Warren Doyle, of Mountain City, Tennessee, has hiked the entire 2,180-mile Appalachian Trail 18 times, including nine thru-hikes.

Ignoring all the side trips involved in an AT thru-hike, that’s a total of more than 39,000 miles. It’s an informal, but legendary, record.

He also led eight group thru-hikes of the AT, seven of which saw a 100 percent completion rate among the hikers.

But there’s so much more on Doyle’s resume that has earned him a spot among the Appalachian Trail Museum’s 10th class of inductees into the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame.

The class, which will be formally inducted on Saturday, May 2, during the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame Banquet at the Army Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle, also will include Chris Brunton, of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia; the late Thurston Griggs, of Baltimore, Maryland; and the late Jim Stoltz of Helena, Montana.

Doyle also played a leading role in founding the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association in 1983 to encourage long-distance hiking and promote hiking interests.

Through his Appalachian Trail Institute, Doyle educates prospective hikers on the proper strategies to successfully hike the AT and other long distance trails. His program covers not only the physical conditioning needed and proper gear, but also emphasizes the emotional and psychological aspects necessary for a successful thru-hike. Scores of thru-hikers credit Warren with inspiring and guiding them to complete their lifelong goal.

His doctoral thesis was on the sociology of a group long distance hike.

Chris Brunton emigrated to the U.S. from England in 1967. Soon after he joined the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, where he has been a dominant force in trail construction and maintenance ever since.

Known to most as "Trail Boss", he has served for decades as district manager for an AT section in West Virginia and Virginia, including three miles that he personally maintains.

In 1979 the National Park service began to acquire land in northern Virginia to eliminate more than 14 miles of road walk for the AT. Brunton was one of three trail leaders flagging and then building the new trail.

As the work progressed, he also began to help identify additional tracts available for purchase. He was instrumental in helping to develop relationships with local landowners.

By the end of the project in 1989, 55 tracts totaling more than 1,600 acres were acquired and the “Rollercoaster” section of the AT was created.

In 1982 PATC acquired a house just off the AT in Loudoun County, Virginia. Brunton took over the job of renovating it, and under his leadership, the house became the Blackburn Trail Center, one of the iconic stops on the trail.

Like many other icons of the Appalachian Trail, the late Thurston Griggs led a full life separate from the trail. He had a doctorate in Chinese history and worked at the University of Maryland. But he also dedicated most of his adult life to the preservation of the AT.

He joined the Mountain Club of Maryland in 1959 and served two terms as its president. He also served as MCM’s archivist for many decades and in various other positions.

He was the first editor of Appalachian Trail Conservancy's newsletter The Register, and a member of its board of directors, including vice chair.

He worked relentlessly to preserve and protect the Appalachian Trail, mostly in Pennsylvania and Maryland. He was a key player in expediting the Trust for Appalachian Trail Lands purchase of Bagtown Road, which has since been named the Thurston Griggs Trail, a side trail to the AT.

At what many would consider an advanced age, Griggs became one of the first AT Ridge Runners. Additionally, he served as the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club's AT overseer between Turner's Gap and Lamb's Knoll.

Shortly before his death in October 2011, the National Park Service's Appalachian Trail Park Office awarded him the Golden Service Award for 50 years of service. Thurston also received the AT Museum’s initial Lifetime Achievement Award that year.

The late Jim Stoltz, universally known as Walkin’ Jim, was a musician, author, photographer, artist and environmental activist.

In his lifetime, he accomplished numerous long-distance treks, including a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail in 1974. In total, he hiked more than 28,000 miles of long-distance trips.

Between trips, he created, produced and performed original shows of his travels with photography and music, always incorporating his keen sense of environmental awareness and justice for all things wild. His musical, hiking, and environmental career spanned 45 years.

Stoltz produced eight musical albums and one music video for children, Come Walk With Me. His poetry was published as "Whisper Behind the Wind."

His lifework and dreams centered on his desire to share the beauty, the unique character, the mood and the value of wilderness through his music, writings, art and activism. In a front-page story, the Wall Street Journal called him the Music Man of The Wilderness.

The AT Museum has previously elected nine classes to the Hall of Fame. The Charter Class, elected in 2011, included Myron Avery, Gene Espy, Ed Garvey, Benton MacKaye, Arthur Perkins and Earl Shaffer. Members of the 2012 class were Emma Gatewood, David Richie, J. Frank Schairer, Jean Stephenson and William Adams Welch. The 2013 Class was Ruth Blackburn, David Field, David Sherman, David Startzell and Eddie Stone. The 2014 Class was A. Rufus Morgan, Chuck Rinaldi, Clarence Stein and Pamela Underhill. The 2015 Class was Ned Anderson, Margaret Drummond, Stanley Murray and Raymond Torrey. In 2016, Maurice J. Forrester, Jr., Horace Kephart, Larry Luxenberg and Henry Arch Nichols were inducted. The 2017 Class was Harlean James, Charles Parry, Mildred Norman Ryder and Tillie Wood. In 2018, William Kemsley Jr., Elizabeth Levers, George Masa and Bob Peoples were elected. Members of the 2019 Class were Jean Cashin, Paul Fink, Don King and Bob Proudman.

For more information about, or tickets to attend, the May 2 Hall of Fame Banquet visit

The Hall of Fame Banquet will be the kickoff of the museum’s Hall of Fame Weekend of public programs at Pine Grove Furnace State Park at Gardners.

The Appalachian Trail Museum opened on June 5, 2010, along the AT as it passes through the state park.

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Contact Marcus Schneck at mschneck@pennlive.com.