Cheryl McCormick (trail name Clinker) is a BPL Wilderness Trekking School alumnus who decided at age 63 to solo-thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. She began in early April 2013 with the goal of being done by October. Her journey is one of struggle and immense victory. Her interview below does not sugarcoat the reality of the difficulty of completing the AT especially at a later age. The journey was tough but she did it because she had a jabbing desire to do hike the AT for a long long time. Her story reminds us all that it is never too late to chase after our dreams.
We all have "jabbing desires" - things that keep us up late at night - which we really should be chasing after. As Clinker shows us, we can chase after these dreams and accomplish them at any age. There is no reason to wait; we are not powerless to become what we want to be.
At the end of her journey she realized her self-confidence and self-acceptance grew extremely during her journey. There was peace in knowing that the difficulties of the hike would pass and also an understanding that she had chosen these difficulties to promote growth in her life. It was not easy but she knew she had to do it. She had stuffed the desire away for too long. Clinker wants to be an inspiration to us all and show us that we can become what we are supposed to be.
Cheryl has published her story on trailjournal.com, and a video showing her speaking about her journey at a presentation can be viewed here. While on the trail Cheryl wrote over 70 haikus to describe and process her experience. She has chosen some that best relate to thru-hikers to be published alongside her photos from the trip.
ARTICLE OUTLINE
- Introduction
- Interview
- Gear List
# WORDS: 4330
# PHOTOS: 17
Member Exclusive
A Premium or Unlimited Membership* is required to view the rest of this article.
* A Basic Membership is required to view Member Q&A events
Discussion
Become a member to post in the forums.
Companion forum thread to:
Clinker: A story of hardship and triumph on the AT
Enjoyed her candid responses. Interesting.
Agreed! She was so honest …. and obviously TOUGH!
I enjoyed it thoroughly. Thank you.
I enjoyed the interview and the video and trail journal it links to. She's creative, funny, and candid.
What a great interview. I am in awe of the obvious determination.
I also loved at the end, the part where you say ""Dozens of time, before, during, and after my thru-hike, people would comment, “Oh, I’ve always wanted to do that!” If they continue with, “Are there a lot of bugs?” Or a lot of snakes, or bears, and make a very worried face, I know they are not cut out for this work. Seldom do they seem to acknowledge that there will be fears, doubts, and pain.""
This is such an important observation, as if people expect maybe through some combination of luck or chance and sheer ignorance that somehow, there won't be bugs or snakes or bears… its this ignorance that keeps them from being able to accomplish something like this themselves.
Or maybe its that they allow these fears to become justification for why they too could not do it? Either way, this is about facing fears.
Of course there are bugs. Of course there are fears and discomforts, and I think what many people fail to grasp, is that the very act of going for it anyway, of facing these fears and having the commitment to see it through when in doubt, that makes an experience like this so special and rewarding.
If only more of us could take on challenges like this as willingly, myself included!
I met Cheryl at the BPL school. Even before she hiked the Appalachian Trail, it was obvious she was an amazing lady. Her completion of the trail was an exclamation point for what she already was. Her poetry is wonderful.
Become a member to post in the forums.