Hiking the Appalachian Trail
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Slide 1/14In 2005, Jennifer Pharr Davis hiked the 2,180-mile Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. It took 4.5 months and by the time the experience was over Jennifer was pretty much hooked on hiking. -
Slide 2/14Jennifer wrote a book, Becoming Odyssa: Epic Adventures on the Appalachian Trail about her first through hike on the A.T. -
Slide 3/14Jennifer found herself back on the A.T. in 2008. This time around she set a women’s record: finishing the journey in 58 days, 8 hours. That’s about 38 miles per day! This summer, starting in June, Jennifer is going back to the A.T. to chase the overall speeed record: 47 days, 13 hours, 31 minutes. -
Slide 4/14The Appalachian National Scenic Trail spans fourteen U.S. states and is roughly 2,180 miles long. It passes through Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. -
Slide 5/14Jennifer said her favorite spot along the A.T. is in Grayson Highlands State Park located in southwest Virginia. -
Slide 6/14One reason she loves it is because these super cute wild ponies live there. -
Slide 7/14Completing the entire length in one trip is a huge undertaking. Each year, thousands of hikers attempt a thru-hike; only about one in four make it all the way. You can learn about the history of the trail here . -
Slide 8/14Last summer I blogged about this awesome train to trail adventure from NYC to the Appalachian Trail. -
Slide 9/14Here’s a shot (yes that's me!) from a weekend trip last summer on a portion of the AT in New York. That's a Dover Oak...they say it’s the oldest tree directly on the AT (it actually sits right on the trail)...maybe about 300 years old. -
Slide 10/14Eating on the trail takes planning. I came across this dude talking about this great little cookbook Lipsmackin Vegetarian Backpackin’. -
Slide 11/14All along the AT you'll find these cool little shelters where many hikers opt to spend the night. -
Slide 12/14Many hikers also pack a small tent. -
Slide 13/14I found this on flickr if you can’t read the text, here it is: “A while back, I started following the blog of three Appalachian Trail thru-hikers - Ringleader, Lightning and Monkey (collectively known as the Traveling Circus). I left a comment on their blog and offered trail support whenever they passed through Shenandoah. As luck would have it, they emailed us and took us up on the offer. We picked them up last night at Swift Run Gap. They had dinner with us, showered, did some laundry and watched a movie. They spent the night, and after a big breakfast we drove them back up to the trail. We had a really fun night - such nice people and so many great stories! We still have all their heavy gear in the back of our car. This will allow them to hike about 17 miles today with very light weight (slackpacking). We're meeting up with them again this evening to return all their gear.” -
Slide 14/14Ok, I bet you guessed that this is not the AT. I just wanted to get one last shot of Jennifer in her element. Here, she's hiking the 120 mile GR 20 in Corsica ("It was harder, prettier and colder than I expected!" she said) Ok, thats all folks. Happy Trails!
Written by Keith Mulvihill
I recently chatted up with Jennifer Pharr Davis who hiked the 2,180-mile Appalachian Trail twice (!). This summer she is planning on a third trip. I rustled up all sorts of photos and info about the AT for this slideshow. Be sure to check out our great Q&A here.
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