by Morgan Kazanjian
When Jonathan Timmes learned through Facebook that a childhood friend that he hadn’t seen in over 25 years was hiking the length of the 2,200 mile Appalachian Trail, he knew it was something he wanted to be involved in. After some difficulty, he was able to connect with Steve, and Jonathan and his assistant planned to meet him on the trail right outside of Smithburg, Maryland. Jonathan discovered, however, that he would have more subjects to photograph than just Steve.
[It] turns out that over a period of time on the trail, he’s managed to connect with a few other characters to make the trek with. They all go by trail names, which was a lot of fun to bond over.
Even though Jonathan and his assistant had to backpack all of the strobes and the rest of the equipment to the trail, they still brought a cooler filled with food and beer for everyone. According to Jonathan, “that was a HUGE HIT!”
[We] shot from roughly 6:30 to 8 p.m. [and] had to pack and hike all of our stuff back to the car in the black of night. [A] total blast.
Jonathan explained that the hike usually starts in Georgia in April and finishes up in Maine in September, so while he would like to expand on this project, most people have already passed through his region.
[It] looks like we’ll have to put the word out and try to connect with some of 2015’s crop of hikers.