{"id":14915,"date":"2016-10-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-19T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=14915"},"modified":"2025-11-21T08:44:53","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T16:44:53","slug":"pair-boots-thru-hiked-appalachian-trail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/hike\/pair-boots-thru-hiked-appalachian-trail","title":{"rendered":"How a Pair of Boots Thru-Hiked the Appalachian Trail"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When Paul, an outdoors enthusiast who dreamed of thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail, passed away at age 53 before he could complete it, his wife, M’Lynn, reached out to the outdoor creative company Duct Tape Than Beer<\/a>. Paul spent years caring for his mother, who suffered from Parkinson\u2019s, and father when he developed <\/span>Alzheimer’s disease. Then, a series of heart attacks prevented Paul from walking the trail himself. So after he died, M’Lynn wanted to find other hikers willing to carry his boots from Georgia to Maine in his honor. “It was a simple, heartfelt request, and one we knew we could help with,” says Becca Cahall, team director and owner of Duct Tape Than Beer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We partnered with the staff to help document the project (which became a 37-minute video, viewable above). They asked the hiking community if anyone would be willing to carry Paul’s boots for a portion of the trail. The response was overwhelming: A whopping 400 hikers volunteered, and the crew at Duct Tape Than Beer sat down with a giant spreadsheet to map out logistics. With each hiker, came a story. “We asked people to tell us about themselves, and they opened up because they were so moved by [M’Lynn’s] story,” says Cahall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They chose 17 groups of hikers, which came down to roughly 40 in total. Ages ranged from 8 to 70 and skill level varied, too. Cahall says they chose some volunteers who were headed out on their first backpacking trip and others who, like Paul, were avid hikers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Parker, a sixth grade teacher in Boulder, Colorado, was one of the chosen volunteers. After losing two of his brothers to sudden cardiac death, Parker decided to strive to create memories he felt were worthy of them. “When the call to action for Paul’s Boots went out last [winter], I felt like I had been kicked in the gut,” Parker, a long-time listener of Duct Tape Than Beer’s podcast, the Dirtbag Diaries,<\/em> tells REI. <\/em>“Paul’s story and the theme of dreams left unfulfilled resonated so strongly with me.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parker used his summer vacation to carry Paul’s four-pound boots through Vermont, completing the entire 150-mile stretch from North Adams, Massachusetts, to Hanover, New Hampshire. He chose the stretch because he’d lived in the area for 10 years during and after college, and Vermont was where he really discovered mountains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It can be easy to get bogged down in the pettiness and small discomforts of our everyday lives and lose sight of our dreams, says Parker. “What’s important, though, is to focus on the things that bring us joy, get us stoked, and energize us. Once we can do that, we can then spread that energy to those around us. It’s never too early or too late to live the life you’ve been dreaming of.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Cahall, the takeaway from this project is that we can all help each other achieve one anothers\u2019 dreams with a simple ask. \u201cSometimes we\u2019re resistant\u00a0to ask for help,\u201d she says, \u201cbut when we do, that can build connections within the community around us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although future plans for Paul\u2019s boots aren\u2019t in place yet, many hikers have reached out, hoping to take them on another AT trip. Others want to organize a similar project on the Pacific Crest Trail. \u201cIt\u2019ll be interesting to see where they end up next season,\u201d says Cahall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more\u00a0about\u00a0the hikers\u00a0and Paul<\/a>\u2014and listen to\u00a0the Dirtbag Diaries\u2019 podcast episodes on Paul\u2019s Boots.<\/em><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Paul, an outdoors enthusiast who dreamed of thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail, passed away at age 53 before he could complete it, his wife, M’Lynn, reached out to the outdoor creative company Duct Tape Than Beer. Paul spent years caring for his mother, who suffered from Parkinson\u2019s, and father when he developed Alzheimer’s disease. Then, a series of heart attacks prevented Paul from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":14916,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[387],"tags":[469,1037,15,707,650],"internal-tag":[1397,1678],"class_list":["post-14915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hike","tag-appalachian-trail","tag-at","tag-backpacking","tag-hiking","tag-thru-hiking","internal-tag-apmigrate-hiking","internal-tag-pre-redirect-hiking"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/hike\/pair-boots-thru-hiked-appalachian-trail","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"How a Pair of Boots Thru-Hiked the Appalachian Trail","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/hike\/pair-boots-thru-hiked-appalachian-trail","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/hike\/pair-boots-thru-hiked-appalachian-trail"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/06\/Screen-Shot-2016-10-11-at-3.21.17-PM.png?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/06\/Screen-Shot-2016-10-11-at-3.21.17-PM.png?fit=1500%2C753"},"articleSection":"Hike","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Michelle Flandreau"}],"creator":["Michelle Flandreau"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":["appalachian trail","at","backpacking","hiking","thru-hiking"],"dateCreated":"2016-10-19T07:00:00Z","datePublished":"2016-10-19T07:00:00Z","dateModified":"2025-11-21T16:44:53Z"},"rendered":"