He Carried All His Own Gear and Hiked the Appalachian Trail's 2,198 Miles in Just Over 45 Days

Jeff "Legend" Garmire, 34, set a new self-supported fastest known time on the Appalachian Trail on September 21, 2025, completing the 2,198-mile route southbound from Maine to Georgia in 45 days, 8 hours, and 37 minutes — narrowly beating Joe "Stringbean" McConaughy's 2017 record of 45 days, 12 hours, and 15 minutes. He went southbound deliberately, front-loading the hardest terrain early and ramping up mileage as the trail eased later on.

His attempt nearly fell apart around the 400-mile mark, when he opened a mailed resupply box to find he'd accidentally sent himself two left shoes — forcing him to keep hiking in worn-out old ones while knowing a future box would now contain two right shoes instead. "It was the roughest moment. I was so upset with myself," he said. Resupply troubles kept compounding: rats got into another shipped box and postal workers discarded it entirely, leaving him to cover roughly 30 miles on minimal calories before reaching a different resupply point, where he spent about $200 restocking. Broken trekking poles, stomach trouble, and unseasonably warm weather added to the difficulty.

By the halfway point he realized he'd fallen behind pace, and leaned on the same mental approach he coaches other endurance athletes to use: stay in contention as long as possible rather than give up on the pace. "As long as I put myself in the position that I have a chance as late as possible, then that's where I want to be," he said. With 48 hours left, his mindset shifted in a way he admits wasn't ideal — from chasing the record to simply trying not to blow it — and finishing brought immediate relief from that stress rather than pure celebration.

Garmire has built a career around fastest-known-time pursuits: in 2016 he completed the Triple Crown of long trails — the Appalachian, Pacific Crest, and Continental Divide trails — within a single calendar year, in a record 252 days, and has since set FKTs on routes including the John Muir Trail and the Long Trail. He documents his hikes for more than 31,000 Instagram followers, hosts a podcast, runs a blog called Free Outside, and coaches endurance athletes. He'd wanted the AT record since 2020 but kept getting derailed by circumstance until this year, when he ended his lease, put his belongings in storage, and spent months living and training in the Northeast to fully commit to the attempt.

By publicizing the attempt and being open about his own mental health struggles along the way, Garmire also raised $32,000 for The Trevor Project, a suicide-prevention and mental health organization for LGBTQ+ youth. "Maybe we can make an impact and save a few lives by directing attention that I'm just going to get because people like the AT," he said, "but if we can direct that to something that actually makes life-changing impacts on people, then that would be way more beneficial than just doing the AT."