I’m in love with the most hated sections of the Appalachian Trail

The following is a guest post by Todd Shellock (bio at the end). Submit your own hiking story to The Trek here.

FFor the past three years, I have eagerly awaited The Trek’s annual Appalachian Trail hiker survey to see what I can learn about my section hikes, which I proudly began on April 5, 2024, at age 35, heading south from Pine Grove Furnace in Pennsylvania to Pen Mar Park in Maryland.

Completing the AT has been what I consider my “personal calling,” beginning with my introduction to the trail at age 7, when my father took our family on a trip to Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park in 1996 (the same year, and possibly month, that Bill Bryson passed through there and later wrote A Walk in the Woods).

My first day of training was August 27, 2023, when I walked from New Jersey’s Pochuck Boardwalk to Pinwheel Vista, at the top of the Stairway to Heaven. I vividly remember turning that first corner on the boardwalk and seeing loosestrife streaming in the rays of the morning sun, and I fell in love all over again with my 7-year-old self’s dream of one day hiking the entire AT.

On my way back up the Stairway to Heaven, I “ran” with a mother and her young son for a short stretch. I called him «Lightning McQueen» from the movie Cars, and in return he called me «Jackson Storm» (the rival in Cars 3), which a year later officially became the name of my trail when I walked the bubble along the roller coaster in the Potomac region of Northern Virginia.

Since then, I have completed the tour through four states. First was my home state, New Jersey, followed by my home state and college residency: Pennsylvania. Then came Maryland, and just before the end of 2025, I completed New York by crossing the border into Connecticut with my tram-walking section member, Pip. With only 24 miles left in Connecticut, I plan to finish it before flying to Atlanta this spring to hike from Springer Mountain to Hot Springs, North Carolina.

Then came the 2025 hiker survey results, and I saw the, dare I say, mistitled @appalachian.trail and @thetrek.co. instagram post: «Thru-Hikers’ 3 Worst AT Sections of 2025.» Originally labeled «favorite/least favorite» in The Trek article revealing part 2 of the 2025 general information results, the Instagram post reveals that, once again, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey are considered the worst states. “Don’t shoot the messenger” is the plea within the description, so they knew what they were doing. And hey, I get it. They want people to interact, and using “worst” instead of “least favorite” definitely worked.

Photo: Todd Shellock

But here’s the thing:

The next four sections voted worst/least favorite are Shenandoah National Park, the Potomac region of northern Virginia, Connecticut and Maryland. So, with the sections I completed and/or hiked all voted worst/least favorite (aside from Harpers Ferry and the Killington section in Vermont), in theory I should hate the Appalachian Trail.

But it is quite the opposite.

I’m a hiker in love with the most hated stretches of the Appalachian Trail and I want the world to know it with this love letter. I’ll shout it from the mountaintops of The Pinnacle and Pulpit Rock. I will sing the hiking anthems on my New York delis “Adventure Tunes” playlist. I will proudly pose with mosquitoes on my face as I cross the border between New Jersey and New York. I will eagerly earn my trail name while collecting dirty water in the nearly 100 degree temperatures of Northern Virginia in June. And from the picnic table at Heaven Hill Farm in New Jersey, I’ll show my love by providing trail magic to two SoBo hikers who will motivate me to turn my training days into something real.

Photo: Todd Shellock

And I won’t stop there.

I will walk through the agonizing IT band syndrome to reach the Mason-Dixon line. I will hug another white tree when I soon complete “boring” Connecticut, the place where I was once stalked by a pair of glowing green eyes all night from the “safety” of my tent. Someday soon, hopefully, I’ll cry with pride when I set foot again in Shennies, where my late father first sparked my crazy obsession with some trail people hike from Georgia to Maine. And I’ll be taking my nephews on a day hike so a new generation can find the best in these sections.

I won’t stop declaring my love even after climbing the wooden sign on Mount Katahdin and knowing that even the worst of the AT was worth it. And if I die before I get that chance, let it be from choking on peanut butter in a contest at Trail Days.

Photo: Todd Shellock

Here’s the other thing:

I don’t know what it’s like (yet) to be a hiker. But after hiking over 550 miles AT in two years, I’m sure what it’s like to be a section hiker. And I love that too. It has certainly given me a different perspective on the journey.

I don’t have to walk with mosquitoes if I don’t want to. I don’t have to sleep in sub-zero temperatures or slide around Rocksylvania in pouring rain or thick snow. I don’t have to prove to anyone that my journey is not simply a phase that I will overcome with life’s changes. And I definitely don’t have to move on after experiencing the pain, once again, of sharp, paralyzing, stabbing, burning, aching, throbbing IT band syndrome.

But I do it all anyway. Even if the suction isn’t always that bad for a section hiker, I want to take advantage of it as much as I can, because I love even the worst of the AT.

And with every smiling stranger with a heavy backpack who says “Good morning” as they pass by my smelly body, with every trail angel who suddenly presents me with what I’ve been dreaming of after suffering heatstroke, with every animal who stays long enough to take a photo, with every sunrise and sunset I witness from a secret location, with every amazing hiker who reiterates that I never have to say I’m “just a section hiker,” and with every friend I’ve made on the trail who still supports me to keep going. forward; I remember that the path will always love me too.

With so much love,

storm jackson

About the author

Photo: Todd Shellock

I’m Todd, a section hiker on the Appalachian Trail who lives in South Jersey, just 10 miles from my birthplace of Philadelphia. I have been a hiker and camper my entire life, but I have recently taken the inevitable step into the world of backpacking. In the «muggle world», I am a children’s soccer coach known as «Coach Todd». I’m known on the trails as «Jackson Storm.» One of my goals as a backpacker is to encourage others to take the leap that can be so difficult. Then @hikewithjacksonstorm on Instagram, or better yet, on the trail!

Guest post by Todd Shellock. Do you want your writing to appear on The Trek? Submit your own route story.

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Cover Image: Photo courtesy of Todd Shellock. Graphic design by Mackenzie Fisher.

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