Smith's Walk

What will the experience of hiking the beloved Appalachian Trail be like if America goes down an authoritarian path toward a dystopian future? Could the Trail die along with American democracy? Could ravaging climate change, mindless AI rule, and corporate greed spell the end of the world's most famous long-distance hiking-only footpath?

These are the questions rumbling behind an adventure story as 87-year-old Frank Aaronson attempts to become the oldest hiker to thru-walk an expanded Trail from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Katahdin in Maine while also dodging men with badges and guns determined to find him and return him to a prison cell.

Everything is on the line - the Trail's very existence, Frank's freedom, and even his life as this old man endures the hardships of an epic trek. What he finds on those rugged Appalachian mountain ridges is shocking violence but also friendship, love, and ultimately hope for a better world.

Smith's Walk is an exploration of the potential consequences of American democratic dissolution and a warning of what could happen to one of the nation's greatest natural treasures - the 2,198 miles of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail.