Submitted by Terrie Lynne.
When local man, Bill Hevrin (HKHS ’01), goes for a walk, he really goes for a walk.
In 2014 Bill thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail (AT) from Georgia to Maine. In 2017 he thru-hiked the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) from Mexico to Canada. And in 2019, he thru-hiked the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) from Mexico to Canada. A thru-hiker is one who hikes the entire trail from beginning to end in one calendar year. The completion of all three trails is know as the Triple Crown. In accomplishing the Triple Crown, the hiker will have walked approximately 7,900 miles. This is quite a feat. As few as approximately 400 (as of 2018) have ever been able to complete all three.
On Bill’s journey to the Triple Crown, there were the expected hardships…blisters, injuries, shin splints, exhaustion, hunger, thirst, exposure to some pretty harsh conditions and terrain just to mention a few. Elevation changes, humidity, rain and rugged terrain on the AT made it tough going at times. The high amounts of snow melt from a particularly snowy winter made small streams into fast moving white water on the PCT. High heat in the south and deep snow and blizzard conditions in Colorado created challenges on the CDT.
Bill began his first long distance hike (the AT) on Springer Mountain in Georgia at the beginning of April in 2014. While in the Smoky Mountains he walked out onto the Balds (a range of mountains) on the Tennessee/North Carolina border. Also in North Carolina, two fellow hikers gave him tickets to a guided water rafting excursion. They didn’t think that they would be able to make it there in time. Bill would have to hike all day to Max Patch, North Carolina then all night in order to make it to the location in time to join the group scheduled for the water rafting excursion. He did it and said that it was well worth the effort! In Virginia, he hiked out onto McAfee Knob, the most photographed spot on the trail. Further north in Virginia he stopped at Priest Mountain shelter. Here hikers could “confess to the priest.” It’s one of the rites of passage, if you will, that most AT hikers are aware of. At most shelters along the trail, there can be found a journal in which hikers write whatever they want to about their AT experiences or pass along information to hikers traveling behind them. I’ll bet the “confess to the priest” journal would make for some very interesting reading.
All three trails (the AT, the PCT and the CDT) have events known as “Trail Days.” The AT Trail Days event takes place in Damascus, Virginia and is the largest trail hiker gathering in the world! Hikers set up their tents, trade stories, meet up with other hikers they know from various hikes, meet like-minded travelers, eat, drink and generally enjoy a few days off the trail…a much needed respite.
Pennsylvania was rough in spots. The terrain was rocky, and that’s putting it mildly. There are traditional challenges for hikers on each trail. One such challenge on the AT in Pennsylvania, is known as The Pine Grove Half Gallon Challenge. At the mid-way point of the AT, hikers are challenged to consume an entire half gallon of ice cream in one seating. (Think I’d like that one!)
In New York State, during a severe thunderstorm, Bill witnessed a lightening strike that was absolutely too close for comfort. Hiking through all kinds of weather, he made it to the top of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. In Maine he trekked through the “100 mile wilderness,” an isolated section with nowhere to restock food and water.
As far as wildlife along the way, on the AT Bill encountered White Tailed deer, foxes, rabbits, bear, snakes of various types and one particularly curious grouse that followed him for a while. In one section where there were switch-backs to get up a steep mountainside , Bill encountered a bear. As he zigzagged his way up, the bear, who was going straight up, and he would cross each other at intervals. Yikes!
Finally, on a warm, sunny day at the end of August (coincidentally Bill’s birthday) after having walked approximately 2,185 miles, he made it to the summit of Mt. Katahdin in Maine, the northern terminus of the AT.
Bill’s next hike, the PCT from Mexico to Canada, began in late April of 2017. The landscape was vastly different from the AT. There were times when the temperatures would soar over 100 degrees. Those were the times when hikers would find shade, which was not always easy in the desert, and hunker down to wait for the cooler part of the day to travel on. Water sources were not always the best. Sometimes the water from water supply areas was muddy and unhealthy looking. That’s when hikers would carry large quantities of water and travel to better, safer water sources. Sometimes, good Samaritans, known as Trail Angels, would stock water jugs for the hikers near areas where the trail would cross the public roads.
One trail tradition is the “24 in 24.” Twenty-four beers in twenty-four hours. Because beer, hiking and dehydration don’t make for a good time, Bill declined that challenge. At one hiker hostel known as Hiker Heaven in Agua Dulce, California, the hostel owner announced over the bullhorn early one morning “for those of you considering a 24 in 24, you better make it a 24 in 24 and add 24 hours because even though the hostel proprietor of Casa Deluna, approximately 24 miles away, is easy going, they don’t want to see you show up drunk. So if you take the challenge…add 24 hours and sober up before you get there. Make it a 24 in 24 in 24.”
The PCT had gentler grade changes than the AT. Overall, Bill said it was an easier trail to hike. There are some exceptions, however. One area near the Palm Desert in California was comprised of twenty miles of switchbacks. Twenty miles of zigzagging to descend Mt. San Jacinto!
In the Sierra Nevada mountains in California, Bill encountered snow. At one point he had to ration his food supplies because the going was slower than expected due to deep snow. As that year’s higher than normal snow accumulations began to melt, the streams and small rivers rose and coursed with rushing, cold water. Fording them was sometimes dangerous. A few hikers were swept downstream while attempting to cross.
In Northern California and the Pacific Northwest that year there were wildfires. From Bill’s camping location one night, he could see the glow of the fires and smell the smoke.
On August 21st that year, there was a total eclipse of the sun that many hikers were able to observe near Mt. Jefferson in the state of Oregon.
