Here’s a set of photo’s from my southbound thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail (AT) in 2000. This hike totalled about 2,165 miles from July 1, 2000 through January 11, 2001.
I was quite glad to drag myself off Springer Mountain, Georgia, but it was a true life-changing experience. There’s no way I would have gone back to grad school, paddled the Mississippi River, or started a PhD program if I hadn’t spent those six months on the AT.
I still think about this trip almost every day, and am currently analyzing the data from a thru-hiker study I began last year. This has turned out to be the largest dataset of thru-hikers ever conducted, representing over one million miles of thru-hiking on the AT.
Just click on the large photo to scroll through. This set is also available on our Flickr page
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I already had a bad case of Springer Fever, but after drooling over your photos I’m wanting to hit the trail tomorrow!
Ken,
Springer’s fine, or you can just start in Maine and head downhill! Late June or early July is the perfect time to start a SOBO hike!
Take care,
-John