Appalachian Trail Hike Journals

Appalachian Trail Hike Journals - Old and New

Note: Some of the following are here at fred.net or geocities.com, while most are at other websites .

2006 Thru Hikes
- Greg Baltus is using Trailposts to document his hike.

2005 Thru Hikes
- Katie and Jonathan head toward Springer.
- Erica Zelfand and Timothy Crespi are hiking against hunger...
- Mountain Dew is heading up the trail again starting in April.
- Gillian Murphy is planning to hike the trail to raise funds for MS research.
- Kasey Soles Robbert is planning to start March 26 to head home to Maine.
- Lucky COwboy started out but then stopped. I'm not sure if he has started back again or not.
- Trailjournals.com listings for 2005 (Scroll down to get to A.T. journals)

2004 Thru Hikes
- William G. Luttge intends to start out on March 2. (as of January 20 - website not yet active) Article from Gainesville Sun
- Scott Rogers calls himself the "bionic hiker" - scheduled to start March 22
- Caroline McKissick is hiking in memory of her fiance who was killed in Iraq. Website to be coming soon...
- Trailjournals.com listings for 2004

2003 Thru Hikes
- A note from Loony: Back in 2003, my husband and I (SvenSaw & Loony) thru-hiked the A.T. We took a survey of about 50 of our fellow hikers after we were done. We put together an online "newsletter" with the results. I think it's still kind of interesting, just a overview of how people prepare for the trail, hike it, and what they do after. Here is the URL: http://www.hikemore.com/newsletter/appalachian-trail/hikemore-at-news.html
- Whitney Kemper is hiking and writing for the Nashville City Paper
- CyberSolitude - Chad Brown is planning to start in March.
- Hud Hartson, Krystal Smith and doggy Shasta set out for Maine on March 8.
- Trailjournals.com listings for 2003.

2002 Thru Hikes
- Andy Skurka did the trail in 3 months. (And then went on to become the first person to do the sea-to-sea walk around the country.)
- Rick Houtz is planning to start out on March 1.
- Melissa Luce is going to do a flip-flop hike on behalf of Camino Seguro (Safe Passage), a Guatamalan children's organization.
- Michael Haynes and Kathryn Menotti who left on March 17 have a webpage that Michael's father is maintaining for them.
- Lots of 2002 journals at www.trailjournals.com Includes one in French.

2001 Thru Hikes
- 1-30 Sridhar Ramasami (Spider) hiked the Eastern Continental Trail in 2000-01.
- David "Twain" Brinkerhoff began on June 4.
- Brian Robinson is planning to hike AT, CDT and PCT in one year
- Sneetch's 5 Million Steps - follow Sneetch as she heads north and has weekly picture and journal updates on the Kodak e-Magazine website.
- Ian Hamilton, of Aberdeen Scotland has been hiking since April.
- At-Online's Journals Page
- While doing a little trail magic at Deep Gap, Wayne Brown met Ray Burton and Karl Hoerz who took off in mid-March. (Requires shockwave)

2000 Thru Hikes
- Jeremy Padgett A.K.A. Hungry Howie
- Greg Eriksen "Trudge" did a flip-flop hike starting south from Harpers Ferry.
- 1-28 - Tuba Man finished his southbound hike in December with his tuba...
- Nimblewill Nomad began his hike in Canada. ( His homepage )
- Nina Baxley hiked southbound.
- Spur finished up his 2000 thru-hike-plus. hiked the IAT this year then hiked the southern part of the trail from the Summit of Flagg Mtn, AL to Springer Mountain. Spur started 4/12/2000 and finished on 11/21/2000 for a total of 3,245.4 miles. This all comes after a successful thru-hike in 1999.
- BOB!!Williams and his 14 year old nephew, Bob, started out back in February.
- "Doc's Holiday" and "The Manager" Gary and Millie Buffington are starting out March 15. Their page has info on trail names and also includes a message posted on the AT-L with weather links up and down the trail.
- Bill Dickhans (Hokie Flash) started after school from Springer Mountain on May 11 and finished at Katahdin August 13.
- Nancy and Bill Stockton started out on March 4 and are posting notes every day.
- 7-6 - Perry McKay is hiking the AT this year and has a page put up by the National Parks and Trust
- Erik Eichinger - "Thoroughfare Gap" started on March 8. He's got some info about his book on backpacking on his page.
- Howard D. Lyons, Sr. - a.k.a. Turtle - is setting off in early March.
- Rick Roberts and Jim Francisco "Shotgun" and "Jim-Bob" set off on March 16.
- Jason "Plant" Croop and Laura "Lindy" Lindstrom are hiking from Georgia to Maine.
- Pilgrim Jack's AT Adventures
- A multitude of Journals from Trailplace - no longer available
- Journals from Trail Journals Page

