Three Months, Two Thousand Miles, One Path

10/18/2021

By Laura Hamlin Weiler ’00, Head of Community Engagement

Pushing herself through the entire Appalachian Trail, Perry ’17 discovers more than just beautiful wilderness

For Lucy Perry ’17, her post-graduation adventure wasn’t about discovering her path. The Appalachian Trail is one of the more well-known treks in the country. For Perry, it was about discovering herself along the path.

Perry recently finished through hiking the Appalachian Trail, a 2,180+ mile journey that she began the morning after graduating from Roanoke College and finished a mere 105 days later. The seeds for this epic journey, however, were planted during her sophomore year at Trinity when she participated in her first spring break hike led by Michael Stratton ’02. “Really, it all stems from Michael Stratton,” said Perry of her initial forays into the wilderness. “Molly Black ’17 made me go on the hike our sophomore year, and it was so hard but I loved it.”

Fast-forward through the rest of high school, in which Perry was an all-league and all-state swimmer and all-league and all-state soccer player, along with being involved with student government and the outdoor program. She went on to play soccer at Roanoke, where she was all-ODAC while majoring in environmental science and minoring in biology.

Perry pushed herself from the beginning because her June 1 start date was later than those typically through hiking would begin. She started solo and saw very few hikers in her first two weeks until she encountered two other hikers in Damascus, Virginia. She ended up hiking with them for the remainder of the trail. “People say that everything works out on the trail, and it is true.” Perry would hike with the others then break off when friends like Black visited or her parents or even Stratton himself. They helped her get through Virginia, which is one of the more challenging states because of its size (length in particular as it relates to the trail). Then she would get back on the trail and inevitably find her fellow hikers a few days later. Said Perry, “It worked because we hiked together but we weren’t tied down because everyone has their own schedules.”

Managing her emotions proved to be a challenge throughout the hike, where she learned to think in moments rather than days. “I learned that you can’t wake up and think ‘today is going to be a good day,’ so you have to assume something will go wrong every day and you have to get over bad things happening and when things don’t go smoothly because you are hiking from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day.” This wisdom applies to so much in life and is a major element of developing resilience and fortitude. Perry said, “The trail humbles you every day.”

Perry said because of the physical exertion on the trail, “your emotions are so heightened that you can’t even pinpoint why you feel a certain way, which is hard.” Perry’s mom was a source of comfort via cellphone in some of those difficult times, as were her trail companions. Even in the low moments, though, Perry found satisfaction. “Lots of it is miserable but it releases something in you when you are pushing yourself in the outdoors.”

As for Stratton, he had no concerns about Perry’s ability to complete the journey. “There was never a time when I thought [Lucy] wasn’t going to make it,” he said. “Lucy is one of the toughest human beings I have encountered, but anyone who starts in high school can develop that toughness if they want it enough. If you are inspired by Lucy, you can do it.”

In terms of Perry discovering herself on the trail, she said: “The trail showed me that I like to do really hard things and push myself, but it's ten times harder to do them alone. Having support is just as important to me, and the way I wanted to do it was with other people and not alone, which was a realization I had to come to.” This makes sense given Perry’s team-oriented background as well as her experiences with Trinity’s Outdoor Program.

One of the most challenging moments came when Perry finally exited Virginia, which comprises over 550 miles of the AT. “I was out of Virginia but still had so much more to do,” she recalled. “It was overwhelming. It is hard to think clearly when you are exerting yourself so much on a daily basis.” During these challenges, Perry remembered why she was pursuing this goal.

“This [was] my chance to completely put myself into something, to see it through start to finish”

On a typical day, Perry would wake up around 5:30 a.m. and be on the trail before 7 a.m. She would hike until about 5 to 7 p.m., eating snacks throughout the day while walking. Initially she averaged about 20 miles per day and then increased to 25-30+ miles per day once she was with other people. A man she encountered in North Carolina who was an AT veteran said, “It’s a job, a great job, but it’s a job every day.” This notion helped Perry reframe her thinking around the daily grind. “It is a lot of time in your head,” she said. “I thought a lot about what is ahead.” Most evenings she camped with her fellow hikers and appreciated the company.

As she climbed the northern elements of the trail, the terrain became more challenging.

“It is really hard up north because the terrain is full of steep climbs, rugged terrain, and you can’t get a rhythm, you have to slow down. Your body is so tired, the weather is cold and rainy. Southern Maine and the White Mountain range in New Hampshire are really tough. It is worth it, though, because it is so beautiful.”

When Perry reached the summit, after 106 days on the trail, she felt an unexpected energy. “Everyone was cheering but I wasn’t focused on that; the combination of beauty, the closeness of the people around me, I didn’t feel exhausted; I didn’t feel tired at all on Mount Katahdin,” she said.

After spending about an hour at the top, she hiked back down and into town, her journey completed.

Perry learned so much during her time on the trail, and the lessons will likely continue to resonate during different stages of her life. Her most important takeaway was this: “I knew who I was before this but it reinforced who I am and what I want to do with my life and my future: be outside as much as possible, have my job revolve around being outside, surround myself with people who support that. It changed my personality a little bit in that I became less of a people-pleaser. Being out on trail, you realize that you are the most important person to care for. You are doing things because you want to do them. No one else can do this for you.”

Perry will venture next to Colorado for a job there, and she can’t wait to take all that she has learned and get started on her next adventure, living life on the path fortified with her own hard-won self-discovery.

Back

About “Connections”

Connections is a regular online column, written from the first-person perspective of Laura Hamlin Weiler ’00, Head of Community Engagement:

In this space, I have the privilege of sharing stories of Trinity students, alumni, and faculty and staff who are carrying our mission beyond the boundaries of campus. Many of these stories might not make the headlines, but they will illustrate how every member of the Trinity community has a unique path to discover, and the ability to make an impact on both the Trinity community and the world beyond.

I am fortunate to have been a part of this community since my own adolescence. I have been a student, a teacher, a coach, and an administrator, and in these roles I have witnessed the school’s growth and evolution through the years. We have grown in size as well as spirit.

Stories here will capture how seeds planted at Trinity have taken root and flourished into full-grown passions. You’ll also read stories of those in our community who bring their gifts from outside to help us learn. At Trinity, we seek to develop lifelong learners, and stories here will illustrate real-life examples of that beautiful symbiosis.