Événement

Penn Chair Travel Series ~ Applachian Trail

With the best-selling books Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail (2012) and A Walk in the Woods (1998) having their star-studded film adaptations released during the last few years, long-distance walks have gained even more popular attention than ever before.

But beyond these popular and, perhaps, comfortable representation of the long walk, what does it actually mean to travel on foot for months at a time? What about the logistics food, water, shelter, safety? What physical and mental challenges can you expect to encounter along the way?

Kevin S. Fox, a cultural geographer from Connecticut and director of The Geographical Imaginations Expedition & Institute, walked the classic American footpath, the Appalachian Trail (AT), 3,500 kilometers end-to-end in 2013. Starting in June in Maine and arriving 5 months later in northern Georgia, he documented what he calls his Great American Pilgrimage, capturing in word and image American cultural landscapes found off the beaten path. Journey step-by-step with this thru-hiker and get to know the how-to basics of hiking the AT, witness this other side of America through photographs and get a taste of an America experienced 3 miles per hour.