Captain Blue's

Appalachian Trail Photos

Photos by Andy "Captain Blue" Niekamp

6,200+ Miles On The AT And Counting.
(since 1994)

Since 1994 Andy “Captain Blue” Niekamp has hiked 6,200+ miles on the Appalachian Trail (AT), a continuous footpath that runs through fourteen states from Spring Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine. He has been awarded two “2,000 miler” certificates by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy which is conferred on hikers who have completed the entire AT and he is a Life Member of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. Andy first became interested in backpacking in Boy Scouts, took his first solo hike on the AT in 1989, and since then has hiked the trail in sections end-to-end over two and a half times.

His average hike on the trail is 10-15 miles per day but he has walked up to 27 miles in one day. In the last few years he has averaged 500-600 miles per section and his longest hike was 840 miles in 1998. He finds each successive end-to-end hike gets easier and more enjoyable and his favorite areas of the trail are the southern Appalachians, New Hampshire and Maine. Most of Andy’s AT hiking is solo, but occasionally he has friends join him for short sections and he has met many interesting people along the way.

Almost all of his hiking has been in the summer months when the long periods of sunlight make it easier to hike more miles. Bears, moose, deer, bobcats and rattlesnakes are some of the wildlife he has encountered on his AT adventures and he really enjoys seeing azaleas, rhododendron and mountain laurel in bloom. A bird called the Veery whose song sounds like a bird whistling down a tube is his favorite AT animal. Cold weather, rain, hail, lightning, wind, heat and drought conditions are no strangers to Andy.

At night he sleeps in the shelters along the AT if they are not crowded or in a one-person tent that he carries. About once a week he hitchhikes into town to resupply his food, take a shower and wash his clothes.

Andy says “the physical and mental demands of long distance hiking are a great way to recharge one’s internal batteries and get a fresh look on life.” Long distance hiking is the closest thing Andy has found to a “fountain of youth.” Andy is grateful to his employer, Electronic Data Systems, where he is a systems analyst, for letting him take extended time off work for hiking.

Andy stays in shape when not hiking long distance by taking many walks and hikes in and around Dayton. He also enjoys camping and caving. And is a member and officer of the Miami Valley Outdoor Club, member and past chairman of the Rockcastle Karst Conservancy which owns the Great Saltpetre Cave and is a member and past chairman of the caving organization, Dayton Underground Grotto.

The Ninjas believed that by enduring grave hardship they would draw exceptional powers from the earth.

"Adventure is not outside a man; it is within." -- David Grayson

You can only talk the talk if you have walked the walk.

A real section hiker is never thru!

Second End To End Hike

Fall - Hot Springs to Davenport Gap
36 Miles
States: NC, TN
Southbound