VALUE, MEANING AND THERAPEUTIC NOTIONS OF THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL by Kathleen D ...

223 Pages·2014·2.53 MB·English

by  Seal, Kathleen

VALUE, MEANING AND THERAPEUTIC NOTIONS OF
THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL
by
Kathleen D. Seal, M.S.
A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Council of
Texas State University in partial fulfillment
of the requirements of the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
with a Major in Environmental Geography
December 2014

Committee Members:
Ron Hagelman, Chair
Alberto Giodano
Yongmei Lu
Audrey McKinney
COPYRIGHT
By
Kathleen D. Seal
2014
FAIR USE AND AUTHOR’S PERMISSION STATEMENT

Fair Use

This work is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-553,
section 107). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations
from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgment. Use of this material for
financial gain without the author’s express written permission is not allowed.

Duplication Permission

As the copyright holder of this work I, Kathleen D. Seal, authorize duplication of this
work, in whole or in part, for educational or scholarly purposes only.
For Aiden
May you always value nature, friendship, family and yourself,
Pursue your dreams and never stop learning.

You are my love,
Mom
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This dissertation would not have been possible without the support and
encouragement of so many people. First, I would like to thank my advisers, Kevin Romig
and Ron Hagelman. I appreciate their patience with and dedication to my dissertation
research. I am grateful to Dr. Romig for advising me to engage in research on a place and
topic that is deeply meaningful to me, and for believing in me and supporting me through
my proposal and data collection. I wish the best for him in his new endeavors. I owe
many thanks to Dr. Hagelman for taking me on as an advisee in the midst of writing my
dissertation and through the preparation of my defense. I would like to thank my
committee members Alberto Giordano, Yongmei Lu and Audrey McKinney for their
commitment to this project, for sharing their expertise and providing input in the editing
phase. I would also like to extend recognition to I-Kuai Hung and Michael Legg of
Stephen F. Austin State University for continuing to encourage me in my scholarly
journey. Each of these accomplished academics have left an indelible impact on the
scholar that I have become and I am proud that each has a place in my academic heritage.
One of the many rewards of perusing a doctorate is the collection of friends that I
gained along the way. I might not have made it without their support. They have provided
inspiration, motivation, acted as a sounding board, a cheering section and provided
encouragement when I needed it most. Two women require special recognition. Christi
Townsend and I began this program together. I value her as a friend and colleague and
am very appreciative of her recommendation of me for my current teaching position.
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I feel completely blessed to have had Deborah Hann as an office mate and friend
throughout my teaching assitanceship, my comprehensive exams and proposal. I applaud
the successes of these two women just as much as they have mine. I would also like to
thank Deserrae Shepston, Gail Russell, Waverly Ray, Keith Bremer, Andrew Day, David
Parr, Clayton Whitesides, David Yelacic, Matt Connolly, Johanna Ostling, Stephen
Tsikalas, Elyse Zavar, Dave Nicosa, Melanie Stine, Kanika Verma and Ben Prince for
sharing this experience with me. You are all an inspiration to me and I hope that our
paths meet again throughout the course of our careers. I wish you all success and
happiness in your future.
In the third year of my doctoral program, my husband and I received a surprise
addition to our family, our son Aiden. Becoming a first-time mother in the course of
pursuing a Ph.D. has presented many challenges. Thank goodness I not only had a
supportive husband and family, but also managed to befriend an incredible circle of
“mommy friends” who helped me navigate the early days of motherhood and made the
balance of work and family seem feasible through their example. It is with deep respect,
love and gratitude that I thank Laura Ellis-Lai, Liz Plate-Murray, Kathryn Schach, Fanny
Priest and my sister Jena for their friendship, support and providing so much love and
light to me throughout my journey. Special thanks go Laura Ellis-Lai for her
understanding and comradeship, as we have shared the experience of tackling
motherhood, teaching and a doctoral program together. I also want to extend a heartfelt
thanks to Fanny Priest. Without her yoga instruction, I would be a nervous and stressed
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out mess. Rather, I have accepted all challenges with purpose, intent, acceptance and
eventual calmness.
I want to thank my parents, Ken and Ann Beach, for their continued belief in my
academic abilities. They have instilled the value of education and learning in me from an
early age. It is through my mother’s example that I knew that higher education was
achievable at any age and that faith in your own abilities can lead you to accomplish great
things. My Dad’s experience of thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail was my inspiration for
this dissertation. In joining him several times on his trek I had a window into the thru-
hiking community and to how spending a season on the trail could be a life changing
experience. I am also grateful to have made the acquaintance and friendship of Jennifer
“Firefeet” Stewart, another thru-hiker who also inspired me with her own thru-hiking
story and her continued dedication in outdoor pursuits.
Words cannot express how grateful and honored I am for the love and support of
my husband Ronnie, who recently pointed out that I had been a student since he met me,
some fifteen or so years ago. Without his shared commitment to my dreams, our marriage
and our future, I do not know where I would be today or what I might be doing. I only
know that my life would not be nearly as exciting, adventurous, enriching, challenging,
rewarding or meaningful had we not achieved this success together. This has not come
without sacrifice, particularly in the final stages of writing and defending this dissertation
when Ronnie took over the bulk of parenting duties on the weekends. I am happy to say
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that as of my graduation date, I will no longer be a student and we will have more
weekends to enjoy each other and the company of our fun and loveable kid.
Finally, I would like to thank all of the hikers who took part in this study. I thank
the organizers of the Annual Trail Days festival for allowing me to conduct my surveys at
the 2013 event. I also owe thanks to the site administrators of WhiteBlaze.net for posting
a link to my online survey on their website, and to Sean Gobin for sharing my study with
the “Warrier Hikers” organization who sponsor vets returning from deployment on their
personal pursuit of an Appalachian Trail thru-hike. To the hikers I surveyed and
interviewed for this study, I am forever grateful for your contributions to this research.
Your enthusiasm for the Trail and the sharing of your experience enriched this project
beyond my expectations. You shared your challenges, hardships, emotions,
accomplishments and ambitions. Some of your stories where inspiring, others
heartbreaking, all life changing. The three mantras that I learned from you is that you
must hike your own hike, not all who wander are lost, and life is not about the
destination, but the journey.
Happy Trails to all!
December, 2014

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Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in where nature may
heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul.
John Muir, 1912

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts
of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die,
discover that I had not lived.
Thoreau, 1854

“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside,
somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because
only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people
happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As long as this exists, and it certainly always
will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the
circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.”
Anne Frank, 1944

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................ v
LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... xiv
LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... xv
ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................... xvii
CHAPTER
I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 1
History and characteristics of the study site ............................................... 4
Research Goals.......................................................................................... 11
Significance............................................................................................... 13
II. LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................... 14
Wilderness................................................................................................. 14
Transcendentalism and the American Wilderness ........................ 15
Escapism and the Wilderness Experience..................................... 19
Solitude ......................................................................................... 20
Sense of Place ........................................................................................... 22
Place and social theory: ................................................................ 23
Landscape Interpretation ............................................................... 25
Sense of Place in wilderness recreation ........................................ 26
Therapeutic landscapes ............................................................................. 29
Restorative experiences and environment .................................... 33
Walking as a Therapeutic Activity ............................................... 39
Identity ...................................................................................................... 44
x