HE'S GOT A JOB HE CAN WALK AWAY FROM ANYTIME

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 4, 1993                   TAG: 9302040318
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: S-1   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: LYNN A. COYLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Long
HE'S GOT A JOB HE CAN WALK AWAY FROM ANYTIME
To support his habit, Leonard Adkins has washed dishes, sold stereos, and driven a truck for UPS during the Christmas season.
Together he and his wife, Laurie, have worked as crew members on a sailboat, park interpreters, assistant directors of an outdoor education center, and proofreaders for the West Virginia Legislature during its two-month session.
Leonard Adkins got hooked in 1980 when a friend suggested they hike the Appalachian Trail. Adkins, who had never hiked in his life, replied, "Great! . . . What is it?"
His enthusiasm wasn't dampened when he learned that the trail ran more than 2,100 miles from Maine to Georgia. Adkins got a leave of absence from his job and bought his hiking gear. Then his friend backed out on him.
Undaunted, Adkins went to Georgia and set off to complete the hike alone.
He only did about 900 miles. Figuring that was his last hurrah, he settled back into his job as a state social worker in Charleston, W.Va.
But that winter he kept thinking about the trail. So in 1981 he picked up where he left off and hiked the remaining 1,200 miles or so.
He returned home to "start working and really get on with regular life," he said. But spring came "and I couldn't stand it."
That's when he realized that this was what he wanted to do, Adkins said. So he quit his social work job and began doing whatever odd jobs he could "to support my habit."
Adkins estimates he has done more than 14,000 miles of hiking since that first summer when his friend deserted him. He really prefers the term walking, he said, because people can relate to it better.
The year he quit his job, Adkins met his wife. On the Appalachian Trail, of course. She was about 10 days into her first "through hike" - the length of the trail - when they met near the Georgia/North Carolina border. "We were sort of seeing each other every day and the next thing you know we were hiking together," she said.
They got married at the Peaks of Otter in 1987. "We wanted to get married as close to the trail as we could but yet still make it accessible to other people," Leonard explained.
These days Laurie, who has hiked about 10,000 miles, works as a medical technologist at the Salem Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Leonard makes his living at hiking-related activities. He has written books and articles on the subject and gives slide programs to any group that will have him.
Leonard has given several programs for L.L. Bean at the company's store in Freeport, Maine. Mostly, his programs are presented to colleges and parks and recreation departments but he also has done a writers conference and "even a couple dinner parties," he said.
His first book, "A Walking Guide to the Caribbean: From the Virgin Islands to Martinique" (Johnson Books), resulted from a stint the couple did in '84 and '85, working as crew members on a sailboat cruising the Caribbean. They had lots of time to explore the islands, "so we went and found all these neat little walks and hikes," Leonard said. He hadn't planned on writing a book, but when he returned home, he thought he should share what he learned.
His most recent book, "Walking the Blue Ridge: A guide to the Trails of the Blue Ridge Parkway" (University of North Carolina Press), has sold more than 10,000 copies in less than a year and a half and is in its second printing, Leonard said. That's partly because local book stores have been great about stocking the book, he said.
Leonard spent last summer hiking all over Virginia researching the book he's currently writing - a guide to 50 Virginia trails scheduled to be released by Back Country Publications this year.
It's been almost three years since the couple has taken any of the mega-hikes they enjoy so much. Like their honeymoon - a six-month hike on the Continental Divide from Canada to Mexico. Or their 1990 two-month hike of the length of the Pyrenees Mountains that border France and Spain.
"Right now we're in a saving mode," Laurie explained. For the big one. "If we can work it out and maybe find some sponsors we'd like to do a walk completely around the U.S. on trails," Leonard said. Others have walked around the country, but on roads, not trails, he explained.
When he gives slide presentations, a couple of questions invariably come up, Leonard said.
He never quite knew how to answer the question, "Don't you ever get lost?" until he read a quote from Daniel Boone: "No, I've never been lost but I was a mite bit bewildered for two weeks one time."
People also ask how safe it is, often citing the murders on the Appalachian Trail. "I have never had any bad experiences," with people Leonard said. He's been invited into homes to eat, shower and spend the night. He's had people drive 20 miles out of their way and 20 miles back, just to help him re-stock his supplies.
"When you're traveling the world by foot it makes people more open to you and you more open to them," he explained.
If you're interested in booking a walking slide show, contact Leonard Adkins at 345-8728.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB