Senior meets challenge of Appalachian Trail

Senior Blair Lamb (left) and her 24-year-old brother, Trevor, reached Katahdin, Maine, in August,completing their 2,175-mile hike of the Appalachian Trail, which runs through 14 states.

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4:36 p.m., Oct. 27, 2006--On Feb. 23, at Springer Mountain, Ga., UD senior Blair Lamb put one foot in front of the other and took a step onto the Appalachian Trail.

Then, she took 5 million more.

In August, Lamb reached Katahdin, Maine, to complete her hike of the trail that runs 2,175 miles through 14 states. Thanks to an early start from the path's southern tip, a relatively fast pace, painstaking preparation and a little luck, she became just the 33rd hiker in 2006 to report covering the entire length of the trail.

“There were times when I got discouraged and tired, but I knew in my heart from the very beginning that--short of some kind of emergency like a broken limb--I wasn't going to give up,” Lamb said. “The whole experience was awesome, intense and really, really positive. I wouldn't have missed it for anything.”

A criminal justice major with her eye on law school in a couple of years, Lamb hiked the trail with her 24-year-old brother, Trevor. Both had plenty of outdoor experience and, she said, had spent the past four years planning to hike the trail when the time was right for both of them. In her first two years at UD, Lamb took extra credits during summer sessions specifically in order to take a one-semester leave of absence last spring, return to campus for her senior year and be able to graduate in May with her original class.

As their departure time approached, she and her brother prepared thoroughly, she said. She worked out with weights and on a treadmill to get in good physical shape, and she pored over books and online guides to hiking the trail.

Lamb prepared a tentative week-by-week itinerary for the five to six months of the hike and made a detailed list of points along the way in which the trail passes near towns, where hikers can easily take a detour to buy supplies, stock up on food, phone home and, perhaps, even enjoy the luxury of a restaurant meal or a hot shower. She and her brother also packed six boxes of food and left them with their parents in Princeton, N.J., to mail to post offices along the route that will accept parcels marked, “General Delivery. Hold for hiker.”

Despite the meticulous planning, Lamb said, “We blew our itinerary almost immediately” by starting off at a faster pace than they had anticipated. Still, she said, they knew it was better to be ahead of schedule than behind. They adjusted their expectations accordingly and tried not to be overly concerned with each day's mileage, instead just chatting briefly each evening about what might be a reasonable goal for the next day.

“And, we had some 'zero days,' when we got off the trail and didn't make any forward progress,” she said. “You really need a break sometimes, and we had times when we stayed in a town and gorged ourselves on four or five sit-down meals in one day. We carried about five days' worth of supplies with us on the trail before we'd restock, and I found that I really got obsessed with food after awhile.”

Aside from food, water bottles, sleeping bags, a tarp and a first-aid kit, she said, “We traveled very light,” with only minimal spare clothing and no tent. She “demolished” two pairs of shoes, the second one held together with duct tape by the time she reached Katahdin.

Like other hikers, they often camped in the lean-tos and other rustic shelters that dot the trail. They also made use of a network of hostels in nearby towns and more makeshift accommodations offered by those who live near the trail, including farmers who offer hikers bunks in their barns and a hot breakfast for a minimal fee or some free labor in the morning.

Still, Lamb said, there were plenty of wet and cold or hot and buggy days and nights when neither hiking nor sleeping was comfortable. Her personal low point came one day in Hanover, N.H., when she recalls bursting into tears while on the phone with her mother.

“It was getting really hot, the terrain was getting really rough, and I was traveling with my brother and a few other big, strong guys we had met on the trail, and I was finding it hard to keep up with them,” she said. “My mom asked if I wanted to come home, and that's when I realized that no matter how exhausted I felt, there was no way I was going to quit.”

As luck would have it, she said, the very next day brought her best single experience of the five months: “We were in the White Mountains, about a mile above sea level, and it was so beautiful. The views were breathtaking, and I had such a completely peaceful feeling of being part of nature.”

Lamb said her parents, although worried about her and her brother's safety, were encouraging and supportive of their plans.

“They appreciate the value of learning outside the classroom, and they knew we'd learn a lot from the experience,” she said. “The closer we got to the end of the trail, the more I realized what we were accomplishing. It makes you strong to know that you can get through difficulties and do what you set out to do.”

After graduation, Lamb said she hopes to work with an outdoor education program for a time, sharing some of what she learned from hiking the trail, while also saving money for law school.

Although many hikers cover the Appalachian Trail in shorter sections over a period of years, Lamb said she feels lucky to have found time to make the trek without interruption. “And, I'm lucky to have such a cool brother,” she said. “I never could have done it without him.”

In fact, the two took only one break of longer than a day. About two-thirds of the way toward their goal, around Pennsylvania's Delaware Water Gap, they left the trail, rented a van and drove to a festival in Damascus, Va., to spend a few days relaxing and socializing.

The event was called “Trail Days”--a hiking festival.

Article by Ann Manser
Photos courtesy of Blair Lamb

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