Avid outdoorsman and author Jeff Mitchell poses at the start of his Appalachian Trail thru-hike, which he began last March in Georgia.
                                 Photo Courtesy Jeff Mitchell

Avid outdoorsman and author Jeff Mitchell poses at the start of his Appalachian Trail thru-hike, which he began last March in Georgia.

Photo Courtesy Jeff Mitchell

Outdoors author will share memories of Appalachian Trail

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<p>Jeff Mitchell poses triumphantly at the summit of Mt. Katahdin in Maine, at the end of an Appalachian Trail thru-hike he began nearly five months earlier in Georgia.</p>
                                 <p>Photo Courtesy Jeff Mitchell</p>

Jeff Mitchell poses triumphantly at the summit of Mt. Katahdin in Maine, at the end of an Appalachian Trail thru-hike he began nearly five months earlier in Georgia.

Photo Courtesy Jeff Mitchell

<p>Wallking the Appalachian Trail can be a nature lover’s dream, as this idyllic image suggests.</p>
                                 <p>Photo Courtesy Jeff Mitchell</p>

Wallking the Appalachian Trail can be a nature lover’s dream, as this idyllic image suggests.

Photo Courtesy Jeff Mitchell

<p>Audience members who attend Jeff Mitchell’s presentation on The Appalachian Trail: A Journey Through the Beautiful Soul of America’ at the Dietrich Theater in Tunkhannock on Feb. 11 will be treated to many visually stunning images like this one.</p>
                                 <p>Photo Courtesy Jeff Mitchell</p>

Audience members who attend Jeff Mitchell’s presentation on The Appalachian Trail: A Journey Through the Beautiful Soul of America’ at the Dietrich Theater in Tunkhannock on Feb. 11 will be treated to many visually stunning images like this one.

Photo Courtesy Jeff Mitchell

“I was walking along the Saddleback Ridge in Maine, the sun was setting and I had it all to myself,” Jeff Mitchell said, recalling a particularly peaceful moment from the Appalachian Trail thru-hike he completed last year. “I could see a lake, glistening gold and silver, absolutely beautiful.”

The avid hiker and outdoors writer, who lives near Tunkhannock, will share the story and scenery of his 2,200-mile adventure during a free presentation set for 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 11 at the historic Dietrich Theater.

If you attend “The Appalachian Trail: A Journey Through the Beautiful Soul of America,” you can expect to see many images of the natural beauty Mitchell spotted between Springer Mountain in Georgia, where he began his hike in early March, and Mt. Katahdin in Maine, where he ended it in late July.

And for some audience members, that vicarious journey through such highlights as the Roan Highlands of Tennessee, the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina and Maine’s 100-Mile Wilderness may be enough.

For those contemplating a step-by-step thru-hike themselves, Mitchell will devote the second portion of his presentation to practical information and advice.

For example, if you’d read about the closure of many small-town post offices where thru-hikers used to pick up boxes of food they had mailed to themselves, Mitchell said not to worry about that option no longer being available.

“There are plenty of stores and towns close to the trail, and some of the hostels sell food now, too,” he said. “I had food mailed three times, and it really wasn’t necessary.”

Because fresh food doesn’t always pack well, Mitchell found himself eating a lot of “Pop-Tarts, granola bars, candy bars, peanut butter, Skittles …”

One memorable snack came when he reached the half-way part of the trail, in Pennsylvania’s Cumberland County, where it’s a tradition for Appalachian Trail thru-hikers to stop at the Pine Grove Furnace General Store and consume an entire half-gallon of ice cream.

“I wasn’t going to do it but my buddy kind of coerced me,” Mitchell said, adding he was astonished that he was able to eat the whole thing.

“They give you a prize of a little old-fashioned wooden spoon if you finish it, so I went back in to the store and asked for my spoon and the lady said ‘How long did it take you to eat it?’ I told her it took an hour and she said that was about average.”

Mitchell encountered other hikers on the trail and sometimes walked with them — but there weren’t as many people as he expected.

“I think I was ahead of the ‘bubble,’ ” he said, referring to the largest contingent of hikers moving north to try to reach Mt. Katahdin in a timely fashion.

Nevertheless, the camaraderie he felt with other hikers was the best part of the experience.

“It’s not so much a trail or a landscape as it is people,” he said of his adventure. “Nobody judges anyone; there’s no hierarchy. You could be a billionaire or dirt poor, but on the trail you’re all going to be dirty and stinky at the end of the day.”

“It really is a transformative experience,” he said. “There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about it.”

Mitchell, 48, is a former district attorney of Wyoming County and author of several books including “Hiking the Endless Mountains,” “Backpacking Pennsylvania” and “Paddling Pennsylvania.” Some of his books will be available for sale at the presentation, and all proceeds will benefit the Dietrich Theater.

Tickets to the presentation will be available at the door for as long as they last. To make reservations, call 570-836-1022, ext. 3.