A Walk in the Woods with Ron Tipton
What: A 2.5-mile moderate hike (yellow, blue and red trails) with Ron Tipton, the executive director of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.
When: 6 p.m. Sept. 25
Where: Cox Arboretum MetroPark, 6733 Springboro Pike (meet by the kiosk by the parking lot and pond)
Who: Free and open to the public
The Appalachian Trail: The Past, Present & Future
What: Appalachian Trail Conservancy executive director Ron Tipton will discuss the history of and interesting facts about the trail as well as the future of America’s most popular long-distance trail.
When: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 25
Where: Where: Cox Arboretum MetroPark, 6733 Springboro Pike (conference room)
Who: Free and open to the public
Appalachian Trail facts
The trail is roughly 2,189 miles long, passing through 14 states.
Thousands of volunteers contribute roughly 240,000 hours to the A.T. every year.
Virginia is home to the most miles of the trail (about 550), while West Virginia is home to the least (about four).
Maryland and West Virginia are the easiest states to hike; New Hampshire and Maine are the hardest.
The total elevation gain of hiking the entire A.T. is equivalent to climbing Mount Everest 16 times.
The A.T. is home to an impressive diversity of animals, including black bears, moose, porcupines, snakes, woodpeckers and salamanders.
About 2 to 3 million visitors walk a portion of the A.T. each year.
“Thru-hikers” walk the entire Trail in a continuous journey. “Section-hikers” piece the entire Trail together over years. “Flip-floppers” thru-hike the entire Trail in discontinuous sections to avoid crowds, extremes in weather, or start on easier terrain.
One in four who attempt a thru-hike successfully completes the journey.
Most thru-hikers walk north, starting in Georgia in spring and finishing in Maine in fall, taking an average of six months.
There was no party, cake or brightly wrapped presents, but it was the best birthday Ron Tipton could have imagined.
Tipton woke up on the morning of his 30th birthday to nine inches of snow near the Tennessee/North Carolina border in the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. He had been on the trail for months and wasn’t done yet as he was in the midst of tackling a challenging thru-hike on the Appalachian Trail – 2,000 plus miles.
“The experience of hiking the whole trail was, undoubtedly, the greatest adventure of my life,” Tipton said. “Every day was a new adventure.”
More than three decades later, Tipton, now 67, landed his dream job as the executive director and CEO of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.
“When the Conservancy approached me, it was like coming home,” he said.
Tipton is, in fact, coming home as the Kiser High School graduate will return to the Miami Valley to share his experiences with local hiking enthusiasts on Sept. 25. From the storied history of the Appalachian Trail to the possible impact the recently released feature film “A Walk in the Woods,” starring Robert Redford and Nick Nolte, will have on the trail, Tipton will discuss it all at Cox Arboretum, after a walk in the woods, of course.
Hooked on hiking
Growing up in North Dayton, hiking wasn’t on Tipton’s radar.
“The inspirational moment for me was on a family vacation out west in 1960, I remember it like it was last week,” he said. “My dad took me out on a long day hike. I had never been above a tree-line before. It was just incredible, I felt connected somehow.”
Tipton was inspired to pursue a career in conservation and protection of the environment and did so after graduating from George Washington University. For more than 30 years he worked in non-profit conservation with organizations like The Wilderness Society and the World Wildlife Fund until landing his dream job at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy just over two years ago.
Living the dream
The nonprofit Conservancy, based in West Virginia, has 43,000 members, 6,000 volunteers, 45 full-time staff members and coordinates the activities of 31 trail clubs. The mission of the ATC is to preserve and manage the Appalachian Trail — ensuring that its vast natural beauty and priceless cultural heritage can be shared and enjoyed today, tomorrow, and for centuries to come.
“I enjoy my role being an advocate of public spokesperson of the trail,” Tipton said. “It’s such an honor and such a pleasure to lead an organization with such a large and dedicated volunteer force.”
The Appalachian Trail, which has hundreds of access points and is within a few hours drive of millions of Americans, benefits from more than 240,000 volunteer hours annually.
Tipton is anticipating an extra challenge in the months to come as a result of the release of “A Walk in the Woods,” a challenge he happily accepts.
“I think it will bring in a lot of new hikers,” he said. “And the country will have an even greater love affair with the trail.”
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