Adventures in Ultralight:Thru-hiking the City of Seattle! with athlete Liz Thomas

Liz Thomas is an adventure athlete best known for holding the women’s unsupported speed record on the 2,181-mile long Appalachian Trail from 2011 to 2015. She has completed the Triple Crown of Hiking–the Appalachian Trail, the 2,650 mile Pacific Crest Trail, and 3,100 mile Continental Divide Trail–and has backpacked over 10,000 miles across the United States on long distance hiking trails. Liz is among the most experienced woman hikers in the country and is known for her ultralight hiking style- traveling light and fast on trails and through urban environs all across the US. In addition to her experience hiking, Liz also received a Masters in Environmental Science from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and the prestigious Doris Duke Conservation Fellowship for her research on long distance hiking trails, conservation, and trail town communities. Liz has been featured in Backpacker Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, and LA Magazine and has given talks about her experiences at colleges, hiking clubs, and conferences across the country.

Liz's talk will include discussion of her current project, a potentially first-ever urban thru-hike of the city of Seattle (taking place from Oct 28th to November 9th), which includes most of the Emerald's city's many public stairways! As part of her talk she'll touch on ultralight hiking and gear, her mapping and planning work tracking down and connecting all of Seattle's stairs for her trek, and what it takes to become a sponsored athlete - and her talk will include a gear raffle of ultralight hiking gear and other fun schwag donated by her sponsors! Her talk will appeal to anyone interested in hiking, backpacking, wilderness travel, navigation, ultralight hiking and backpacking, and urban hikes and walks.

Mountaineers Books will also be selling discounted copies of Seattle Stairway Walks, which Liz used to plan her urban thru-hike here in Seattle.

Please RSVP so we know how many attendees to expect, and check out Liz's website for more information!