White Blaze Portrait Project

White Blaze Portrait Project If you’d like to share a little about your journey with me, I’d be honored.

I will be making photo portraits and documenting stories of thru hikers in Harpers Ferry this summer in a studio location just a few steps away from the AT Conservancy HQ.

“I like the trail culture here. In Japan, there’s no trail magic or trail angels.”-Happy Feet
07/25/2023

“I like the trail culture here. In Japan, there’s no trail magic or trail angels.”

-Happy Feet

“It's easy to see people's experience on social media and YouTube and think it's going to go that same way for you. And ...
07/21/2023

“It's easy to see people's experience on social media and YouTube and think it's going to go that same way for you. And then when you get out here, Mother Nature throws everything it possibly can in your face and you realize, “I'm pretty powerless when Mother Nature really kicks in.” So it's just trying to find that balance between the good and bad days to keep going. Some days are going to be terrible. It's just accepting that, moving on and learning from it.

I’ve learned that I can handle hard situations. I can adapt. I can keep my calm and cool. I can also hear things that some people would not want to hear on trail and accept criticism or advice from hikers and be able to accept that and learn more about myself and my own hike.”

-Snuggie

“One of my goals has been to learn patience. I'm not a very patient person. I’m very goal-oriented, very focused, blinde...
07/19/2023

“One of my goals has been to learn patience. I'm not a very patient person. I’m very goal-oriented, very focused, blinders on, get to the objective, and slay the objective, and all these other things just kind of fall by the wayside.

My goal out here is to understand that there's that finish, but there's all these other things that don't necessarily interfere, and they're just as important. So I take some time and learn about those other things. I've been doing pretty good with it. I'm still focused on miles and knocking out the miles.

These past few days in the oppressive heat, I have found that the anger that I once had is creeping its way back in. Feeling that, I know that I need to suppress that and go back to a happy place and get back to learning patience and really concentrate on that.”

-ETSY

“So much of what's going to happen to you out there is just outside of your control. It's going to rain on you. It's goi...
07/17/2023

“So much of what's going to happen to you out there is just outside of your control. It's going to rain on you. It's going to be 20 degrees. It's going to be 100 degrees. You're going to lose your gear. Your stuff's going to break at the worst time. And you just have to find peace in the lack of control. You have to kind of surrender and trust the universe and keep your calm. I’m definitely more in touch and appreciative of the universe and gratitude and stuff like that.”

-Hucks

Our first day back in Harpers Ferry after vacation was incredible. Check out Snuggie and Hucks goofing around for the ca...
07/16/2023

Our first day back in Harpers Ferry after vacation was incredible. Check out Snuggie and Hucks goofing around for the camera!

Struggle Bus doing his thing! This dude’s energy filled the entire room and I’m sure the AT is better off for it.
07/03/2023

Struggle Bus doing his thing! This dude’s energy filled the entire room and I’m sure the AT is better off for it.

Nacho Jim dropped by and unfortunately, we weren’t able to conduct a proper interview. Nevertheless, we had time to take...
07/01/2023

Nacho Jim dropped by and unfortunately, we weren’t able to conduct a proper interview. Nevertheless, we had time to take a portrait him and his sweet hiking partner, Dolly. (For those concerned, she was fine walking around.)

“I've never been a people person really, but being out here, I've learned to like people again.The people out here are t...
06/29/2023

“I've never been a people person really, but being out here, I've learned to like people again.

The people out here are the most amazing people I've ever met… the hikers, the trail angels, the ones that just want to help you out and people that work at stores in these little towns. All the people are amazing and it's kind of brought back my faith in humanity in a way.”

-Jersey

“Other hikers I've encountered, folks I've met on and off trail have been just amazing. The community surrounding the Ap...
06/26/2023

“Other hikers I've encountered, folks I've met on and off trail have been just amazing. The community surrounding the Appalachian Trail is so friendly, so fun, so willing to just go out of their way to help you succeed. Absolutely amazing. And other hikers on trail are all here for the same purpose. We're all here for the same goal, and we're all very helpful with each other, very fun, very friendly. Real nice folks.”

-3TAC (3rd Time’s a Charm)

Here's a little behind-the-scenes peek at us interviewing Jersey, an Appalachian Trail thru-hiker:
06/25/2023

Here's a little behind-the-scenes peek at us interviewing Jersey, an Appalachian Trail thru-hiker:

“I will say one lesson that I've really learned is from the saying on the trail, “hike your own hike.” And a lot of peop...
06/23/2023

“I will say one lesson that I've really learned is from the saying on the trail, “hike your own hike.” And a lot of people think, okay, I need to walk my own walk, live my own life, that's how I'm gonna take it away from the trail.

But I like to flip it around a little bit. And so rather than hiking my own hike and being okay with that, that's easy to do. But being okay with other people hiking their own hike is even more challenging because you have a way of doing things and I have a way of doing things and I really like that way and other people might not like that way and being okay with it is important to not create needless friction off trail too.

I think that's really important.”

-Dozer

06/22/2023

The 500-mile Camino de Santiago has inspired a host of new treks in places from Canada to Bhutan that let travelers take the slow route. Here, a guide to the new trails.

Address

770 Fillmore Street
Harpers Ferry, WV
25425

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