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Opinion

Speed hiking famed trail

By The Editorial Board
“I wanted to explore America; I wanted to have an adventure and mentally decompress before law school,” says Maddy Mumma, seen here at McAfee’s Knob, Virginia.
“I wanted to explore America; I wanted to have an adventure and mentally decompress before law school,” says Maddy Mumma, seen here at McAfee’s Knob, Virginia. courtesy of Maddy Mumma

The Appalachian Trail is 2,200 often difficult miles from northern Georgia to Maine.

Every year, some 3,000 people start out with the intention of hiking the whole trail. Three in four don’t finish it.

Most take five to seven months to finish, on average about 165 days. Maddy Mumma made the trek this year in 105 days.

Mumma, who graduated from Duke University in 2016, says, “I definitely need to rest up physically” from that dash, but she feels even better prepared to start Duke law school later this summer.

‘I never had a single day where I wanted to quit or go home,” she said. “I certainly had some difficult days, just like you do in normal life, but you take in in stretches, day by day and town by town.”

For that feat and that attitude she unquestionably deserves this week’s Durham Grit Award.

This story was originally published June 23, 2017 at 2:03 PM with the headline "Speed hiking famed trail."

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