” Jolly
Fred’s trail name is a reference to the the fisherman in Ernest Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea. “Four and a half years ago my wife and I launched on a road trip to see all of the national parks. One of the places we stopped at was the Gettysburg battlefield, which is very close to the trail at Pine Grove Furnace. It’s the halfway point of the Appalachian Trail. We hiked out to the halfway sign. It was then that I told myself that I was going to hike this thing. I decided to do it when I turned 62. I like to tell people that I left the Social Security office and went directly to the trail. I wanted to hike the trail for a cause as well. So I decided to raise money for the National Park Foundation, with a goal of $25,000. I think I’m going to hit that goal.”
Wilson “Rebel Yell” Stanton
“Hiking the Appalachian Trail has been a dream for probably eight or nine years. I heard about it in college in South Carolina and looked it up one day when I was in the computer lab. Each spring I would think about the trail and follow bloggers who were hiking. I started taking small day hikes in South Carolina. Being up on top of a mountain, man, that is addicting. I was ready to go in the spring of 2012. I had all my gear, I hadn’t registered for classes. I did everything except show up and start hiking because I tripped and fell in love with a girl real hard. That relationship blew up a couple of years ago and I found myself back home with a dead-end job in a dead-end town. I looked around one day at my job; I was working with a bunch of middle-aged men who had done the same thing at this factory for 30 years and they talked about the same thing every day for the last 30 years. It was like the movie Groundhog Day. It was miserable. I still followed bloggers every year so I decided it was time to stop thinking about it and start doing it. I took a leap of faith and it’s been the greatest decision I’ve ever made in my entire life. I feel like I’m where I’m supposed to be. There are no bad days out here, only bad moments. Even when I finish on Katahdin I want to keep hiking, The walk’s not over.”
Lorrie “Easy Bake” Hess
Laurie carries a steam canister and sometimes bakes muffins on the trail, hence the trail name. “I don’t think there was single catalyst that made me want to hike the Appalachian Trail. I know that the idea came to me years ago and I decided I would do it soon after. I did know how long it was, I didn’t know how hard it would be. I began looking for partners to hike it with and wasn’t finding any. Finally, my daughter said she would go with me. As the years passed and she grew up I could tell she didn’t really want to do it. I told her she was released from her promise and I didn’t really know when to go. My husband encouraged me hike it solo next season, so in June of 2017 I decided I would go in March of 2018. Even thought there was no big event that made me decide to hike the trail, a month ago, after almost five months of walking, I realized why I wanted to finish the journey. I want to finish not to see if I could physically do it, or to get over the mental obstacles, but simply to finish, to stick something out even when it is super difficult and I want to quit, even when it would be easier to leave, when no one else cared but me. A lot of things I didn’t finish in life… and they were important things. So this time I’m going to finish.”
Michael “Navmaster” Davis
“I went to college in north Georgia, not far from Springer Mountain. I hiked with friends in college, and they went on and had the time to hike the trail back in the mid ’90s, so it had always been on my mind. I talked about it more and more as I got into my 40s, and I got a chance to have some time away from work about a year ago.” With tears in his eyes, Michael continued: “My wife basically told me I need to put up or shut up, so I put up. Here I am six months later. I did it for the adventure. It was everything I expected. It was an absolute adventure. Well worth it. What is next? Man, tha’ts harder than deciding to hike the trail. I don’t have a job lined up when I get home, but my wife has been extremely supportive.”
Richard “Zephyr” Overmyer
“When I was younger my parents would take me along the East Coast to various points along the trail and go for little day hikes, so I’ve been aware of the trail for much of my life. Just a few years ago I had the chance to go for another hike along the Delaware Water Gap and a friend of mine hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, so thru-hiking was particularly on my mind. It was then that I decided that this was something I wanted to do. I wanted the challenge, I knew it would be an amazing opportunity. That opportunity presented itself this spring and now here I am at the top of Katahdin. It’s been such an amazing experience. I’m so happy. Despite all of the obstacles and difficulties, I’m so happy I did this, so happy to be here, so happy that I met all of these amazing people.” I asked Zephyr about the numbers that covered his legs and arms. He replied: “Back in New York with about 800 miles to go I was getting upset, day in and day out I had a really negative attitude. There was a point where I sat down with myself and had an internal conversation. I told myself that I can quit right now, I can go home, but in a week I’ll want nothing more than to be out on the trail and around my friends. I started writing how many miles I had to go on my arms and legs as a reminder that I only have so much time before this experience ends, only so many miles left before this dream that I’m living ends. I need to be thankful for every mile I’m able to hike because I’m lucky to be out here.”
James “Papa J” Brooks
“I started the Appalachian Trail because I have a degree in Appalachian folk music from Berea College in Kentucky. I decided that now I’m retired at 59 and a half years old, I wanted to continue my teaching of folk music and the best way to support my ideas would be to immerse myself in the culture of the Appalachian Mountains, and the best way to immerse myself in the culture is to hike the trail!”
Randy “Flash” Fuqua
“I started on March 19 and I got about 160 miles to go. I’m doing this because I’m 57 years old and I’m not getting any younger. It’s one of those things that I kept saying that I could do, should do, then you get old and you never did it and say you wish you had. I just decided to make it happen. My family has been very supportive and my employer has been supportive. Everything worked out for timing… it’s been a great trip and a great adventure. I won’t lie, I’m tired. I’m looking forward to the end but also looking forward to everything in between. It isn’t for everybody, but those that do it certainly walk away with a whole new perspective on life, the environment, people, and this country.”
Brad “Little Blue” Duffan
“I figured that it was getting too late in my life and I needed to hike the trail now. I’m 36, and I’ve been planning to do the trail for a few years, but every time I wanted to go something would happen; I’d put it off for a trip, or a family event, or a raise at my job, so I thought there was no way I could quit now. I was starting to think that the only available time I’d have to hike the trail was after I retire. All the retired people I’ve met hiking the trail, they’re having fun and they all have a bigger bank account, but that’s not really how I wanted to hike the trail. I wanted to come out and do it while I still had fresh enough knees to finish.”
