Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Congratulations Joe!

Today's the day -- Durham's own Joe Liles is expected to summit Mount Katahdin in Maine some time today to complete his 2,175 mile thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail! Liles was one of the founding faculty members of the NC School of Science and Math and following his retirement in 2008 decided he wanted to take on the challenge of hiking the trail. He began in March -- back when hiking the Appalachian Trail only had one meaning -- and was a popular hiking companion (according to trail reports) with his singing and harmonica playing. As you may know thru-hikers pick up a nickname during their adventure and Joe became Braid for the last six months, a fitting moniker for Joe's extended ponytail.

A thorough web and Facebook presence has tracked Joe all the way, thanks to Colin Law (NCSSM '86). There you can find video, stories and of course, given Joe's immense talents in photography, some terrific photos. I'm looking forward to the coffee table book myself.

Way to go Joe!

1 comment:

Marsosudiro said...

Awesome. Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods" is a fine companion to Joe's blog.