Robin Wood remembers exactly when he got “hooked” on the idea of hiking the entire Appalachian Trail — although he may not have realized it at the time. In the fall of 1973, Wood and his then-girlfriend, and now wife, Eileen, did an overnight hike on the A.T. near Stratton Mountain in Vermont. He had spent time outdoors before, but “that was the first time I put on a backpack with a tent and camped overnight,” he recalls. “What a feeling of freedom!”

Wood experienced that feeling of freedom many times over the years he spent section-hiking the A.T. He scheduled the hikes on weekends, vacations, and whenever he could take time off work as a radiologist. He hiked most of the Trail alone, usually in two- to- three-week chunks, but was occasionally accompanied by his son, Charlie, and his nephew, Craig.

Wood tackled the Trail from north to south because he was living in Maine at the time. Along the way, he met northbound thru-hikers who were getting close to finishing their epic journey at Katahdin. “I picked their brains about equipment and learned a lot. It was a wonderful way to get started,” he says.

As he worked his way through Maine, New Hampshire, and sections further south, he recalls, “I would just simply go to where I had left off the prior year. And that’s pretty much what I did all the way to Springer Mountain,” where he completed his section hike in 2010. As a gag, Charlie carried his father up the last steps of the mountain.

Quality Time that Is Hard to Duplicate

Wood says he enjoyed both solitude and companionship on the Trail. “It’s wonderful to get out on the Trail with people you love and spend a week with them. It’s quality time that is hard to duplicate in other settings.”

He also enjoyed meeting fellow hikers. “You meet so many wonderful people on the Trail,” he says. “Years later, I still remember conversations I had.”

Wood also valued time alone, his senses heightening as he disconnected from the day-to-day world. “I’ve done some great thinking on the Trail. And the lovely thing is, you’re not even thinking, your brain is working in the background,” he says. “You’re going along and you’re looking at the birds in the sky or a mountain in the distance — and suddenly, this idea pops into your brain about something that’s been bugging you, and it’s the solution to the problem.”

Showing Appreciation

To demonstrate his appreciation for decades of serious hiking on the A.T., Wood established an Appalachian Trail Conservancy endowment fund to provide permanent support for Trail maintenance. “The guts of the Trail are maintenance, and I think it often gets overlooked and underfunded,” he says. In addition to providing for the long term, including after Wood’s lifetime, this fund will generate annual income that can cover ongoing maintenance costs, thanks to interest from the fund’s invested assets.

Wood has also shown his support for other ongoing needs associated with protecting and managing the Trail. In 2022, he made a generous contribution that benefits both the ATC and its volunteers who provide on-the-ground Trail maintenance.

In Damascus, Virginia, the ATC was opening a new visitor center to educate area residents and hikers about the region, responsible recreation, and environmental stewardship. The center includes a workshop that provides hands-on training for volunteers as they prepare to work on the A.T. Wood’s gift made it possible to renovate an existing structure on the property to provide workshop and storage space for tools used by volunteers.

Wood chose to honor his parents for inspiring this gift: “Mom and Pop had no interest in hiking, but my inscription was thanking them for giving me life and legs to walk,” he says, referring to a plaque on the building’s exterior.

Then, last fall, Wood contributed a major gift of appreciated stock to the ATC for a membership match challenge. His generosity inspired more than 880 new and lapsed members to donate in support of the ATC’s work to manage and protect the Trail. Wood hopes that the various ways he has supported the ATC’s mission will inspire others to do the same.

“There are other organizations that help to maintain the A.T, but to me, the ATC is the face of the Appalachian Trail,” Wood says. “When I think of the Trail, I think of the ATC. When I wanted to give back, that was the logical choice.”

Asked for advice for new hikers, Wood says, “Get out there and try to spend more than just a weekend. Try to get out there for a week or two. And don’t be afraid of solo hiking.”

But most importantly, have fun being part of a special community of people enjoying an experience like no other in the wilderness. “Hikers are wonderful to talk with and you can learn so much and have a good time.”