Young boy hikes 3 major trails

OVER the past five years, Christian Thomas has hiked nearly 12 800km, completing the three trails that make up the Triple Crown of United States hiking. That in itself is a very big deal.

But even more jaw-dropping is this: Christian is just 9 years old!

He didn’t set out to become the youngest hiker to complete the Appalachian, Pacific Crest and Continental Divide trails. It just sort of happened – one step at a time – starting shortly after his5th birthday in April 2013.

“We thought it was going to be like a fun two-week trip,” the Colorado fourth-grader said of that first long hike with his mom and step dad. “And then we just kept going and going.” Nine months later, they’d finished the Appalachian Trail. “And then we thought: ‘Why not do the other two?’”

So the next year, when Christian was6, the family spent eight months on the Pacific Crest Trail, crossing snow-lined mountain passes and scorching deserts. He finished the Triple Crown by completing the Continental Divide Trail two months ago.

Other hikers often call out ‘Hey, buddy!’ when they see Christian on the trail, which led to his nickname, Buddy Backpacker. He is well known in the hiking community, and the shoes and Superman T-shirt and cape he wore when he was 5 are displayed in trail museums.

When hiking, Christian keeps up with school work by listening to podcasts and other educational material on his headphones.