Our Stories

Randall Roberts: NCT Long Distance Hiker

Randall Roberts

Strongsville, OH
Ohio + 1,000-Mile rockers
Compiled by Joan Young

My first hike in Pennsylvania was on November 11, 2017. A couple friends hiked with me from the OH/PA border into Darlington, PA. In 2018 I made sure to spread out my hikes over the four Chapters in order to qualify for the Hike PA 50 patch. Hiking at least 12.5 miles in each Chapter area was the requirement at the time. 

My hikes that year included a 25.5-mile hike, splitting the mileage between two Chapters, and 48 miles in the Allegheny National Forest on the southern half of the Allegheny 100 Challenge (A-100). In May of 2019, I did a three-day backpacking trip from Rockland Tunnel to State Game Lands 63 and another backpacking trip from the Route 66 trailhead back to State Game Lands 63 in June. This allowed me to finish the state of Pennsylvania when I completed the northern half of the A-100 on June 8, 2019. To finish Pennsylvania, I first had to hike from the parking area 0.75 miles north to the New York border then turn around to start the A-100. My total unique mileage so far is 1,336. I’ve already started New York but I also plan to hike some Michigan miles this year in the Chief Noonday Chapter area.

An excerpt from this essay ran in the Spring 2021 issue (40.2) of our quarterly membership magazine, the North Star.

In 2012, a program was developed to provide a modest award and incentive to people who hike a large number of unique miles on the North Country Trail. Many hikers love patches, so a central patch and rockers were designed to give to those people who hike either [at least] one complete NCT state or 1,000 unique miles. In addition, those who complete the entire NCT under muscle power are given a certificate, and an outer rocker. Those who hike (including snowshoeing or skiing) the entire Trail are said to complete an end-to-end (E2E) hike. If some portions are bicycled, an end-to-end trip rocker is awarded.

To date (Spring 2021) 53 people have been recognized as NCT Long Distance Hikers. We know there are other people who qualify for these patches, but have not applied for them. There are currently 19 known E2E hikers. Two people have completed E2E trips.

To see the complete list of NCT Long Distance Hikers and find out how to apply for recognition, visit explorenct.info/NoCoLo. There are also links to known essays, journals, and more by these hikers.