Our Stories

Tom Gorman: NCNST Long Distance Hiker

Tom Gorman

Pennsylvania + 1000 Miles

(Previously received the central patch + New York and Vermont.)

In early August, my wife Betsy and my mom dropped me off at the North Country National Scenic Trail trailhead just south of the New York/Pennsylvania border. I hiked one mile north to the state line, then south for nearly 100 miles in the Allegheny National Forest, a very remote area with no towns or stores and very few road crossings. I encountered fewer than a dozen other hikers along that section of the trail.

The following week they picked me up just outside of the southern boundary of the forest near Marienville, Pennsylvania. In mid-September, they dropped me back at the trailhead near Marienville, and from there I completed the remaining 180 miles of the Pennsylvania section of the trail. This was a fun section of the trail as well, passing through many small towns, a long, flat section along the Allegheny River on a paved hiking/bike path. This had previously been a railroad bed that took me through several very long tunnels, plus a stop at McConnells Mill State Park with a 100-year-old grain mill.

My current hiking adventure on the NCT ended past the 1000-mile point at the Ohio border, northwest of Pittsburgh, where my wife and mom drove to pick me up. I loved the Pennsylvania section of the NCT and I highly recommend it.

Learn more about long distance hiker recognition at explorenct.info/NoCoLo/index.htm.