Life Outside Fall 2017 - 32

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BABY ELLIE'S MILESTONES ALONG THE
APPALACHIAN TRAIL
1. Day 1, March 21: First day couldn't have been better! Beautiful weather and
great time spent with family! Photo cred. @kenton_steryous #ellieontheat #at2017
#childhoodunplugged #sobo #va
2. Tent, April 11: Goodnight everyone! Day 23 - Mile 259 #nofilter #thruhike
#appalachiantrail #at2017 #ellieontheat #childhoodunplugged #tennessee
3. Oldest and Youngest, April 23: The oldest and youngest on the trail! Gray Beard
is thru-hiking at 82 years old and is as spry as ever!! #ellieontheat #at2017
4. Crawling, May 10: Chasing sunsets! #ellieontheat #at2017 #appalachiantrail
#trailbaby #adventureparenting #childhoodunplugged #dirt #georgia
5. Walking, June 14: Day 86, Mile 758: Learning how to walk on the lake beaches in
the 100 Mile Wilderness! #maine #100milewilderness #jomarylake #sobo #at2017
#flipflop #ellieontheat
6. Mile 1,000, July 9: MILE 1,000!! Goodbye, Maine! You were a beast! #at2017
#maine #ellieontheat #atthruhike #trektheat #appalachiantrail #goodbye
7. Wildflowers, July 26: Picking Vermont wildflowers for his girl #ellieontheat
#at2017 #trektheat #thruhike #vermont #wildflowers
8. Fist-bump, Aug. 3: Roo has officially learned the proper trail greeting-and
she's happy to show every hiker who passes by! #poundit #milestones #at2017
#thruhike #trektheat #hikertrash #vermont
9. Tower, Aug. 5: Day 135, Mile 1,318: Summited the highest peak in Massachusetts!
Let the easy terrain begin! #at2017 #trektheat #thruhike #massachusetts
#ellieontheat #monument

32

Fall 2017 \\ LifeOutside Magazine

aka Buddy Backpacker, who hiked the A.T. with
his family at age 5 in 2013.
Ellie will be a few miles short of a complete
hike; Baxter State Park regulations don't allow
anyone under age 6 above the treeline and the
Quirins respected the rule as they reached Mount
Katahdin, the northernmost point on the trail.
(Thomas was granted special permission to
summit the peak.)
And while a seven-month hike with an infant
might seem a little crazy at first, it makes sense
for this outdoors-loving family. They recently left
South Carolina to move back home to Roanoke,
creating perfect timing for a few months on the trail.
Ellie is young enough to help them pack light.
Bekah Quirin has carried her most of way and
Derrick is carrying other supplies, noting that
hiking for two doesn't add much more bulk than
hiking alone.
Plus, the flip-flop route made it a little easier for
the Quirins to customize their trip with some of the
most familiar terrain at the beginning (and end) of
the hike, and to hit better weather conditions along
the way. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy notes
another bonus as well-there's less environmental
impact because all hikers aren't going the same
way at the same time.
A normal day on the trail starts about 5 a.m. with
a few minutes of quiet time for Bekah and Derrick
before Ellie wakes. Then they have breakfast and
pack up camp for a day of walking. Ellie will nap
for parts of the morning and afternoon and they
stop every 90 minutes or so for a break and snack.
They wrap up hiking about 6:30 p.m., set up
Life Outside Fall 2017

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