The Dexter Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Long distance love affair
Dexter woman and the Appalachian Trail
By Sean Dalton, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: May 29, 2008
Those who glimpse Jeannette Brooks at the grocery store might never see much past the surface of who this 38-year-old Dexter mom truly is.
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She's a mother of two, an education system and support developer and a loving wife and homemaker. She loves her friends and family in the Dexter community and takes an active role in the life of her family there, but there's a kernel of truth below the surface that is the core of her true passionate identity.
Brooks is a hiker, an Appalachian Trail regular and an all around outdoor warrior whose attraction to the outdoors is magnetic.
"I'm not your typical long-distance hiker," Brooks says of how her own story goes against the perception held by most people that she reveals this side of herself to.
"I drive an aging station wagon, and most days my biggest goal is to make sure the kids leave the house with lunches in their backpacks and no toothpaste streaks on their faces."
And while the family life has its harrowing moments, none come close to some of the challenges that Brooks faces on the "A.T."
The trail began conceptually in 1921 in the head of one Benton MacKaye - a government employee and planner. Now it is a 2,175 mile realization that is the longest marked footpath in the country, littered with scenic vistas, wildlife and opportunities for recreation. The trail corridor is also a green way, a flyway and a major indicator of environmental health along the East Coast.
It is who Brooks is.
"Beneath this midwestern mom exterior is an A.T. junkie," she said. "Sure, I get together with other moms now and then, and I can chat it up with the best of them about clothing sales, preteen children, or the latest title on Oprah's book list.
"But when my peers start talking about their upcoming spa getaway, family cruise or Florida vacation, my mind wanders."
There is a lot to experience on the trail, according to Brooks. The country's first national scenic trail, designated in 1968, houses more than 2,000 occurrences of rare, threatened, endangered, and sensitive plant and animal species. It crosses six national parks, traverses eight national forests, touches 14 states, and crosses numerous state and local forests and parks. The trail is maintained by 30 trail clubs and multiple partnerships, so there's a large community of trailer enthusiasts and Brooks counts herself among them.
Wild times
Brooks began her journey into the A.T. wilderness in 2004 at Zion National Park and has had many adventures since.
"We hiked Orderville Canyon trail in 2004 with friends, one of which saved our hides," Brooks said. The 12-mile hike started on a ranch and wound up a switchback trail to a canyon, which is where things got interesting.
"We hiked a dry riverbed for about five or six miles. A trickle of water appeared eventually and turned into a small river about half the width of Mill Creek."
The remainder of the hike was more of a combination wade and stone-walk through 60-degree water ranging from a couple of inches to deep enough to submerge an adult up to their head.
"It was very difficult to navigate over some of the steep boulders, particularly a couple of choke-stones which have created drop-offs measuring about fifteen feet," Brooks said.
The group didn't expect to have to bring out webbing to navigate down the bank, but Brooks says it was a good experience. "It was our first exposure to technical hiking.
"In three or four spots we needed to climb or slide down huge boulders into deep water and swim across the deep parts until we could regain our footing. One time I plunged all the way under."
Two days later the group hiked the five miles up Angel's Landing, which is "the most strenuous front country hike in the park. "It would require climbing straight up for two and a half hours," Brooks said.
"The first mile or so went okay, with a steep but manageable grade. Then we got to this interesting area called Walter's Wiggles, which got steeper and more difficult. Then we got to the last half-mile of the climb, where the park has installed metal chains to hang onto at some of the more dangerous spots, so you don't go skittering down the rock face to your death."
According to Brooks, a Boy Scout perished two weeks prior to their hike in that same area, at the end of which the group had traversed 1,500 vertical feet. "It was probably some of the most difficult hiking I've done ... I couldn't discipline my mind enough to quit thinking of falling."
Family affair
Despite all of the dangers inherent in traversing vast untamed swatches of Mother Nature, Brooks and her husband, have used the trail as a means of strengthening their bonds and experience life together on their own terms.
"It's a love affair that's been building for a while," she explained. "When our kids were babies, my husband and I hiked a little of the A.T., while passing through Virginia."
Throughout their lives, the Brooks' children, Joe and Maria, have been visiting places like Kensington for mini-hikes on the nature trails there.
"My heart leaps when I see (Maria) strutting down a trail with confidence," Brooks said of her mother's pride. "She was in the lead most of the time."
The first time her son Joe ran down a trail was at Dolph Nature Preserve here in Washtenaw County.
While out with the family on expeditions to more local outdoor venues, Brooks physically trains for her excursions into the A.T. wilderness.
Brooks had always been intrigued by the idea of "thru-hiking," which basically means extended periods of time spent away from family and work, which she says was just not going to happen on her watch.
"My husband said he could probably hold the house down for a week, maybe even two!"
That's when the goal was set: Start hiking at the approach trail and hike an average of two weeks a year until reaching the other end of the trail at Katahdin in Maine. The journey began at the southern end of the trail in Georgia.
So far she has hiked 400 miles of her overall goal and just returned this week from her last excursion, on which she was accompanied by her brothers.
"Not everyone in my life understands the draw," Brooks said. "Most people ask themselves "what would possess this otherwise normal suburban mom to go spend time in the mountains getting dirt under her fingernails, eating reconstituted freeze-dried chicken and peeing in the woods?'"
Those questions belie a lack of understanding of just what it is about hiking that draws Brooks - the camaraderie (and sometimes the opposite - solitude), the fresh air and the connection to nature, to name a few. There's also more to hiking that just "hiking."
"Often times you end up swimming, climbing, rappelling and taking any number of other actions that our bodies are (mostly) capable of."
Brooks recalls preparing for her first week-long section hike, which happened to be a solo trip.
"Some people I had talked to about it quietly pulled my husband aside and, in hushed tones, asked he was 'letting' me do this," she recalled. "The people around me are coming around though. Those close to me can now tell you how long the trail is, why you shouldn't hike in cotton socks and how to properly use a composting privy.
"My kids brag to their pals about the bear encounter I had in the Smokies last Spring and my best friend routinely informs others that I once traversed 19 miles in one day over three unforgiving mountains."
Brooks says that most people in her life understand that the A.T. "grounds her" and, according to her account, makes her a better mom, a better wife and a better person.
"It gives me a deeper appreciation for my world, a better understanding of the 'bigness' of God and the smallness of me, and a sense of balance that I can't easily achieve outside of the woods."
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