Meet Gene Espy

Join Gene as he shares his stories of adventure in The Trail of My Life: The Gene Espy Story.

The highlight of all his adventures was his 1951 Georgia to Maine solo hike of the entire Appalachian Trail which made him the second thru-hiker. Gene is a pioneer among the currently 10,000 hikers of the entire trail, encountering much more solitude, wilderness, and difficulties in his hike than today’s hikers.

“My mother was the worrying kind,’’ said Espy. “So I did not tell my parents I planned to hike the entire trail.’’

He started a month after his 24th birthday. He carried a 45-pound backpack and a walking stick he had carved as a 12-year-old Boy Scout.

By the second day, his load was considerably lighter. The young scout who began the hike with him literally took a hike. He quit and returned home.

Espy opened his journey at Mount Oglethorpe in north Georgia and didn’t stop until he had reached the northern terminus at Mount Katahdin, Maine. He averaged 16.5 miles each day, traveling as many as 34 miles in one stretch.

At the finish line, he sported a 123-day-old beard, had lost 28 pounds, worn out three pairs of hiking boots and killed 15 rattlesnakes. There were times when he went an entire week without seeing another person on the trail. (Now, as many as 3 million people hike on parts of the trail each year.)

Gene will be available both prior to his talk and afterwards to sign his book, " The Trail of My Life ".   Copies of the book will also be for sale at his table.

His book is not all about his adventure on the AT, and certainly not an AT Trail Journal, but its full of stories about his life.  You'll enjoy listening to his stories... and the book is full of them.

Be sure to take a moment to speak to Gene's wife,  Ms Eugenia and his daughter Jane Gilsinger, if she comes.

TBA