Quick Facts
Biography
Gene Espy (born 1927) is recognized as the second person to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. A Navy veteran and avid hiker, Espy began his hike on May 31, 1951, at Mount Oglethorpe in Georgia with a close friend, who dropped out after just a few days on the trail. Espy continued alone, completing his hike after 123 days when he reached Mount Katahdin, Maine on September 30. During his hike, Espy chanced to meet Chester Dziengielewski, who was thru hiking southbound, at the Smith Gap Shelter in Pennsylvania on August 6, the first ever meeting of a northbound and a southbound thru hiker on the Appalachian Trail. Dziengielewski completed his hike 10 days after Espy.
On June 17, 2011 Espy was inducted into the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame at the Appalachian Trail Museum as the only living charter member.