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Q&A: Pownal Woman Conquers Appalachian Trail After Detour
By Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
08:06AM / Sunday, September 25, 2016
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Some of Cochran's pictures of the trail, weather, friends and pesky bears.

Hannah Cochran's 'weird selfie' atop of a sleety Mount Katahdin.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Hannah Cochran is a hiker through and through, but she is not a "thru-hiker," not technically, at least not in her opinion.
 
Others would differ with the Pownal, Vt., resident and Mount Greylock Regional School graduate.
 
Cochran launched an attempt to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail in 2014. But before she could complete the 2,190-mile trek from Georgia to Maine, she was sidetracked by the news that her father in Hancock was diagnosed and being treated for cancer.
 
Understandably, she decided to forego her dream and be with her family. But this summer, she completed the trip, reaching the summit of Mount Katahdin, the 5,200-foot peak that marks the trail's end in Maine.
 
In a summer when North Adams was recognized as an Appalachian Trail Community, Cochran sat down to talk about her personal achievement, life on the trail and what adventures she may seek out next.
 
Question: So, you started the trail last year?
Answer: I started it two years ago, in 2014.
 
What brought you to that step? Had you done long sections of it in the past?
A: Nope. My first night staying overnight in a tent was my first night on the trail. I'm not sure why I wanted to hike. I got the idea in high school. And it was just sort of like a bug. Once I realized I could do it, I just thought I should.
 
Had you been an avid day hiker at that point?
A: I'd always liked hiking. But I had never done an overnight hike. My tent was new when I used it the first night.
 
How much preparation did you do going into it?
A: Not too much.
 
Did you read up on it and that sort of thing?
A: Other than saving up money and figuring out where my food drops were going to be along the trail, I didn't do any exercise or that sort of thing.
 
And you were hiking solo, right?
A: Yes.
 
How was that first attempt in 2014 going?
A: Great. It was amazing. I met incredible people along the way. I had some really great experiences in small towns that you pass through.
 
There's a lot of really great 'trail magic,' which is when people bring snacks and stuff on the trail or bring you to a grocery store to resupply.
 
It was really amazing. It was a good experience, for sure.
 
Did you have a particular part of the trail that stands out, any favorite sections?
A: I really like the sections leading up to Massachusetts. You could really tell with the land and the trees and trail that you were getting to Massachusetts. It was exciting to have a close-to-home kind of thing. And Vermont was really beautiful as well.
 
Now we're talking about the continuation of the hike, because the first time you stopped in Connecticut?
A: Yes, in Kent.
 
And had you been in contact with your family by phone or by text during the hike?
A: We talked on the phone a couple of times a week, a lot of texting and stuff like that.
 
What was your immediate reaction when you heard the news about your father?
A: It was weird. My dad said he wanted me to finish, but it was difficult. I got back on the trail for two weeks and got up to Rutland, Vt., from Kent.
 
But it was just too bizarre for me to keep hiking, so I got off and came home.
 
I can only imagine it wasn't an enjoyable two weeks for you.
A: It was hard. I remember talking to a couple of people and mentioning that I wasn't having a great time. And this one family in particular who hiked a bunch of different sections said, 'This is the most beautiful part of the trail. If you're not in the right head space for it, you should get off.'
I think that was the right thing to do, because getting back on in the right head space was amazing.
 
So you went down to Kent, Conn., and picked up again?
A: Yes.
 
Not to jump ahead too much, but your dad is fine now?
A: Yes. He had a surgery that replaced his jaw with bones from his leg. And he went through chemo and radiation, and he is cancer free. He's retired from that.
 
I was definitely able to return without being worried or anything like that.
 
And you started two years ago. Did you wait to finish until this year because the timing just wasn't right in 2015?
A: I just started a new job, and I couldn't take the whole month off. I needed a month off to finish. I was able to take two weeks at a time. So I did the last bit in two chunks, which was Rutland to Mount Washington and Mount Washington to Mount Katahdin.
 
Purists say you have to go all the way through. Do you feel like you did it anyway?
A: No. I definitely would say I'm a section hiker. It feels like, 'dirty' to say I'm a 'thru-hiker' when I didn't do it.
 
But my friends who I initially met along the trail on my first hike told me I'm allowed to think I'm a thru-hiker. People have been nice about it.
 
Do you want to do it again? Do you still have the bug?
A: Maybe. I've been thinking about the [Pacific Crest Trail] on the West Coast. I definitely need to take some time off, though, just because it took two years to finish, and a lot happened in those two years. I need some time to process it.
 
But I enjoy distance hiking a lot.
 
Tell me a little bit about the feeling when you got to Katahdin.
A: It was great. I basically ran the last five miles. I left my pack at the bottom and just ran to the top.
 
It was a great feeling that day, but at the very top it wasn't so great. It was 40 degrees and sleeting and slushing and raining and the wind blowing sideways. My original plan was to go up to the sign and wait for someone to take a picture of me, but by the time I got there I realized I was going to be hypothermic pretty quickly. So I just took a weird selfie and ran back down to the bottom of the mountain.
 
I imagine that wasn't a day when a lot of other people were going to come passing by at the summit.
A: Some of the other thru-hikers I was with that morning were deciding to wait another day to go up.
 
Did you take days off on the trail?
A: On the first chunk, yes. Once I met some people, if they were taking days off, I didn't want to lose them. So I took some days off.
 
The last two chunks, not really. The last two chunks were more of a solo hike, and it felt more lonely to take a day off than just to keep hiking.
 
I was hoping I would meet people, but it was just the wrong time of the year, I suppose. The bubbles of people had already passed through.
 
And you already alluded to this, but some of the folks you met on the first try you've stayed in touch with and made some connections there?
A: One of my closest friends does trail work in Montana — trail maintenance. He's been doing it for the last two years. It seems like he's probably going to be in the woods for the rest of his life.
 
A couple of people have gotten married. It's fun because they're from all over the place. It's not like your high school friends. It's a different sort of connection.
 
Did you go to Mount Greylock?
A: Yes. I graduated in 2009. I went to Mount Holyoke College for a year and a half and Connecticut College for the rest of my college career.
 
What are you looking to do with your degree?
A: I'm thinking about going back to school for criminal justice. I'm not sure. I'm kind of in this in-between period where I was waiting to finish the trail before I started thinking about it. Now the pressure is on. So I've been doing some soul-searching.
 
Right now I work at [Public Eat and Drink].
 
Other than the 'weird selfie,' did you get any other good pictures out there?
A: Oh yeah. I'd have to go through them. I got a lot of pictures of bears.
 
Hopefully, the bears didn't get too close to you — or your supplies.
A: They're not that dangerous. In the Shenandoahs, they're like everywhere. They're like raccoons. They'll wait for you outside the privy, scare you and then run away into the woods.
 
But they never got into my food. A couple of mice did, but no bears.
 
You mentioned you did portions of the hike with friends. Certainly there's an element of safety involved — not from bears — but it's good to be with friends.
A: Yeah. And a lot of the trail is hitch-hiking. And it's helpful to have a group of people with you to do that. It's also helpful to have a woman with you, because that's how you get cars to stop. And then five guys jump out of the woods and say, 'Hey, we're going, too.' It was a symbiotic relationship.
 
But it was comforting to be with friends. There weren't too many times when I was scared.
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