AT hiker completes thru-hike

A Lake Hamilton High School graduate completed the journey of a lifetime last month, thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail.

Whitney Clement, who began the trail on Springer Mountain in Georgia in May, summitted Mount Katahdin on Oct. 19.

"I still can't wrap my head around it," she said. After accomplishing a thru-hike on the AT, Clement said she feels like just about anything is within her reach.

"In a way it's kind of an honor to be able to do that," she said. "I realize I'm really fortunate to have been in a position in life to allow me to stay out there until I finished it."

She said she knew many people who could not complete the thru-hike because of finances, family or other problems. Clement said she was lucky to not have any student debt holding her back or have run into any problems that could have prevented her from completing the trail.

According to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy's website, the AT is 2,190 miles long and traverses 14 states through the Appalachian Mountains. The conservancy also states that most thru-hikers take between five and seven months to complete the trail.

Clement encountered one setback that slowed her down a little. She got giardia, an illness caused by drinking contaminated water.

"In August I got really sick," she said. "Getting the motivation to get up and hike every day was really hard."

She said the giardia made her nauseated, and caused her to not have an appetite. Because of her lack of appetite, she had low energy. She said the heat and insects also made it hard to be motivated to keep going.

"And I was by myself at the time," she said. "There was no one pushing me, I had to find the motivation from myself, and some days I really didn't want to be there."

Clement hiked about 700 miles, from Harpers Ferry, W.Va., to Hanover, N.H., by herself during that time.

"The mid-Atlantic section terrain-wise it was rather easy, but it was hard because I was by myself," she said.

"It was kind of boring being by myself every day."

The mid-Atlantic region was also going through a drought at the time she was there. "But fortunately there was a lot of trail magic, people leaving jugs of water by the road wherever the trail would cross the road. ... That helped immensely," she said.

"Once I got into Vermont things changed considerably," she said, noting it was more of an alpine environment. For once, there was water everywhere, she said.

The trees were also different, she said, with the fir trees giving the most fragrant beautiful smells.

When she got to Hanover, she met up with a group a friends she made on the trail, and later summited Katahdin with the group.

"I came out there not knowing anybody," she said, noting she is still close to the friends she made on the trail.

Adjusting back to normal life was a little bit of a challenge at first, she said.

"For the first few days, I felt like I had no purpose," she said. Her purpose on the trail had been to walk as far as she could every day and experience nature. When she returned home she said "I didn't really know what to do with myself because I wasn't expending all this energy."

Clement said she looks forward to her next adventure.

"A couple of days after I got home, I was on the computer researching where I was going to go next," she said.

"I was figuring out how much it would cost, and what I would have to do to save up to go.

"I do want to do the (Pacific Crest Trail), but not soon," she said, adding she might consider doing it in about five years. The PCT is another long-distance hike that begins on the Mexican border with California and ends on the Canadian border in Washington. She said she also is interested in participating in the Camino de Santiago, a modern-day pilgrimage in Spain.

When asked if she would thru-hike the AT again, she answered "In a heartbeat. Oh, yeah, I'd do it again."

Local on 11/27/2016

Upcoming Events