Pennsylvania Hiker Heading North Again

The Morning Call newspaper from Allentown, PA has an article by Tim Blangger in its 27 July 2007 issue about thru-hiker Stacy Gery titled "Her hike of a lifetime; Area teacher takes on the twists and turns of the entire Appalachian Trail."

Stacy "Snack Break" Gery had taught Spanish at 2 schools in northeastern Pennsylvania for 7 years, but decided last year to make a change and move to Colorado. Hiking the Trail is a kind of bridge activity for her. The article focuses on Gery getting back on the Trail at Port Clinton after a voluntary 4 week break. The writer says "she took several weeks off -- not an unusual move for AT thru-hikers -- to recharge her batteries." (Pretty much everybody takes some zero days, sure, but 4 weeks "not an unusual move"? ... I don't know about that.)

While the article, of course, mentions trail names and mail drops and hiker food obsessions, it also makes a nice point about the trail community. Gery was apparently faster than some of the folks she started with and happened to meet up with a northbound hiker she knew when she and the reporter got to Port Clinton. And the two of them struck up a conversation about other hikers they both know."'This is what I mean about community,' Gery says to a visitor. 'We're talking about hikers who are 500 miles away.'"

Gery started at Springer "in early March," got off the Trail at Port Clinton "in late May," and got back on "in early July." Next stop: Katahdin.