Yes, I hiked alone, but no need to worry! Not only was I a well-prepared and competent hiker, having trained, researched, and undergone a Wilderness First Aid certification, but I also was able to make friends with other hikers along the way. Most days I would hike alone, but meet up with fellow hiker friends for dinner or lunch for the company. I loved the freedom of being a solo-hiker, seeing where my desires & curiosities would take me, and the friends I made on the trail will surely be friends for life.

Maine took my heart. Camping by a lake, waking to calls of loons, hiking through never-ending moss, scrambling through obstacle-course-like boulders, catching a glimpse of the dancing Northern Lights…***sigh*** The trail in Maine seemed to encompass the highlights from the past thirteen states, all in one, for one grand finale on the trail. I highly recommend taking a hike in Maine, but keep an eye out for the moose, mosquitos and falling dead trees (see next question for more on that)!

Two weeks before completing the trail, I was woken up in the middle of the night to this very heavy water-logged dead tree falling on my tent. While falling, the tree snapped in half. The first half fell across my shins. I was lucky to have a centimeter of clearance from two broken legs because the tree fell from a hill above my tent, leaving that little gap for my legs. The second half of the tree fell backwards, missing my friend, and landing about a foot above my head on top of my stove and fuel canister, which luckily didn’t explode on me at that time. Looking back on the experience, I feel as though the trees were looking out for me, for all the hugs and gratitude I had given them along the previous 2,000 miles of trail. Print #21 illustrates the moment from this positive lens.

Indeed I do! I have enjoyed giving many talks thus far about the hike and/or the project, including talks for Scout troops, elementary school classes, college outing clubs, college design classes, and print conferences. Please email lindsay@gingerlypress.com to book!

Yes, there are a limited number of full sets of prints in the handmade clamshell boxes available in the online shop. Each full set includes a limited edition hand-built clamshell box that holds all the prints and allows one to read the chronicle like a book. The clamshell box also includes a printed title page, special thanks page and signed colophon page. Clamshell box sets currently live in both private & public collections including the Library Of Congress’s Rare Book & Special Collections Library, the University of Delaware’s Special Collections Library and the University of Indianapolis’s Permanent Collection.

While you can find frames at 14×18” to fit the print exactly, it’s easier to find a standard 16×20” frame or a 18×24” frame to have some breathing room around the print. Float frames work well for allowing breathing room and you can see the back of the print where the trail stats and map are located. Any of these 16×20” float frames or these 18×24” float frames would work great, depending on your frame size & color preference. I also love the prints matted and framed in one of the gallery quality handmade maple frames made by Pittsburgh’s Knot & Figure, available as an option on my site in each print listing!

No, the three journal designs were created solely for the Kickstarter backers that allowed for this project to come to life in the first place. However, we currently have a whole selection of Large Journals available for purchase in our shop for your journaling needs! If you’re interested in wholesaling journals for your shop, start here.

Unfortunately, no, there are not enough of the limited edition posters left to be selling any wholesale. But don’t fret! We have an entire line of prints, cards and journals available for wholesale. If you’re a new buyer, start here. If you’re a returning wholesale buyer, you can enter the password for the wholesale shop here to place your order.

Nope! Every print is an original limited edition print. We create all our imagery at Gingerly Press by pressing paper into inked printing blocks, either existing in our collection as metal or wood type or added to the collection as plywood carved by hand. Therefore, making a smaller size print would involve carving new plywood blocks and redesigning the print with smaller type & ornaments. You can learn more about our handset letterpress process here, and you can try your hand at printing in one of our workshops too! If you’d like to commission a design for a smaller size you can inquire here.

I’d absolutely love to make it out for another thru-hike one day! Both the Pacific Crest Trail and Continental Divide Trail interest me, but some studio goals need to be met before I can run off to the woods for 6 months again! Since hiking the Appalachian Trail, I’ve moved my studio to an 800sq. ft. rented space and would need to set up some business systems, an employee and raise some additional funding to be able to keep the studio afloat while in the woods—we’re working on it! In the meantime, I’ve been enjoying day hikes and weekend camping & backpacking trips. Perhaps a smaller thru-hike like The Cohos Trail or The Wonderland Trail will make it on the calendar before the next big hike!