Meet…
Adam Newhouser, a 26-year-old hiker who has covered a lot of ground.
Why he’s interesting…
Thirty-mile-days don’t daunt Newhouser anymore.
At 26, Newhouser has already hiked the Appalachian Trail, south to north, in its entirety. As an experienced “thru-hiker,” he’s grown used to the outdoors.
“A thru-hiker is someone who attempts to hike the entire trail in one go,” Newhouser said. “Thousands start out every year. Only about one in four make it.”
The Appalachian Trail spans from Springer Mountain, Georgia up to Mount Katahdin in Maine, bringing the total distance to around 2,200 miles. It can take thru-hikers anywhere from five to eight months to complete the hike.
“I’m sure it sounds daunting to those who aren’t used to the idea,” Newhouser said. “But when you’re out there you never think ‘okay, only 2,000 more miles to go.’ You set daily goals for yourself, like covering 20 miles in one day.”
Newhouser is in his second year studying alternative energy solutions at Sinclair Community College. He said the time off he took to complete his thru-hikes has helped him realize what he wanted to do for a living.
“I went to college right after high school like you’re supposed to,” he said. “But back then I had no idea what I wanted to do. The idea of racking up debt didn’t really appeal to me and I couldn’t afford to do any major traveling. It was around then I started reading about the Appalachian Trail.”
In 2007, after a winter of working and saving, Newhouser withdrew from school and embarked on the first long distance hike of his life.
“My first time out, I got a pretty hard slap in the face,” he said. “I realized pretty quickly that there was a lot I didn’t know. I was pretty miserable for the first few weeks.”
Within a week of being on the trail, Newhouser had dealt with torrential rainstorms, a busted shoelace, mice, a black bear and a broken water filter.
“It was like some unseen force was trying to get me to quit before I had even hiked 100 miles,” he said. “I just kept reminding myself that I had to do this. I had quit school and quit my job — if I just gave up and went home, there wouldn’t be anything waiting for me.”
After making it nearly 75 miles through Georgia, Newhouser recalls when his outlook turned around.
“It was when I got my trail name,” he said.
Many thru-hikers on the Appalachian Trail join in the tradition of picking a “trail name” for themselves. Basically a nickname, trail names are used among hikers to sign trail logs.
“My trail name was Bear Pack, which was given to me by fellow thru-hikers after they witnessed a small black bear come to our camp, snatch my bag and scurry off with it,” Newhouser said. “I remember thinking ‘that’s my whole life in there.’ So I ran after it screaming and waving my hiking poles. I did everything you’re not supposed to do. But it worked, the bear dropped my bag and I got it back. I figured nothing could scare me after that. Not on the trail, not even in life.”