Hiker Heather

I just recently started working at the orchard next to my house. I went down there towards the end of the summer and this is pretty much how the conversation went:

“Are you hiring?”

“Yes! You are a Godsend”

“Great, I’m really strong and I love being outside” (with the intention that I was going to be an orchard hand)

“We need someone for the stand”

“I can do that too!”

I’ve been working there ever since. So of course I was asked what my plans were for after graduation and I said that I was going to hike the AT. “Alone?!” has been everyone’s first question, to which I respond that I know I am hiking it and whoever would like to can join. “You should bring a gun” is the first piece of advice they give, and “You are brave, I could never do anything like that” is usually the closing statement. One of my fellow employees told me that he had a Hiking the AT Guide book that he was going to scrounge up and let me borrow, which has been a great resource in between customers and during lulls. So the next thing I find out is that, Heather, a woman who previously worked at the orchard hiked the AT when she was in college, completed it in 4 ½ months and did it alone. I need to meet this girl! I thought. This woman had become my new idol.

So long story short, a few weeks back a customer came to the counter holding two of our work T-shirts and asked if Tracy was around. And this is how this conversation went down:

“Did you used to work here?”

“Yes.”

“Is your name Heather?”

“Yes.”

 “You hiked the Appalachian Trail!”

“Yes!”

 “OMG! I’m planning on hiking the Appalachian Trail! I took down your number, I want to get together with you at some point so that I can pick your brain about your trip!”

I wanted to press her for more questions but customers were starting to pile up and looked impatient. What they did not realize was that any celebrity could have walked through the door and I would not have been as excited to see them as I was to see Heather, a woman who hiked over 2000 miles from Georgia to Maine and then hitch-hiked cross country all by herself.

We are meeting Monday and I cannot wait! I have begun compiling a list of questions:

What was it like being a woman on the trail? (How did you deal with “code red” A.K.A cramps, tampons, and mood swings?)

Did you feel safe hiking alone?

How did you prepare meals?

What did your gear consist of?