Elizabeth Thomas (born 1987) is a thru-hiking champion and former women's unassisted speed record holder for the

Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail, also called the A.T., is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian Tra ...

. She holds the hiking "Triple Crown," having completed the

Pacific Crest Trail The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), officially designated as the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, is a long-distance hiking and equestrian trail closely aligned with the highest portion of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, which lie ...

, and the

Continental Divide Trail The Continental Divide National Scenic Trail (in short Continental Divide Trail, CDT) is a United States National Scenic Trail with a length measured by the Continental Divide Trail Coalition of between the U.S. border with Chihuahua (state), Chi ...

. She is the pioneer of the Chinook Trail in Washington and the

Wasatch Range The Wasatch Range ( ) or Wasatch Mountains is a mountain range in the western United States that runs about from the Utah-Idaho border south to central Utah. It is the western edge of the greater Rocky Mountains, and the eastern edge of the Gr ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. She is Vice President of the American Long Distance Hiking Association-West, an ambassador for the

American Hiking Society The American Hiking Society is a Maryland-based non-profit dedicated to preserving trails, the areas that surround them and the hiking experience. It was founded in 1976. Programs The American Hiking Society has three main avenues of action: *V ...

, and an outdoors writer for ''Wirecutter'', a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' publication. She is also Editor-in-Chief of ''Treeline Review'', a hiking gear publication. As of 2018, she completed 20 long-distance wilderness hikes.

Early life

Thomas was born in

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

and experienced a "typical suburban upbringing." As a child she was "really drawn to nature, but ..wasn’t really that active." However, a first-grade trip to a mile-long nature trail made a big impression on her, and from then on she attempted to get her parents to take her back to the trail on weekends. (''Cascade Hiker Podcast'', Ep. 127, 4:30) Thomas's mother was born and raised "in a

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

that--and even now--is not really for equality...not a great place to be a woman. Women didn't really do physical activity, they didn’t run or anything;" therefore, Thomas's "becoming physically active, becoming adventurous was a way herebelled as a teenager." Her first extended urban hike was in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, during which she traversed a 180-mile route that connected 300 staircases.

Education

Thomas attended

Claremont McKenna College Claremont McKenna College (CMC) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It has a curricular emphasis on government, economics, public affairs, finance, and internat ...

. During her years there, she became involved in outdoors clubs with fellow students and met professors who were also enthusiastic about hiking. (''Cascade Hiker Podcast'', Ep. 127, 5:42) After graduating, she earned a

Master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in Environmental Science from the

Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies Yale School of the Environment (YSE) is a professional school of Yale University. It was founded to train foresters, and now trains environmental students through four 2-year degree programs ( Master of Environmental Management, Master of Environ ...

. In the process, Thomas received the Doris Duke Conservation Fellowship for her research on long-distance hiking trails, conservation, and trail town communities.

Career

Thomas had never been backpacking as of 2007. A year later, the summer after her senior year of college, she completed her first thru-hike, the

Tahoe Rim Trail The Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT) is a 170-mile (274 km) long-distance hiking trail that forms a loop around the Lake Tahoe Basin in the Sierra Nevada and ranges of Nevada and California in the United States.Hauserman, Tim ''The Tahoe Rim Trail'' ...

, solo in six days. At the time, she "had a lot of experience dayhiking solo and doing big peakbagging trips with <24 hour goals" and had "car camped" and led a five-day backpacking trip in the

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a mile (). The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon Nati ...

, but had never "overnight-in-the-woods" hiked. She later completed her first major thru-hike: the Appalachian Trail. In 2010, Thomas completed the Continental Divide Trail. Thomas has worked with the American Hiking Society since 2010, when she attended Hike the Hill in

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, a national event that unifies trail organizations, agencies, and politicians to advance the American trail system. In 2011, Thomas hiked the 2,181-mile

, from

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

, in 80 days and 13 hours. Her trek set a record for the fastest female thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. The female record was broken by Heather “Anish” Anderson in 2015, who simultaneously broke the male record held at the time by Matt Kirk. In 2018, Karel Sabbe beat Anderson's record. In 2013, Thomas near-completed a thru-hike of all of

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

's breweries. In 2014, Thomas, Whitney La Ruffa, and Brian Boshart pioneered the approximately 290-mile Chinook Trail in

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. In 2015, Thomas trekked the

Sierra High Route The Sierra High Route (also called the Roper Route and the High Route) is a cross-country hiking route, long, through the Sierra Nevada. It was scouted by Steve Roper and described by him in his book ''Sierra High Route: Traversing Timberline C ...

. In 2017, Thomas published her book, ''Long Trails: Mastering the Art of the Thru-hike''. In August 2019, Thomas was featured in

Condé Nast Traveller ''Condé Nast Traveller'' was published by Condé Nast Publications Ltd, from The Adelphi, City of Westminster, London. It is a luxury travel Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical Location (geography), location ...

's feature story 14 Globetrotters Redefining the Way We Travel. In March 2020, Thomas will be the keynote speaker at the Texas Trails and Active Transportation Conference. Thomas leads groups on urban hikes of 11 American cities. One of the tours is the eight-day Urban Brew Thru, her thru-hike of every

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...

, totaling 60 establishments, the course charting in at 88 miles. She also leads the six-week online course Thru-Hiking 101 for ''Backpacker Magazine'' and speaks at "colleges, outdoor clubs, hiking clubs, ndwomen's groups."

Bibliography

*''Long Trails: Mastering the Art of the Thru-hike'' (2017)

Awards and recognition

Doris Duke Doris Duke (November 22, 1912 – October 28, 1993) was an American billionaire tobacco heiress, philanthropist, and socialite. She was often called "the richest girl in the world". Her great wealth, luxurious lifestyle, and love life attracted ...

Conservation Fellowship

Podcasts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Liz Hikers 21st-century American explorers American nature writers Yale University alumni Claremont McKenna College alumni Living people 1987 births