1999 Thru Hikes
- Mara "Stitches" Factor's, Travels and Trails, includes her thruhike journal, other journals, and lot of hiking and gear tips.
- Dick Christian started out on April 6 and, at the urging of his wife, has a page being maintained by his friend, Mike Southern.
- The Burroughs and their German Shepherd finished on October 8th.
- KC and Sasha started out on the 14th of March and wrote to me from the Erwin library on April 21.
- Jason Grudell's journey begins February 23.
- Sarah Rebick and Edie Sonne are planning to share their thru hike (March 1 start) with middle school students through a web site with lessons and weekly updated journal entries.
- John O'Mahoney's journal was kept by friend, Michael Connick.
- Timothy Scott got a six month leave of absence from work and is setting out about April 21.
- K.C. Felton's page for her hike starting March 1. "War Eagle" (This is the first of what may be several A.T. journals on Ryan's Backcountry Net page.)
- Steven and Jennifer Burrough are planning to leave in March, accompanied by their 2 year old German Shepherd, Abby.
- Brian Simon started mid-April with his faithful companion, Heidi (a dog).
- Mike, Blaine and Steve's 1999 AT Thru-hike - a Scientific Approach to Backpacking
- Susan Cooper is celebrating 12 years of surviving cancer by hiking the AT.
- Todd Ricker a.k.a. "Bodhi" will be starting his fubdraising hike in March. Beneficiaries: Childrens Miracle Network, ATC trail preservation, and a Local Youth Group
- Mark Schieber left for Katahdin on March 15.
- Ron Grace will be starting in late February and is hoping to raise funds for the Jimi Huffman Memorial Scholarship Fund.
- John Davis is leaving in late March and will have his son maintain a webpage for him.
- The n2 backpacking page is hosting three journals
- Bullfoon's page
- Gregg Hilferding is Hiking For History
- Conor Farley (Chocolate Thunder)'s page
- Dawn Averitt is hiking southbound for AIDS awareness.
- Jessy Oberright, naturalist and wildlife rehabilitator, started north the first week of April.
- BlackBear and Soaring Eagle planned their hike for many years.
- Thor Knutson had made it into Pennsylvania by mid-June.
- Hank McComas completed his hike in September, 1999.
- Section hiker Phil Heffington completed over 800 miles of the AT in the last three years.

