Thru Stories is an ethnographic research project conducted by Nola Doorley.
This project was made possible with support from the following people and organizations:
The Katherine Hass Fellowship provided funding, the vision to share untold stories, and a belief that Thru Hikers have stories worth sharing.
Mentorship from Matt Callahan, Castilleja English Teacher, Department Lead, and Varsity Football coach.
Ethnography guidance and mentorship from Research Advisor, Nicole Ardoin, Stanford Associate Professor of Environmental Social Sciences and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment.
A gathering space for interviews, not to mention hot meals, camaraderie, and showers for thru-hikers, thanks to The Appalachian Mountain Club.
Thru Stories features interviews with thru hikers who’ve completed or are undertaking hikes on long-distance trails. Each episode explores the personal journeys, challenges, and transformations that long-range hikers experience. Discover how dedication to this physical test of endurance can become a path to understanding yourself and the world differently.
Thru-hikers make a radical choice to step outside of this system, rejecting conventional measures of success in favor of something less tangible: self-discovery, simplicity, and the pursuit of a single goal, for instance. They recognize the costs of a life dictated by societal expectations and instead choose a different path, one where survival hinges on what they can carry on their backs rather than what they can accumulate in a bank account.
I am interested in exploring what values motivate thru-hikers to make this lifestyle change and what they, in turn, get out of this unconventional life. I want to learn how they view the world and the lessons that thru-hiking has taught them. I am curious about how they find community on the trail and if they miss friends and family at home.
This podcast project is guided by these research questions:
1. What values drive Appalachian Trail thru-hikers to embark on their journey, and how does the experience shape their outlook on life and future actions?
2. What defines a “good” life?