By Mary-Justine Lanyon
On April 9, 2016, Kim Starr – who at the time split her time between Twin Peaks and Ohio – set out to accomplish her dream: to walk the entire length of the Appalachian Trail.
Over the next seven years, Starr whittled away at what she calls the “wonderful, extremely hard beauty that God has given us.” On July 25, 2023, she reached her goal: the top of Mount Katahdin in Maine.
Over those seven years, she said, “It was all about reaching the sign. The people who were there on the day I reached it just stopped what they were doing because they knew it was a moment. I was sobbing.”
Starr had started her journey as a through hiker, intending to walk the entire 2,200 miles in one trip. But, she says now, “I was enjoying it way too much, looking at things, talking to frogs.” That first year, she did walk 1,000 miles until it got too cold.
“You carry what you fear,” Starr said. “Food, water. I carry a lot of clothes because I fear being cold.”
She ended her journey that first year in Harper’s Ferry, W.V.
Over the next several years, she walked the trail in sections according to the weather. Over the course of the seven years, she fell 55 times on the Appalachian Trail – over trunks of trees and rocks. “You have to be careful with every step when you get older,” she said. Because of arthritis in her knees, she gets injections and wears braces and compression socks. She also soaks in cold river water.
Her knees, Starr said, didn’t bother her the first two years but “the ascents and descents in New England were horrific on them.”
While out on the Appalachian Trail, Starr would go four days without seeing another person. “I would see bears, rattlesnakes, spiders,” she said. There were times it rained so hard she couldn’t see.
Unlike so many hikers, Starr did not give up. She said that 25 percent of those who start hiking drop out at Neels Gap, Ga. Why was she so determined? She had a very personal reason for wanting to take on this challenge. When she was just 20, Starr conquered breast cancer. She wanted to honor her own battle as well as the battles of others who have faced the disease. And she wanted to celebrate her 60th birthday.
During those seven years, Starr marveled at and appreciated what is called “trail magic.” People offered to give her rides into nearby towns – offers she accepted so she could grab a hot shower and eat a hot meal. Out on the trail, folks leave containers of water and even watermelon. And they sign trail books with their trail names. Starr’s is Kool-Aid for the drink she consumed all along the trail, with cherry being her favorite.
Taking on new challenges
So with the Appalachian Trail under her belt, some might think Starr would rest on her laurels. But no.
While she was still tackling the AT, she walked 360 miles of El Camino in Spain.
“That was more of a pilgrimage to me,” she said. “I prayed all the time. I thanked God for keeping me safe.”
Unlike the AT, hikers cannot camp on El Camino but have to get to the hostels along the route. The trail itself was easy, Starr said. “There was no scrambling up rocks.” She enjoyed seeing the gorgeous churches in the towns she walked through but was disappointed in how people threw their trash on the ground. “People didn’t seem to be used to how important it is to carry in, carry out,” she said.
As if all that wasn’t enough, Starr is now taking on another challenge: the Pacific Crest Trail, which goes from Mexico to Canada. She began that journey on Aug. 13, 2024, accompanied by her friend Susie Chalfant, who owned Mountain High Market in Twin Peaks for 36 years.
Starr started on the PCT here in the mountain communities and walked to Campo, Mexico. She has returned to Ohio, where much of her family lives, as it is so important to her to go to her grandchildren’s football games and then baseball games. “I want to see those games,” she said, “and then next year I will get back on the trail.”
Unlike most of the AT, hikers have to get permits for the PCT. Only 50 permits are issued per section per day. Next year Starr plans to start in Tehachapi and head north. She is looking forward to walking the John Muir Trail, because of who he was, and Mt. Whitney.
There is no comparison between the two trails, Starr says. On the AT, there were so many animals, bugs, snakes, insects, huge rocks, rivers, streams, trees, rain, thunder, lightning. On the PCT so far, she said, “it’s extreme heat, no water, no bugs.” In the section she has completed, she only saw one rabbit, one squirrel, one deer, no rain, no rocks, no rivers, no streams – just sand to walk on. She expects the northern part of the PCT to be different.
This hardy soul will take us along on her adventure and update us as she completes each section.
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