Eugene Espy, the Second-Ever Person to Hike the Appalachian Trail, Has Died

The AT was rugged and sparsely traveled when Espy hiked it in 1951.

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A marker along the Appalachian Trail (Photo: Marcia Straub / Moment via Getty)

On August 22, Eugene “Gene” Espy, well-known as the second person to hike the entire Appalachian Trail from end-to-end in 1951, passed away at the age of 97.

About a year ago, Espy took a few symbolic steps under the Amicalola Falls arch – the unofficial start of the trail for many hikers, to mark the 73rd anniversary of his trail completion. Born in Cordele, Georgia, Espy first learned about the Appalachian Trail from his 7th grade teacher. After spending a week on the trail just 14 years after its completion, he was hooked.

In his youth, he became the first Eagle Scout in his small Georgia town. Espy always had a penchant for adventure. He became the first Eagle Scout in his small Georgia town. At age 16, he completed a 760-mile cycling endurance challenge.

Before long, Espy requested maps from the National Park Service’s headquarters, which he used to take notes about the Appalachian Trail. He began his own thru-hike at the age of 24, when he took his first steps from Mount Oglethorpe in northern Georgia, then the southern terminus of the trail.

Instead of packing a stove, Espy survived his hike by living off of no-cook meals and mailing himself packages – a common strategy for today’s ultralight backpackers. Along the way, he lost 28 pounds, and wore out three pairs of boots.

At the time of Espy’s hike, the Appalachian Trail corridor was largely unoccupied, rugged wilderness with sparse trail markers and thick undergrowth. Espy often traveled for a week at a time without witnessing another human, scrambling over rocks and roots as he moved north. After 123 challenging days (a time that’s still considered fast amongst contemporary thru-hikers), Espy finished his thruhike at the northern terminus of the trail.

At least one trail historian believes that Espy may have actually been the first hiker to complete the entire Appalachian Trail route since Earl Shaffer may have bypassed about 170 miles of the official route at the time by taking country road alternatives. But Espy was never in it for notoriety.

“I had one goal — to see God in nature,” he said.

When he came home from the trail, Espy married his wife, Eugenia, and went on to have a fulfilling 71-year marriage. Eugenia Espy explained that her husband always had a restless soul. During their life together, he made his own water skis, built a sailboat, and explored many miles of caves throughout the southeastern US.

He also returned to the Appalachian Trail to section hike and chat with hikers near Amicalola Falls State Park – where most hikers begin their trek today. He made frequent appearances at festivals like Trail Days. And he was inducted into the Appalachian Trail Hall of fame in 2011, where a carved bust of him remains today.

Espy wrote about his Appalachian Trail experience in The Trail of My Life: The Gene Espy Story. He explained “When I reached the sign marking the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, I knelt down and said a prayer of thanks to God for watching over me and allowing me to make the hike. It had been one of the highlights of my life.”