Groveland man completes ‘Triple Crown’ of hiking

Eddie Thompson hikes 3 major U.S. trails — and almost 8,000 miles

Eddie Thompson had returned to his mom’s Groveland home after finishing a 3,100-mile trek through the untamed elements of mountains, lightning and wildfires on the Continental Divide Trail — the last of three mega hikes he has completed.

“I think most of these long-distance hikes are so brutal that you kind of have to have a switch in your head that says either die or finish — and I started the trail saying that,” said the 30-year-old, who grew up in the “boonies” of Lake County along State Road 33.

Thompson has accomplished what only 300 others in the world have completed since the American Long Distance Hiking Association began recording the feat in 1994 — the “Triple Crown” of hiking. That means he’s walked the nearly 8,000 combined miles of the Continental Divide Trail, Appalachian Trail and Pacific Crest Trails, among the most legendary paths in the country.

The adventures, he said, are open to anyone willing to take the plunge — and the payoff is immense for something “utopic.”

Thompson and his girlfriend Christine Snow, 29, made huge sacrifices in modern living to spend six months in the Eden of natural landscapes and the company of fellow hikers after saving for the adventures.

“The thing I love about it is the community,” said Snow, who didn’t join Thompson on his latest trail but hiked the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest alongside him. “It’s the great equalizer. Everybody on a trail is a family.”

“It’s one thing to drive up to a beautiful thing like the Grand Canyon,” Thompson said. “But when you’re working every day, physically paying for it, you’re working for beauty. There’s times when you’ll break down and almost cry.”

And danger lurks. Coyotes once circled and sniffed his tent at night. Another time lightning struck 20 feet away as he held an umbrella to shield himself from rain.

“After that, you called me in the next town,” Snow said to her boyfriend. “You were elated, because you were just blissed out on being alive. And you told me you had this near-death experience and I said, ‘Don’t tell me.’ ”

At times, he used the sun for his guide. About 30 percent of the Continental Divide Trail is not complete.

Thompson said the majestic trails provide something for everyone.

“There’s the hippies, there’s the people that are doing it for the competition, there’s the people that have guide books and there’s the people that are just lost and trying to find themselves,” Thompson said.

He puts himself in the last category.

After high school graduation, he became certified for massage therapy, but ambled along in life until he felt compelled to do something — “a call for adventure” — and set out to hike the 2,190-mile Appalachian Trail about five years ago.

Stretching from Georgia to Maine, the trail’s elevation gain is the equivalent to hiking Mount Everest 17 times. Hikers often bite off sections at a time and complete it at their own pace. Thompson completed each trail as a “through” hiker — in one stretch.

But he realized he was a novice within days of setting out on the Appalachian Trail. His clothes were soaked with sweat and the temperature dropped to near freezing at night. A girl he met on the trail gave him some of her clothes and they bundled at night to stay warm.

“She saved my life,” he said.

Thompson, who’ll receive his Triple Crown award next year, and Snow plan to take a victory lap in Mexico. Of course, they’ll go hiking, and when they return to the U.S. they plan to move near Asheville, N.C., where Thompson will work as a massage therapist and Snow as a temp.

“We’ve basically lived a different place every winter,” Snow said. “We live very simply, we make sure we have affordable rent. We don’t have the internet, but we’re OK with that. We just go to the library and a rent movie.”

Since the American Long Distance Hiking Association began recording Triple Crowners in 1994, the numbers of those accomplishing the task has increased every year. In the beginning, only one or two completed all three trails — usually done over a number of years — but in the last three years the average has been about 30.

Snow said she can worry about Thompson, but “it’s just about respecting that he’s a human being and this is just a part of his journey and his path and this is what he needs to do to feel alive.”

As Thompson neared the end of Continental Divide Trail in September, he encountered wildfires rampaging the Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana.

Finding a window of a few days when the trail was open, he was able to reach his final destination in Canada.

“The more you hike, the more you lose the fear, because you’ve encountered all these things,” he said. “So fear becomes an obsolete emotion at some points.”

Eddie Thompson has hiked the Continental Divide Trail, Appalachian Trail and Pacific Crest Trails.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF EDDIE THOMPSON Eddie Thompson has accomplished what only 300 others in the world have done since a hiking organization began recording the feats in 1994.

Thompson’s girlfriend Christine Snow hiked the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest alongside him. “Everybody on a trail is a family,” she says.

COURTESY EDDIE THOMPSON Eddie Thompson enjoys a respite from hiking with his girlfriend Christine Snow. The two are staying at his mother's home in Groveland after trekking from Mexico to Canada.