1998 Thru Hikes
- Woodrow Murphy - "Beorn" hiked and dreamed in 1998 and other years...
- Hot Air from Dragon's Breath is Jim Damico's page about his hike.
- Felix takes a hike
- RedGoat (Jonathan Griffith) and Earthchaser (Dawn Wood) have made it into Maine in early October.
- Mike Dubin is reported to be climbing Katahdin. on October 12.
- Jay Platt will be starting a southbound hike on August 1 to raise awareness and funds for the Von Hippel Lindau Family Alliance.
- Bobby deVos is beginning at Davenport Gap in June to try to complete his hike to Katahdin.
- Brian Vaughan started his hike on 2/24. His mom is maintaining a webpage for him as he heads north...
- Bob Mitchell and his friend, Brian Cunningham will be starting in early March.
- Ron and Cheryl Gaudreau will be starting in late February.
- Jeff Alt is hiking this year to raise money for the Sunshine Children's Home.
- Courtney Smith will be starting his thru-hike some time in March.
- Mathew Olsen will be testing the boundaries of electronic business for his UNCC business Honors Thesis while hiking the AT.
- Crispy's hike starts from Springer on March 18. (Trailplace defunct as of late 2001.)
- Michael Chiarella will be starting in March.
- Ben and Gay's Appalachian Adventure - Ben is 61 years old. His wife, Gay, is 57.
- Ron Ott, Jr. is doing a "Hike Against Cancer" this year in memory of Rich "Blind Owl" Sprow.
- A group of women and children are doing a supported hike of the AT - Bluemoon Adventures
- Dozens of 1998 journals at Trailplace - NOTE: Site Closed Down as of January 12, 1999. (But reopened fairly soon thereafter.)
Shorter Term 1998 Hikes
- Frank Wihbey, editor of Maine Nature News has posted reports for his Nature observations made on section-hikes in New Hampshire. Here is his 1998 report and here is one from 1997.
- Frank David has a journal for his May Springer to Hogpen Gap hike.
1997 A.T. Thru Hikes
- Arthur Gaudet hiked as RockDancer.
- Solophile hiked with her dog, Micah.
- Rachel DuBois' Appalachian Trail Journey is scheduled to start in March '97. Here's a link to her journal entry page.
- Bob Seiler is out hiking while his wife, Jan, is holding down the fort and posting his hiking journal.
- Sunny Whitedog took his human along on his 1997 thruhike.
- Kurt Kirsch's AT pictures.
- Megan A.K.A. Pedro began on June 15.
- David Covin is planning to thru-hike starting in early April '97 using a wearable computer, and is hoping to maintain his webpage as he walks north. (He's begun putting up a journal as of about 4-23.)
- Screamin' Knee's AT adventure.. [Page Gone]
- Waldo is back on the trail again now, hoping to complete the hike he started last year. He had problems with "things" breaking last year which prevented him from finishing then... Things = computers, modems and body parts. :-)
- Deanna McKusker is maintaining a page for her brother, Jeff, who started his hike on May 6 (after hiking the PCT last year.)
- The Rhymin' Worm has an ongoing ballad about his '97 hike.
- Sean Hurley a.k.a. Buck Rose is scheduled to start his northward trek on April 20. [Page Gone]
- Rob Cleveland and his friend Neal are planning to start out on February 1. They were recently recruited by 3rd grade and 5th grade classes in Milledgeville, GA & Greensboro, NC, respectively. The teachers were planning an Appalachian Trail lesson for this semester, and are sponsoring them. Update: They finished July 15.
- Clay Adams and Scott Molinari are planning a '97 Thru-hike to Raise Funds for Cancer Their first trip report was posted on March 15.
- A link to Jim and Steph's Excellent A.T. Adventure [Page Gone]
- Slackpack Tour of the AT
- John LaFleur has put up a page for his friend's son, Greg Smith, who started out March 16 and hopes to finish August 1.
- The Professor has a page for Mike (Snoop) Paton's hike. (File not found)
- Tim Messerich is planning to get going on March 15.
- 1997 Trail Journals from Wingfoot's Trailplace
1997 Shorter Term A.T. Hikes
- Andre Therriault planned a two month hike on the at. page includes databook info for southern states, as well os post office info for all the states.
- Milt Webb's Scrapbook of pictures of some 1997 thru-hikers.
- Ron and Linda Moak have a Summer '97 AT hike planned in honor of the 20th anniversary of their 1977 hike. [Frames] (See below.)
- Pete Fornof has a page and pics of his April hike.
- Marv Welte's May trip from Springer 10 days north.
Non-A.T. 1997 Hikes
