The Chronicles of Hiker Trash in the Appalachia Mountains - the stories of those embodied by greatness
The Chronicles of Hiker Trash in the Appalachia Mountains
the stories of those embodied by greatness
“Hey look it’s yardsale!!” hikers would yell.
This is what you would hear if you were hiking up the Appalachian Trail with Ashley Manning, 26, otherwise known as, Yardsale. She made herself known in the outdoor community by having influenced others who might have felt that they did not belong for some reason or another.
She’s famous out there and everyone loves her presence. Her humor is uncontainable and makes every single person around her laugh uncontrollably.
She completely shattered every expectation of “the perfect thru-hiker”. Manning started out on the trail with a longtime friend of hers but after the first couple of weeks they decided to split apart and hike solo due to conflicting physical strengths that they each possessed. Soon after breaking apart from her hiking partner, she found her trail family.
It was a group of 6 dirty hikers that found themselves connected to one another and decided to face the rest of the trail together. Although they all pursed the same task, thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail, each one had a different motive. Their reasons of spending 6 months of their lives sleeping, eating and walking through the woods were extremely different but their journeys all involved one another.
Her wild love radiates through the forest and into the hearts of everyone she meets. She once told me,
“The moment I stopped saying no to the trail and letting it take over is moment in which everything started to fall into place. I started saying yes to things I normally would’ve said no to and that made all the difference.” Manning said.
For manning, self-love and confidence flowed heavy through her bloodstream. It rolled off of her onto the feet of the hikers’ around her. The fullness of her mental strength carried her through many challenges throughout each day. The trail was a monster, but she was a beast. She pushed herself beyond her wildest limits. Her travels gave her stories and scars to share.
This is Mountain Cat. She just recently graduated with her BSN and left the day after graduation for a 6 month journey to thru-hike the AT. Her heart couldn’t take anymore of the day to day shuffle of the real world. She needed serenity and healing, only one could receive from the woods. Mountain Cat has a gypsy soul and a wandering heart that won’t stop adventuring, even when she reaches Katahdin. I think of a quote written by John Muir, when I think of her...
“I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.”
She let the trail consume her every move and now she’s benefiting because of it. Keep on, keeping on Mountain girl.
This is Cobra Ky. He’s a Florida boy with a wandering soul. A thru-hiker at it’s finest. The Grand Canyon is next up on the list and I plan on joining in on that adventure! His encouraging words, keeps everyone trekking along with good spirits. Katahdin is in the near future, brother.
LESLIE KNOPE is a women with so much life and fierce passion for her dreams, there’s absolutely no way she’ll ever give up on herself. She a big fan of celebratory brewskis after a long day of hiking. Knope is an occupational therapist in her life outside of the trail. She was doing that through a travel company when she decided to just give it up for the next 6 months and walk from Georgia to Maine. She had only ever been on one, 3 day, backpacking trip before this journey. She is out there setting PR’s for herself and killing the miles while still soaking in every ounce of trail experience that she can. YOU GO GIRL!!! Katahdin is waiting on you!!!!
Hey yo this is Sparky!!! Sometimes called Sparkles and or Starky. He is only referred by Sparkles when he’s being kind. & no one wants to meet Starky. This is dude is 18. JUST 18!!! He’s still a youngin’. Sparky is thru-hiking the AT at just 18 years old. Completely on his own, besides the trail fam that he met while hiking. He graduated from high school when he was 14 years old. Yeah I know, WHAT...
The talents and intelligence that this guy has is mind blowing. He’s a very entertaining man. Everyone takes this journey for different reasons and each reason is important. Although, Sparky’s story really hit home to me personally. Less than a year ago he experienced something that most others have not.
He had a tragic accident while on the job and was electrocuted by 250,000 volts from an industrial power line and fell 15 feet onto a sidewalk. He woke up 3 days later in the hospital.
This is why Sparky hikes. When he told me about his near death experience, I couldn’t help but think that this is a huge reason why I was supposed to go on this weekend trip and meet these random thru-hikers to document their story. I, too, had a near death experience about 4 years ago. Finding someone who is one in the same is absolutely crazy to me. Our paths aligned for a specific reason, and that was it. Both Sparky and I still struggle with some mental challenges from our accidents, but we will NEVER let that stop us from living our dream.
I am so beyond grateful to have gotten to know each and everyone in “my” trail family. Everyone is so different, but we are the same. Sparky man, keep climbing that ladder of success. You’ll get there (probably even before everyone else, if it’s like high school). Also, keep it up with the dope bear hangs and stunning photos. I’m counting on some cool pictures of Katahdin.
This right here is Paul Bunyan. Can you guess why..? Of course you can, if you live in America! You’ve heard the tall tales about Paul Bunyan, the lumberjack with superhuman strength. American folklore is so present on the AT. Everyone is so creative and full of hidden talents. Bunyan is a hero to the trail fam. He pushes you along trail and strives to get you to do your best at any given point. He’s encouraging and uplifting to those around him and truly loves his food and PBR’s. He is a vital part of the family just as everyone is. He is 100% the dad of the group but hey, every fam needs a dad... right? I just have one thing left to say...
PROST Y’ALL!!!
