Following the Appalachian Trail

As our home improvement projects wind down, we’ve been trying to get out and explore all that East Coast living has to offer.

Just twenty miles from our home, the Blue Ridge Parkway (a 469-mile National Scenic Byway) meets Shenandoah National Park’s 105-mile Skyline Drive. The Appalachian Trail roughly parallels both these drives, so day-hiking opportunities are endless. This was a huge selling point for us in deciding to settle in Staunton, Virginia.

A hike along the 3.5-mile Jack Albright Loop Trail (just off the Parkway) proved more successful for us. We packed a lunch, picked up friends Cathy and Johan and headed up the trail.

While we have no intention of thru-hiking the entire 2,198-mile Appalachian Trail, we do love adding tiny segments of it (very tiny segments) to our list of accomplishments. And we love hearing about the adventures other hikers have had on the trail nicknamed the “Green Tunnel.”

That is how we found ourselves in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania a couple weeks ago, surrounded by Appalachian Trail hikers who gathered at Gettysburg College for the annual 3-day Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association gathering.

We had been at a local street fair event last spring when Reg stopped by the association’s publicity booth to chat. As he learned about their October meetup, he realized that the scheduled keynote speaker was J.R. Harris, the adventure author that Reg has long admired and also corresponded with several times over the years. The opportunity was too good to pass up.

Reg and I had the opportunity to sell his books on Saturday which was a lot of fun. We met so many people and heard so many stories. Saturday night we heard several speakers, including J.R. Reg was asked to do a Sunday presentation about the John Muir Trail and spoke to a group of interested hikers.

The event was a success and I think everyone involved had a good time. I know we did. If you’d like to read a little more about J.R. Harris and Reg’s thoughts about the weekend, click the link below.

Adventure Reigns at the Appalachian Trail Gathering