On her 20th birthday, Natalie woke up to fresh white snow, deep in the Tennessee woods, just south of the Virginia border. It had been just one day shy of a month since she started hiking and she had well over 1,000 miles left to go. When most college students want to take a semester away from Ann Arbor they enroll in a study abroad program. Our women’s tech employee Natalie Burr, however, didn’t cross any international borders when she went through the incredibly transformative experience of hiking the Appalachian Trail.
Over tea at State Street’s very own Espresso Royale on her 21st birthday, I caught up with Natalie on her epic AT thru-hike and her future plans. Keep on reading to hear about Natalie’s 115 days on the AT where she traded European pastries for ramen and snickers bars, country hopping for crossing state lines (14 in total), and crashing in hostels for sleeping in tents and huts – and she did it solo.
First Steps
By looking at Natalie’s stats for her hike of the Appalachian Trail, you would guess that she’s been thru-hiking for years. Every year a few thousand people attempt to hike all 2,187 miles and about one in five succeed. Natalie, 19 when she began the hike, went on her first backpacking trip when she was just 18. Yet this lack of experience didn’t hold her back in the slightest as she was the second woman to finish the south to north trail in the summer of 2017 and among the top 20 fastest hikers overall.
When I ask how she prepared physically for the AT she admits honestly, “I was going to train, but I didn’t.” While she showed up at the first trailhead in Fannin County, Georgia “not in shape”, after a couple weeks her body quickly became accustomed to hiking long days. Aside from physical preparation, there are many logistical aspects that some thru-hikers account for, such as nightly camp spots and shipping resupply boxes. Natalie shares that she didn’t plan much aside from her gear. She worked for several summers at Pine Island Camp in Maine where she led hikes for young boys and learned skills that would help her along the AT and she had her Wilderness First Aid Certification.
Trail People
While Natalie began her hike solo, she met plenty of people along the way. From simply a few minutes of conversation passing by strangers to friendships that are still nurtured today, these connections helped Natalie get through not only the dangers of the trek but also relieved her from the monotony and loneliness that sometimes set in on the trail. From creating “trail families” to encountering “trail angels”, Natalie remembers how open and giving people were, from fellow hikers to residents of trail towns. They wanted to know her story and do what they could to help her finish her journey.
More Highs than Lows
Natalie felt her confidence grow day after day. From almost getting struck by lightning to facing nearly 100 mph winds on mountain peaks, Natalie looks back on these challenges with fondness as they are all a part of her unique journey. She describes herself as “stubborn” even before the hike, having to defend her decision to hike the AT to just about everyone – her friends, parents, grandparents. She talks about surprising herself, not just in conquering physical challenges but also mental hurdles. Some of the scariest days were the best, she says, and the most agonizing moments came from boredom. “You learn how to entertain yourself,” she assures. Without Netflix, Facebook, and many of our usual vices to cure boredom, Natalie strengthened her ability to find the beauty and intrigue of nature and deeply explored her own thoughts through reflection and journaling.
Hiking, Tech, and Amazon Prime
Of course, she was not technology-free during the four months on the AT. Natalie was actually conducting research for her professor about hiking technology, learning through interviews and her own experiences. She talks about how technology can be great thing in connecting people to nature and increasing safety for hikers. It requires less planning for a trip when you have access to online resources along the way and maintained connection to the outside world. Natalie found herself utilizing technology in unique ways during her several month trek. Hiking more than twenty miles most days, Natalie went through 4 pairs of hiking shoes. When her footwear began to fall apart, she would simply use Amazon Prime to send them to the Post Office in the nearest town and pick them up in a few days. She was able to contact friends and family who met up with her for a day of hiking.
Apologizing Less
As a female thru-hiker, Natalie had a particular experience hiking the AT. Only 1 in 4 AT hikers are women. Natalie speaks generally about an air of condescension at times when speaking to male hikers on the AT, from men criticizing her gear choices or telling her how many miles she should be walking per day. She even saw men clearly offended when she would go ahead of them at a faster pace. These men’s’ attitudes were not from a place of malice, she explained, as they seemed to truly want to help. However, she learned to be nice, say thank you, and do her own thing. “I learned to apologize less,” Natalie reflected.
Having returned from her trek and going immediately back to work at Pine Island Camp, surrounded by her colleagues, all well-seasoned trekkers, she recalls being recognized as the most experienced hiker in a male dominated setting.“It was a great feeling. Like, ‘this is what baseline respect feels like’”. Despite her growth of confidence and newfound “street cred”, she felt she should not have to hike over 2,000 miles to earn respect as a woman and a hiker. Through her major accomplishment of thru-hiking the AT, she recognizes she now has a platform to speak on and inspire other hikers. She hopes she can set an example for the boys at her camp that just because a woman hasn’t hiked before, it does not mean she is not capable.
Running for the Crown
Natalie is currently preparing for a thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), the next step in earning the Triple Crown of Hiking, which is awarded to hikers who have completed the AT, PCT, and the Continental Divide Trail. While she had an incredible experience hiking the AT, she plans to do a few things different this time around.
For starters, she is not going solo. She will be trekking with her boyfriend, an experienced hiker himself. She’s also training regularly, with a focus on cutting weight and increasing strength, running 2-6 miles a few times a week and using the stair climber with a pack on. Gear-wise, Natalie is going “ultra-light”, cutting down the weight of her supplies for greater comfort and allowing her more mobility.
Natalie plans on continuing her online blog where she shares her reflections under the hiking pseudonym “Spice Girl”. Through her work in Environmental Studies and her experiences out in the wilderness, she has developed a compelling perspective on the relationship between man and nature. While nature can be jaw-dropping and awe-inspiring, she urges not to place a greater importance on the parts that are “instagrammable” compared with what we can find in our backyard. Living in Ann Arbor, that means appreciating and seeing value in places like the Huron River and the Arb.
She is considering going to law school to study environmental justice. I asked Natalie how her journey along the AT impacted her professional goals and she answered, “I figured out I want to help more people find nature.”
At the same time, Natalie expressed a fantasy of leaving behind academia and escaping to simply live in nature. I guess you can take the girl off the trail… but she just might head right back.
Natalie’s Top Picks for Thru-Hiking
Patagonia Nanopuff Vest and Jacket
Salomon Ultra X Hiking Boots
A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold (Sold at Literati and Amazon)