Hiking is great because it's a lifelong sport and you're outdoors, active, so whether you call that a sport or a hobby or a recreation, I think the wording - it's a great way to get exercise, and it can be as challenging as you want to make it.

Our bodies are made to move, and moving down the trail is one of the oldest, natural ways people have used their bodies.

My motivation to keep hiking was rooted in the magnificent details of the Appalachian Mountains, and the more I poured myself out - the more energy I gave the trail - the more it gave me in return.

One of the best feelings I had growing up was being completely exhausted at the end of the day after playing outside all day.

I know that I was hiking at a very young age because I remember being convinced that it was the trees that were talking.

Food is like a torture device because hiking 47 miles a day is hard enough. And then you're trying to get down 6,000 calories a day. Every hour, I needed a snack, every few hours I had to take in a meal and it's just not food, it's fuel. You're not enjoying it - you're seriously shoving it in your mouth and following it with water, juice or Gatorade.

I found things in the woods that I didn’t know I was looking for… and now I’ll never be the same.