Family + Baby Finish Historic Appalachian Trail Hike

Derrick, Bekah, and Ellie Quirin finished an adventure of a lifetime on Sept. 30. The family completed a thru hike of Appalachian Trail with the youngest person to travel the distance of the A.T.

Ellie is the first baby to go along for the ride. She learned to walk on the trail, made plenty of friends along the way and encountered plenty of firsts with parents Derrick and Bekah during 6 months on the trail.

Here’s what the family posted on Instagram about the accomplishment:

“Thru Hike Day: 195 – Mile 2,190.3
Ours is a story of an adventure that was far greater than any we could have hoped for. It is a story of a little girl, her adventurous parents, and a big dream. It’s a story of hundreds of people contributing to make that dream come true, and we thank you with our deepest gratitude!

On March 20, 2017 our story began as we left Catawba, Virginia, southbound on the Appalachian Trail. Six months and ten days later we’ve returned, having walked 2,190.3 miles through 14 states, climbing around 464,464 feet, in every type of weather and through seemingly every sort of physical, mental, and emotional obstacle. While all of the typical thru hiker accomplishments are great, they pale in comparison to this: we watched our daughter grow, take her first steps, say her first words, and play in creeks and on grassy bald mountains. We stared with her at sunrises and snuggled with her into every sunset. We listened to her giggles as we climb above tree line, and been awakened by her imitating owls hooting nearby. We witnessed the pure joy she felt simply being a child in a spectacular and mesmerizing creation. We never missed any of it, not one single moment. We lived our dream, and we have no regrets. We learned how to be parents and still be adventurers. We learned how to love and care for someone else even when everything our bodies felt told us to be selfish. We learned that there are a lot of amazing, beautiful, and good people in our world.

And we learned that nature is perhaps where we feel the most at home, and certainly where we feel the most alive. We learned all of this and more, we hope that Ellie did too. This is our story, though it’s not the end, but the turn of a chapter, another to begin.

Now go dream of big adventures, and chase them into the wild places. – Kanga, Roo, and Sherpa“

The hike, spanning from Georgia to Maine, followed a flip-flop route. The Quirins started just minutes from home near the McAfee Knob trailhead and walked south. Then they traveled to Maine and hiked south again to finish back at home.

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy tracks reported hikes and the most famous example of another child on the trail is Buddy Backpacker, who hiked the A.T. with his family at age 5.