Travel & Leisure

     Along the AT, approaching the Wise Trail Shelter on the outskirts of the park, we find a lean, 70-year-old Australian already wrapped in a sleeping bag. His name is Ron Beurteaux, but he tells us to call him “Outback.” That’s his trail name, he says. Wearing glasses and a beard, Outback is from Perth and, this summer, he has cut a 550-mile swath across Virginia, walking the Appalachian Trail through the Shenandoah National Park and then crossing the James River. For this odyssey, Outback, a retired insurance adjuster, carved out two months on his calendar. He says he started at Harper’s Ferry, W.Va., with a simple idea: “I’ll walk down, and I’ll worry later about getting back.”

     Virginia’s beauty, he says, was a lure—and so was the idea of spending time on a trail that he calls “every boy’s dream.” He lauds the “lovely views from Tinker Cliffs,” near Roanoke. “And Dragon’s Tooth [also near Roanoke]. I remember that well. I got to the top, and I got proud of myself.” Outback also speaks fondly of the people he’s met: “They respond to a hiker’s needs. Even the women in the grocery stores—if you’re looking for something in the supermarket, people will try to help you out.” Pushing into southwestern Virginia, as we are, he’s brought along hiking essentials—extra socks, a water purifying system and a tiny stove. “I like a good cup of coffee,” Outback says. “And I’m a fan of the Quaker Oats.”

     Hiking alone since the last Saturday of May, Outback says that he hiked 10 miles on his first day on the trail. Gradually, he felt his body get stronger. “I’m old enough, I walk enough, I don’t get blisters anymore,” says Outback, who has covered as much as 21 miles in one day—about the average for a thru-hiker one-third his age. Even so, Outback has had a few “zero days”—times when he has laid out to recharge, spending three nights at a Groseclose motel, one night in Daleville and another at a Lutheran Church in Waynesboro. Along the way, he’s scuttled through fog, rain and scorching humidity. He’s also relied on the kindness of strangers, giving him rides or washing his clothes. He even claims to have battled a bear, picking up sticks and trying to frighten the animal. “But,” Outback says matter-of-factly, “he wasn’t intimidated in any way.”

     Listening to his tale of the bear as well as the insistent howls of coyotes, I quietly drink water and munch on crackers and a blueberry cereal bar as we rest in the Wise Shelter. During the day, we hiked in sweltering 85-degree weather. But, with the sun gone, the nighttime temperature has dipped dramatically—to the mid-40s, I estimate—owing to our elevation of more than 4,000 feet. We want to build a fire but don’t, as a courtesy to Outback. He’s trying to get back to sleep.