- Just discovered by chance a link for a Pilgrimage hike to Santiago de Campostella (Hope you can read Dutch!!)
- Actually...this is mostly a bike trip... Bill and Laurie Foot are setting off to cross America on the ADT. They'll be among the first to traverse the whole country using this newly delineated trail.
- On the left coast: Joy and Bob Turner are planning to hike the Pacific Crest Trail.
1995 and 1996 Hikes
- In February of '96, I received an email from someone who asked if I would be interested in posting an account of his and his wife's planned thru-hike. He was planning to take along a one pound Zaurus computer and could send reports from various towns along the way. I thought that sounded like a great idea, but secretly wondered if I would ever hear anything further. I most certainly did!!! Here, then is the Kushmans' page.
- The Through-Hiking Vikings have an online book about their 1996 hike.
- Some time in March '96 or so, I heard from Waldo Jacquith. He was planning to have his own webpage and would be carrying a laptop and cellphone with him on his hike so he could maintain the page directly from the trail. Things didn't exactly go according to plan, and he hasn't yet finished the trail...but he's got some wonderful journal entries.
- Also in the spring of '96, Pete Fornof began posting Gail Johnson's accounts of her ongoing thru-hike to the AT-L mailing list. Eventually, Gutsy's Journal was compiled into its own page and put online.
- In September 1997, I found Wired's Page about his 1995 and 1996 hikes.
- Kevin Hoffman has put up his Snail-No-More Photo Journal of his '96 hike.
- Benjamin Reese has an A.T. Yearbook for 1996.
- Bud and Vicki Hogan have put up a page for their 1996 hike from Amacalola Falls to Damascus.
- In 1995, the Raleigh News and Observer put up a website entitled "An Appalachian Adventure". Reporters and photographers from several different newspapers did a sort of relay thru-hike of the trail, uploading reports at various points along the way when they would be met by support staff with laptops and a ride to a local motel.
- Also in '95, there was a "Tag-Team" AOL relay hike of the A.T. However, those not on AOL heard little about it.
- Julius Daniels aka Kickatree attempted his hike in 1996. He had a short but wonderful time considering he had never backpacked before.
- Mark Holmes has a page about his and his wife's 1995 hike. It includes a page for links to pages of fellow hikers, many from the AT-L mailing list.
- The Professor has put up a photo journal of his '95 hike. It's chock full of shelters and bridges (as of 1-26-27) with lots more to be added shortly. (Page seems to have disappeared. Please let me know if you find a new URL for his page.)
Earlier Accounts
- In early 1996, I received an email from Richard Kushman asking if I would be interested in receiving email reports from along the trail and putting them on the webpage. I believe The Kushmans' hike was the first thru-hike effort to be posted online via email onto a webpage.
- Probably the first online A.T. account was that of Gerry Gladu (Moonshot)'s '93 thru-hike. As he hiked northward, he sent postcards to friends who then transcribed them and emailed them to Tim Dalton, who in turn sent them out to a mailing list of friends and also posted them to USENET.
- Rick Brannon is putting his 1974 hike online. [Page Gone]
- Brian Edge's journal and slide how of his hike through the 100 mile wilderness in Maine. (Page has disappeared. He may have moved to Jordan.)
- Rick Holt's 1973 Journal and Photos
- Linda and Ron Moak have done a monumental job of transcribing the journals of their 1977 Maine to Georgia hike, and putting up their page.
- Curtis Anderson has transcribed his 1981 hike.
- In late '97, George Cathcart put up a journal of his 1982 hike.
- Here is George Steffanos' "Then the Hail Came," about his 1983 thru-hike.
- And Gonzo (Alan Strackeljahn) is bringing you a hike from 20 years ago (1983) one day at a time.
- Chet Fromm hiked the trail in '87-'88. You can link from this page to his extensive backpacking page.
- In 1991, David Horton ran the AT and wrote about it in his book, "Quest for Adventure."
- The Happy Wanderers have a page about their 1992 southbound hike.
- Ed Crim has a journal for a month-long hike in 1994.
- Ken Forrester has a page of pictures from the Trail from the early 90's. [Page Gone]
Trail Journals from the ALDHA page.

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