With nine thru-hikes and nine section hikes of the Appalachian Trail under his belt, Warren Doyle, 70, is a legend in the trail community. When he set the first known speed record of 66.3 days on the AT in 1973, he did it wearing blue jeans.

The 38,000-miler has even been arrested for civil disobedience, an incident that occurred on Mount Katahdin in the late 1970s when he climbed the Maine peak to protest a rule that prohibited summitting it during rainy weather (at the time, it was the only American mountain with such a policy). He chose to spend a night in jail rather than pay a fine, but it was worth it: Baxter State Park eventually changed the rule.

However, Doyle’s accomplishments don’t end where his footsteps do. In 1983, he founded the American Long Distance Hikers Association. And in 1989, he created the Appalachian Trail Institute (ATI), which offers courses to prepare thru-hikers.

Doyle has worked tirelessly to bring others to his sanctuary, to give back to the trail by inspiring generations of thru-hikers and leading others into the mountains. And even with the thru-hiking season on hold, the trail icon’s message continues to resonate.

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Warren Doyle, of Mountain City, Tennessee, has hiked the entire 2,180-mile Appalachian Trail 18 times, including nine thru-hikes. 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, 2020, during the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame Banquet at the Army Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle, PA, 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.

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