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Dirt in fingernails, sweat rolling down the face, legs shaking, feet blistered, dehydrated meals, dehydration in the body, and a goal in mind because giving up isn’t an option. That’s what the Appalachian Trail experience is about for a lot of people. An estimated 3 million people visit the Appalachian Trail every year according to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. Of those, over 4,000 people attempt to thru-hike the 2,200-mile trail but less than 25% actually complete their thru-hike.
When we hiked a couple of days on the AT in 2019, it helped confirm the thought Sarah had about thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail. It had always been a romanticized thought in her head… the trail life, the people you meet out there, the trail magic from trail angels, and the trail towns with unique trail culture. However, the physical strains of the trail became all too real in our 2 days on the trail affirming that it’s not for her at this point in life. Andy on the other hand would still love to thru-hike the AT and maybe one day he will. For now, Sarah is happy with shorter section hikes of 3 or 4 days at a time. Although Sarah has no plans to thru-hike, she does love the thru-hiking culture on the Appalachian Trail. The trail community is a beautiful thing because the only thing standing between you and the person you’re conversing with is the sounds of the wilderness.
Getting to know who is out there and why was a motivation to take the Hiking Thru Life podcast to what it has become now. In one of our early podcast episodes, we interviewed our friend So Way who lives in Monson, Maine. We met him back when he was thru-hiking the Superior Hiking Trail. He has thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail numerous times, both SOBO (southbound) and NOBO (northbound), and now owns a property just a few miles from the Appalachian Trail at the southern end of the 100 Mile Wilderness. He named the property “Homestead 0”. It is 1.5 acres and is being completely built from scratch with his manual labor. Listen to our podcast episode with him to hear a glimpse into So Way’s life on “Homestead 0”.
Owning 1.5 acres of land and building it up from scratch is hard work. Each day there’s a project he tackles to make it a little more like “home”. His kitchen consists of a folding table and a canopy with a propane burner oven. The privy and storage is a small shed he built with reclaimed wood from the local dump and he is living in a van for the first few years until something more permanent is built on the property. We were able to stay at his property before we hit the Appalachian Trail for a night. Greeted with bloody marys, he gave us a tour of the property and we enjoyed steaks and zucchini on the fire for dinner.
The next morning after a few slow cups of coffee from the Jetboil, we were motivated enough to get moving. We dropped our car off at Shaw’s Hiker Hostel (just $1 a day to park) and So Way gave us a ride to the trailhead. We had perfect weather to start out the hike to Leeman Brook Shelter. Steady incline up, followed by a quick decline. It had small challenges within the first mile. At first, we were prepared for a 3-day backpacking trip, because So Way told us he was dropping us 20 miles from a pickup point. Once we reached a breaking point, about an hour into the hike, we checked the AT guide and to our surprise, we were only 8 miles away from the pickup point. Turns out we got dropped off much closer than expected due to some road closures. This meant we had too much food packed for one night, but we sure weren’t going hungry!
We got to the shelter in about 4 hours. The Leeman Brook Shelter was a basic lean-to style with 3 walls and a platform to sleep. All shelters on the Appalachian Trail vary in size and design. Some have bunks, lofts, and seating areas while others are just basic like this one. There was a group of high school campers and one thru-hiker staying the night at the shelter. I was impressed with the hiker who had some spine problems but wasn’t letting that stop his hike despite the fact that his doctor and multiple people had expressed concerns about his hike. We decided to stay the night in our tent instead of the shelter in case other hikers who needed the shelter came in throughout the night.
As we were enjoying a slow start to the morning with coffee and oatmeal for breakfast many hikers stopped by the shelter for a break. Most had already been hiking for 2 hours. These hikers were on their final push north, roughly 100 more miles to Mt. Kahtadin and their hike would be complete. It was so inspiring to see the mix of hikers and hear their stories. Some hikers that stood out to us include:
- A father and son team. The father was a “flip-flopper” meaning he started in the middle of the AT and hiked to the southern terminus, then flew back to the middle and hiked to the northern terminus.
- A solo hiker who had dreamed of hiking the AT for many years. His wife gifted him lightweight backpacking gear and the AT guidebook for the holidays and told him to live his dream this year. He started his hike at 4:30 AM and was taking a break after ready hiking 15 miles that morning.
- A husband-wife team who were in their 60/70’s and hiking the AT in 500-mile sections a year. They were on their final section to complete the entire trail.
There are always a few hikers out there who are on a mission to just simply hike and not necessarily build community. Those types fascinate me too because I wonder how they stay motivated without community! When we got off the trail and started hiking down the road towards the hostel where our car was parked, we hiked along with a NOBO thru-hiker for a while. He was hiking at a very brisk pace and so ready to be finished with the hike. He mentioned multiple times how bored he was with hiking at this point. I asked if he had a hiking partner and his response was, “No, I can’t even stand being by myself for this long so I don’t know how I’d be with another person this long!” He couldn’t wait to grab a beer in town and resupply before the 100 Mile Wilderness. I hope he got plenty of beer to hold him over for his final 100 miles! Once you reach the 100 Mile Wilderness section of the Appalachian Trail there are signs warning hikers that there are no towns or resupply opportunities for the next 100 miles and recommends hikers carry at least 10 days worth of supplies.
We got back to Shaw’s Hiker Hostel by mid-afternoon. The hiker hostel is an old house turned into a hostel, a full kitchen, shared and private bedrooms, plenty of space for hikers to relax, and a hiker store stocked with resupply items and gear replacements. It’s a perfect place for a thru-hiker to resupply, shower, and rest in a bed for the evening. Our podcast interview with So Way has more details about the hostel as he’s built a strong connection with them.
The more people share their stories on the trail, the richer trail community becomes. Keep hiking and sharing your stories hikers! You are inspiring to us and every single one of you has a special story to share.
Peace, love, and hike thru life!