Hiking the Appalachian Trail

How a retired photojournalist is making his way, slowly but surely, along the whole trail

By Gary Miller, WSJ
Dec. 8, 2013 4:32 p.m. ET

In the Oct. 28 issue of Encore, we profiled Gary Miller, a retired photojournalist who is hiking the 2,200-mile-long Appalachian Trail. That piece drew a number of reader emails and questions. So we asked Mr. Miller to elaborate on his experiences—and how others can tackle (as most hikers call it) the A.T.

On March 30, my 65th birthday, I began hiking the Appalachian Trail at Springer Mountain, Ga. My purpose was to reinvigorate my life. (I had let my goals atrophy to working, eating and watching television.) Each day on the trail, though, has its own, smaller purpose: to hike (depending on your abilities) 10 to 20 miles safely and comfortably while enjoying one of the richest and most diverse natural environments on earth.

Here's how to do that—and why walking the A.T. is actually two journeys in one.

Getting Ready

Each year, thousands of individuals set out to walk from Georgia to Maine (or the reverse). Some, known as "thru-hikers," stride from end to end in as little as five months. But most people, especially those age 50-plus, are "section hikers" and break the journey into more manageable chunks: two weeks here, a month there. As the saying goes: It is about the smiles, not the miles.

(More here.)