When Bill reached Washington State his sister, Jennifer, joined him for a few days of hiking. About half way between Snoqualmie Pass and Stevens Pass, Bill and Jen came across a seventy year old hiker who was experiencing health problems and difficulty breathing. At this point on the trail there was no cell service. Bill climbed to higher ground to get service and called for rescue while Jen stayed with the ill man. For the emergency personnel, it was a twelve mile trek to the area where the sick hiker was. There was heavy smoke from the wildfires in Washington that year too; therefore, helicopters couldn’t be dispatched. The rescuers arrived on horseback. The man who needed medical attention was a Trail Angel who in California had helped Bill get to a town to resupply. (Cue the Twilight Zone music.) I don’t think that it was a coincidence that Bill was there to help a fellow hiker in need.
Trail Angels, like the hiker in distress mentioned above, are dedicated former hikers, nature enthusiasts, local residents and just good, caring people who help hikers along their journey. Trail Angels clear trails, shuttle hikers to trail heads and from the trail to town so hikers can restock. Trail Angels also leave food and water (known as Trail Magic) at various places along the trail. Some Angels provide lodging for weary hikers…as well as laundry facilities, actual beds and SHOWERS!
Lizards, rattlesnakes, mule deer and marmots were among some of the wildlife Bill saw on the PCT. The scenery was so different…from desert floors to snowy mountain tops. In one single day near Independence, California Bill hiked down a mountain pass from 11,000 feet in elevation to 4000 feet.
In August, when Bill reached the northern terminus of the PCT, at the Canadian border, Bill had walked approximately 2,650 miles.
Bill completed his third hike, the CDT, this past September 2019. He’d been gone from late April to late September.
Bill started this hike from Crazy Cook, New Mexico, the southern terminus of the CDT at the Mexican border in the Chihuahuan desert. This trail is not as well marked as the AT and the PCT trails partly due to the fact that it is not as popular and is less complete than the other two trails. In some areas hikers follow the footprints of previous hikers. Having a navigational device is vital. Sometimes Bill had to check his location every fifteen minutes, especially in the southern desert and in areas of deep snow in Colorado.
One time Bill, who was traveling alone at this point, became disoriented on Craggy Mountain peak in a snow storm. He’d been following footprints…there were so many in this one area. It looked well traveled. So naturally he thought he was on the right track. After a while of hiking, he realized something was wrong. He was off course. He then realized that the high amount of footprints he had seen a while back must have been hikers going up and then back-tracking and retracing their steps trying to get back on the trail. Since he had gone so far, he couldn’t turn back. He climbed over a steep ridge line to reconnect with the trail. He had to go up…in the snow, hand over hand. There was risk of
avalanche.
The CDT hosts probably the most (what we might perhaps call) “Wild West” lifestyle. Without fences, cattle free-range graze on leased land. Cattle drives still occur. Some cow-boys and girls still ride on horseback. Cows, horses, deer, antelope, etc. all graze on the same land. Bill said, if you are still and stare out across the Plains, you will see movement. At times it all seems to be moving…all those horses, cattle and antelope…all mingled, grazing together.
In Wyoming, Bill encountered herds of wild horses circling him from a distance…curious about this hiker. In Wyoming and Colorado he saw abandoned prospectors’ mines and hiked through deserted ghost towns. In South Pass City, Wyoming, the ghost town buildings are maintained to preserve this part of the history of the west.
In Montana, a trail angel let Bill and another hiker stay at his family’s home for a night. On the property there was a man-made canal that was originally intended for irrigation. It was a hot, sunny day so…with inner-tubes, the hikers jumped in and enjoyed a lazy, early evening float along the canal.
Some of the wildlife to be seen on the CDT include Picas, Marmots, various snakes (some poisonous), elk, antelope, cattle, buffalo, sheep and horses. Bill saw a large grizzly bear at a distance and a grizzly cub scurry up a tree.
In Montana, Bill saw sheep grazing. On further observation, he also saw a very protective sheep dog that rushed him trying to intimidate him. It worked. Best to leave the sheep dog to his work.
Bill saw several hikers he recognized and some he had hiked with on the AT. On the CDT, Bill hiked the second half of the trail with a fellow hiker he knew from the PCT. Sometimes it’s funny how our lives cross.
There are a few “colorful” individuals on the trail too. One such individual was a con-man Bill met in Pie Town, New Mexico. This man was known to try to get money out of hikers and local residents by preying on their kind-hearted nature. He claimed that he was ill, dying of cancer, and this hike was on his bucket list. There is a “grapevine” of information that travels up and down the trail between hikers and local communities. So fortunately, hikers who had encountered this man previously, warned new hikers to beware and not be taken in by him. It was also rumored that this guy had kidnapped a woman hiker who was, thankfully, able to escape and survive. The con-man was taken into custody, but was eventually released. He was known to be a stalker with a violent and criminal history. Finally, a sheriff from Pie Town escorted the con-man to the border of Arizona and told him not to come back.
Trail hikers look out for one another. There is truly a close knit camaraderie between them that non-hikers cannot fully understand. This experience is unique only to a fellow hiker. There is an unspoken understanding…and an acquired knowledge of what a challenge a journey like this is, a knowledge of the sacrifices it takes to commit and follow through with an endeavor like this and a knowledge of how each hiker individually is changed forever. It’s humbling. It breeds a deeper understanding of self. It teaches just how little in the way of material things are needed to enjoy what is all around us. In this country of so many different lifestyles, cultures, traditions and people, there is a vast diversity of landscapes and climates from one shore to the other that is just waiting for us to protect and enjoy. We could spend a lifetime exploring this country and still not have the time to see it all.
Talk about living in the moment…
Anyone feel like going for a walk?
Photos provided by Bill Hevrin.
