Walk Your City like a Backcountry Adventure with Liz “Snorkel” Thomas

Can a 200-mile thru-hike in a city be as fun as a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail?

Former Appalachian Trail Fastest Known Time (FKT) holder Liz Thomas takes the principles learned from over 25 thru-hikes to urban streets and trails.

Liz is among the most experienced long distance backpackers in the U.S. and is known for backpacking light, fast and solo…and in cities. Liz is affectionately known as the “Queen of Urban Hiking,” having thru-hiked and/or pioneered 15 routes up to 250+miles long across 12 U.S. cities. She is an advocate for getting people to hike “what they got” by taking to city trails, streets, and parks.

Liz will cover lessons she’s learned from more than wilderness thru-hikes, including the Triple Crown Trails (Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, and Continental Divide Trails) and how it translates to micro-adventure closer to home.
Liz is the author of Long Trails: Mastering the Art of the Thru-hike, which won the 2017 National Outdoor Book Award for Best Instructional Book with judges calling it destined to become the “Bible of the Sport.”
Liz has talked about hiking and gear on/in Good Morning America (national TV), The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Men’s Journal, Women’s Health, and regularly at Outside. She is a columnist at Backpacker Magazine and instructor for their online class, Thru-hiking 101. A former outdoor staff writer at Wirecutter, the product review site of The New York Times, she is currently Editor-in-Chief at the gear review website Treeline Review, dedicated to helping people buy less junk.
Liz can be found @lizthomashiking on Instagram and Facebook and at www.eathomas.com
Liz Thomas is an author, speaker, and outdoor adventurer. Her book Long Trails: Mastering the Art of the Thru-hike received the National Outdoor Book Award for Best Instructional book with judges calling it destined to become the “Bible of the Sport.” A former staff writer for the New York Times/Wirecutter, she is founder and Editor-in-Chief of the outdoor website Treeline Review, as well as a contributing editor to Backpacker Magazine and columnist of “Ask a Thru-hiker.” She incorporates environmental journalism, community-based self-care practices, and traditional trip preparedness into a workshop for writers venturing into new and challenging environs.

This program was organized by Casey Sheppard #1250.