Choosing life along the Appalachian Trail has had its rewards.
written by JULIE PERINE
photographed by NIKKI BOWMAN MILLS
IN 1996, LAURA CLARK TRAVELED FROM HER HOME IN URBAN VIRGINIA to hike in Harpers Ferry. Beyond the scenic beauty of the trail system, she noticed something else. “There were no supplies or services for hikers, or the recreation community, at all.”
A CPA by trade, Clark longed for something different. “I didn’t enjoy my work, and I wanted a small town life, where I could work and play in the same community,” she says.
She decided to kill two birds with one stone. “I took the leap and opened Harpers Ferry General Store,” she says. She started with supplies for food and feet—”Both are really important if you’re going to hike”—and over time added T-shirts, water bottles, and stickers as well as souvenirs of the Appalachian Trail and the historic railroad town at its midpoint.
The business grew to include a hiking store, a general store, and a hard-core backpacking store. But Clark has now decided less is more. “After having three storefronts, we consolidated everything into one store. Harpers Ferry Outfitters is located in the historic General Store Building, just two blocks off the Appalachian Trail,” she says. “Hikers have walked approximately 1,000 miles from Georgia or Maine when they get to Harpers Ferry.” At HFO, she and her husband, Ron, sell limited equipment but have a wide selection of resupply for hiking including water treatment, specialty foods, first aid supplies, shoes, and foot care products.
Since Clark ditched her professional life—and the 401(k) and five weeks’ vacation that went along with it—for life along the Appalachian Trail, she has weathered challenges, including the COVID-19 shutdowns. And Harpers Ferry has experienced train derailments, floods, landslides, and fires. “This area is so dynamic,” she says. Just one of the perks has been the people. “The diversity of visitors we have is quite remarkable—we had a 70-year-old retiree who lived in Japan for 25 years and, just recently, we had a visitor from Thailand. I could go on and on.”
She even wrote a book about it. Available on Amazon, All Walks of Life is about the people of the Appalachian Trail. “We see criminals, judges, children, the elderly, and everyone in between. It has been a great life experience.”
Clark says she has learned much from those she has encountered through her store. “The most important lesson is resilience — being able to adapt and change,” she says. “If you’ve ever been hiking on a long trip, you learn how to adapt to change and move on. That is true when you’re on an adventure—or if you’re finding something else that you like to do in life.”
161 Potomac Street, Harpers Ferry, “Harpers Ferry Outfitters” on FB
READ MORE ARTICLES FROM WV LIVING’S SUMMER 2024 ISSUE
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