When Jessica Mills, Auburn local and alumna in biosystems engineering, was young she vacationed in South Carolina with her family. She recalls her mother explaining what the Appalachian Trail was at Newfound Gap, where the trail crosses over the Tennessee and North Carolina border.
“Back then, I was like, ‘Well let’s go do it,’” Jessica said.
Jessica recently completed a total thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail, finishing Oct. 19.
The trail spans 2,190 miles from Springer Mountain, Georgia, to the summit of Mount Katahdin, Maine.
Jessica began the hike on a trail extension at Amicalola Falls State Park, Georgia, on March 29.
“It’s really like 400-600 stairs that are the beginning of the trail, and halfway up the stairs you’re like, ‘I can’t even walk up the stairs. How am I going to make it to Maine?’” Jessica said.
She said the trip was her first overnight backpacking trip and an adventure a long time in coming.
However, her early aspirations would be delayed by the processions of life, including seven years at Auburn University and two jobs after graduation.
Jessica said she originally planned to hike the trail after she graduated in 2012 but decided to take a job offer instead. After being dissatisfied with her second job in Colorado, she returned to Auburn in the fall of 2014 with plans to begin the trail in the spring.
“Jessica has always been that person to tackle something head-on, and I really admire that about her,” said Whitney Bell, a friend who managed Jesssica’s YouTube channel for the hike. “That quality also let me know that she could do this. To take something that was a dream from a young age and turn it into a reality is very inspiring.”
Rhonda Mills, Jessica’s mother, said she was glad her daughter did not complete the hike by herself.
“When Jessica left for the trail, I was naturally afraid for her safety,” Rhonda said. “Although I would have felt better if she wasn’t starting out by herself, I knew she would soon make friends and wouldn’t be hiking alone for long.”
Jessica soon formed a ‘tramily,’ or trail family, and was known as Dixie.
“It’s pretty crazy how much folks give back to the community once they’re done, and just the community that exists out there,” Jessica said. “People are helping folks all the time.”
Jessica said she was twice boarded by strangers who had either hiked the trail or had family members that had. She also described the concept of trail magic, in which food, beer and other goods are left along the trail for others to take.
Jessica said she was a purist who demanded to see every white trail blaze, even if this required backtracking after going into town. On the other end of the spectrum, she said there are yellow blazers, or those that skip certain sections of the trail by hitchhiking or driving. Jessica said she laments that some of these yellow blazers report themselves as completing the Appalachian Trail thru-hike.
Jessica recommended hiking the Appalachian Trail as an Auburn student.
“You’re going to be an expert at hanging a bear bag because you have so much experience throwing toilet paper rolls,” Jessica said.
Jessica plans to stay in Auburn for the time being and explore her job opportunities and grow microgreens.
She said completing the trail was “the most difficult, the most rewarding and the most exciting thing of everything in my life.”
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