23 May 2015 Faith restored: Conway man hikes Appalachian Trail

by Callie Sterling

Wayne Hall, a 52 year-old Conway resident, began his six-month journey across the Appalachian National Scenic Trail on April 13, 2014.

Exactly six months later, his wife Sherry met him on Oct. 13, 2014, to pick him up from his lengthy 2,185.3-mile hike. The trail spans 14 states.

“Every year the mileage changes for those who hike the trail because of reroutes and things like that,” Hall said.

Hall calls himself a purist, a person who does not take shortcuts on the hike.

“I did not ever cheat on the trail; you really are only cheating yourself if you do that,” Hall said. “A lot of the young kids on the trail would skip 100 miles or so, but I never did.”

The Appalachian Trail route that Hall traveled begins in Georgia and ends in Maine at Mount Katahdin. Only the elite tend to hike the entire trail without giving up. More than 2,000 people begin the trail each year with intentions of hiking the trail in its entirety.

“They say less than 25 percent of the 2,000 people that start the trail each year give up within the first 30 miles in Georgia,” Hall said. “Over 1 million people set foot on parts of the path; it is a very popular trail. In 2014, less than 22 percent of the hikers who began the hike finished. It is mainly a mental thing. I am not the most athletic, but I made it — it is just mentally telling yourself that you can.”

At times Hall did become discouraged but did not give up on his journey.

“Sure, there were times where I hated it, but then the next minute it was amazing again,” he said.

Hall started with smaller daily mileage increments and gradually increased his daily distance.

“I started with as little as eight miles in the beginning,” Hall said. “I then increased to 12 miles and did that amount all the way through North Carolina. Then I went to 15 miles a day and then finally 20. I began averaging 20 a day most days.”

Hall believes most who set out to hike the Appalachian Trail are doing so because of a recent life-changing event.

“I think just about everyone who starts the trail does so because something big just happened in their life,” Hall said. “There are people out there from all walks of life. Some just graduated from college, others are going through a divorce. In my case, I was just laid off from work.”

Hall felt that being laid off would provide the perfect window of opportunity to partake in his hiking journey.

“I was laid off from work for the second time and I just felt like that was the perfect opportunity timing wise to complete the trip,” Hall said.

Hall began the hike alone. His wife was unable to leave work for a six-month time period.

“My wife was so supportive throughout the whole thing,” Hall said. “A lot of wives wouldn’t be alright with their husbands leaving for six months to go hiking.”

Hall’s wife, Sherry, was able to contact him daily throughout his journey via phone.

“I had cell phone service with Verizon the whole entire trip,” Wayne said. “If I wouldn’t have been able to call my wife and talk to her, I wouldn’t have been able to make that journey.”

Although Hall began the hike alone, he met hundreds of people on his expedition. Some of the people he hiked with have since become close friends.

“I have become great friends with some of the people I met,” Hall said. “I hope to keep in contact with some of them forever.”

Hall carried a 28-pound pack with him throughout his quest. “In my pack some of the things that I carried were my tent, about four days’ worth of food at a time and hand sanitizer,” Hall said. “I went through four pairs of shoes on my hike.”

Hall traveled through many towns on his journey — one of which he was able to spend three days with his wife.

“It was the most amazing thing when you would come through a town,” Hall said. “Everyone on this trip was so kind to the hikers. We would have strangers cook for us for free, just to be nice. It was amazing!”

On the last day of his journey, Hall hiked 28 miles through Maine.

“I knew my wife was meeting me, and I was so excited to see her,” Hall said. “My end point was at Mount Katahdin, which is located in Baxter State Park in Maine.”

Hall’s hiking days are not over yet. He has hopes of completing two other popular hiking trails in the United States.

“I hope to hike the Appalachian Trail again some day when my wife is able to come with me; it would have been so much more fun with her by my side,” Hall said. “I also hope to complete the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail. If I complete all three I will have hiked what is known as the Triple Crown. Not very many can say that they have the Triple Crown under their belt.”

Hall will forever be changed by his experience hiking the Appalachian Trail.

“Completing the trail was a dream,” Hall said. “It’s not for everyone, but it was perfect for me because I am a creature of habit. I love routine, and hiking the trail was exactly that, a daily routine. The kindness of the people I met on my trip restored my faith in humanity.”