The Long Walk South: Tara Dower’s Record on the Appalachian Trail
From Katahdin’s granite crown in Maine to the worn stones of Springer Mountain, Georgia, she covered the 2,190-mile Appalachian Trail in 40 days, 18 hours, 6 minutes – a new overall supported fastest known time. Not just the women’s mark, mind you, but the fastest of anyone.
That’s near fifty-four miles a day, over ridges that would make a mule groan.
Although the word “trail” is in the name, trust me, it is no “trail” as you might envision near your home.
Many hikers are humbled by the slick rocks & roots of Maine, and more still broken by the endless ups and downs of Virginia. But Tara kept moving,’ one sunrise to the next, her small crew leapfrogging’ down the old ridgeline. They’d hand her food, patch her feet, and send her back into the green tunnel. It wasn’t a solitary triumph; it was a caravan of grit, faith, and blister tape.
She started this walk years ago, though, long before the stopwatch ever ticked. Her first attempt on the AT ended in panic after only a week. But like all who absolutely love the trail, she came back – wiser, steadier, unafraid of her own mind. She cut her teeth on the Mountains-to-Sea, Benton MacKaye, and Colorado Trails before setting her sights again on that long ribbon through fourteen states.
The weather tested her. The mud of New England, the storms of the Smokies, the ache of endless descent into Georgia – all of it part of the bargain. She fell behind early, clawed back the miles with dawn starts and moonlit finishes. She fueled on real food, not dreams – pasta, eggs, and coffee served from a van that smelled of sweat and hope.
When she reached Springer Mountain near midnight on September 21, her watch read forty days and some change. The old trail keepers smiled. The ghosts of Benton MacKaye and Grandma Gatewood must’ve tipped their hats. For the first time, the fastest traverse of this grand footpath belonged to a woman.
Tara didn’t do it for fame or flash. She raised money for Girls on the Run and told anyone who’d listen “you can do hard things”. That’s the real record she set – showing’ every wanderer that the trail yields not to strength alone, but to heart.
In the end, she didn’t conquer the Appalachian Trail. Nobody ever does. She joined it, step for blistered step, until the trail itself carried her home.
And if you listen closely next time, you are walking’ the ridge, you might still hear her footfalls – steady, humble, reminding us all: keep moving’ south, pilgrim, keep moving’ south.
An amazing feat for sure, Congrats Tara!