Justin Bullock, FISM News
Five year old Harvey Sutton has completed hiking the Appalachian Trail with his parents after a 209 day trek. He is the youngest person to complete the trail in a continuous hike and the second youngest person to complete the trail at all. The historic and beautiful Appalachian Trail stretches 2,193 miles from Springer Mountain, Georgia to Katadhin, Maine.
Harvey earned the nickname “Little Man” while on the trail and even experienced his 5th birthday while hiking and camping. The Sutton family live in Virginia and have done camping and hiking trips with Harvey since he was two years old. The Sutton parents indicated that Harvey maintained a great attitude throughout the trip and expressed a wonderful sense of adventure, curiosity, and ingenuity as they encountered new and challenging scenarios.
The hike was relatively uneventful apart from a snowstorm in the Smoky Mountains that forced the Suttons to retreat close to 30 miles over two and a half days. The Suttons tried to keep Harvey’s imagination engaged during the long hike and found it easy with the abundance of breathtaking views and fascinating creatures and plants along the way. Now that Harvey has completed the Appalachian Trail he will go back to Virginia and start kindergarten.