When Vanderloop set out to thru-hike the AT, she had no idea she was on her way to becoming the oldest woman on record to complete the feat.

From showering less to sleeping on the floor, thru-hikers confess to the unusual habits they brought home from the trail.

Kindly trail angels often provide free food for thru-hikers. Who’s allowed to indulge?

For a handful of lucky students in Emory and Henry College's Semester-a-Trail program, the Appalachian Trail is the ultimate teacher.

At 6,800 miles counting both its northern and southern branches, the coast-to-coast American Discovery Trail is one of the longest paths in the United States, and thru-hikes of it are rare. With less than 50 miles to go, Briana “Rocky Mountain High” DeSanctis is poised to become the fourth person—and first woman—to complete both routes.

In 2023, Sam “Shade” Carter tried to hike the Calendar Year Triple Crown with a $19 Amazon daypack, an emergency bivvy, and no tent, sleeping bag, or sleeping pad. Is that too ultralight?

Billy "Wahoo" Meredith had one thru-hike and exactly zero FKTs under his belt when he decided to try to finish the Appalachian, Pacific Crest, and Continental Divide Trails in record time. The next 234 days and 7,500 miles would test him in more ways than one.

Doyle set a speed record on the AT 50 years ago, long before YouTubers and partying twentysomethings had flooded the iconic trail. Through his Appalachian Trail Institute, which he’s run since 1989, he’s still trying to convert a new generation of thru-hikers to his personal philosophy of what the trail should be.

Kristian Morgan set a new southbound FKT on the Appalachian Trail, but he’s not done yet

For most AT thru-hikers, Katahdin is the finish line. For Will French, it was the halfway point on a 25-year, 4,320-mile journey along the prehistoric spine of the Appalachians.

A deep snowpack in the Sierra disrupted normal trail dynamics for groups of hikers, but flip-floppers are reuniting as their paths converge.

Chips, candy bars, ramen bombs: A lot of what thru-hikers eat on the trail is far from good for you. But some nutrition-minded backpackers are trying to buck the trend.

“The world and how it interacts with me changed the day I came out as trans”

Patricia Cameron set out to hike the 486-mile Colorado Trail to raise awareness for her nonprofit. She ended up finding out even more about her personal strengths.

What does hiking 800 miles in less than two weeks do to your body? Ultrarunner and FKT holder Joe McConaughy hit the Arizona Trail to find out.

Thomas has thru-hiked more than 20 long trails, including the Pacific Crest, Continental Divide and Appalachian Trails (the Triple Crown). On top of that, she set a fastest known time on the AT for an unsupported woman and has completed dozens of urban thru-hikes as well. Now, she's joining Backpacker as a contributing editor. Here’s some of Thomas’s best advice and insight fed by more than 20,000 trail miles.

Nearly a year into the Covid-19 pandemic, many of us are ready to say goodbye to stay-at-home orders, shoulder our packs, and head out on a multi-month hiking adventure. But with transmission rates still high and vaccination efforts stretching into late summer, should we hold off?

Getting back to "real life" after a long hike can be rough. But if you feel low after coming home, you're not alone.

Has the AT’s party culture gone too far? Bill Donahue joins the trail’s biggest blowout to find out.