The Five Most Influential Backpackers Of All Time

[weary]

I agree that almost all the names mentioned were influential. But the person who probably influenced the most people over the decades was Henry David Thoreau. In addition to Walden, his books and essays told of exploratory walks to the mountains of Western Mass, Monadnock, Washington, and first called broad attention to the wild Maine mountains and rivers. His writings inspired Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir, among the millions who have sung his praise.

[Jack Tarlin]

I'd add Stephen T. Mather to the list, a man whom most Americans have never heard of.

Without his efforts, the National Park System as we know it would not exist.

[Spogatz]

What about the original Homo Sapiens that came out of Africa and spread all the way around the world.....They had to walk a long way....

[RockDoc]

The question is "influential", not most skilled or with the most miles under their feet. These days, that means authors of books, and arguably, web material.

Bryson
Fletcher
Rybeck
Wingfoot
Jardine
might list Thoreau in here too ...

with Honorable Mention to Thomas Jefferson, because if anyone else was President at the moment Napolean thought about selling Louisiana, they would have ignored it and today we would all either be still back in our original countries, or clustered along the Eastern Seaboard. This had been a pet project of Jeffersons prior to 1803. I've seen no indication that any other early President or founding father considered the idea of expanding the US to the Pacific Ocean. Let's hear it for visionary Presidents (we've had so few)!
For those that might say TJ was not a backpacker, remember that his father was a professional surveyor and cartographer at a time when Virginia was largely wild frontier. TJ also held the post of county surveyor for a time. He knew how to hike, carry a load, and read the land, and this background was essential for his planning of the Lewis and Clark expedition.

[Wil]

I'm surprised Dorothy Laker hasn't been mentioned. Certainly on my top 10 list, anyway.

[Papa D]

How about Papa D? I mean come on you guys. No votes for me yet??????? HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

[rocketsocks]

Papa D papa D he's our man,if he can't hike it no one can!+1 vote for Papa D

[Miami Joe]

1. Moses
2. Amerigo Vespucci
3. Hernan Cortes
4. Marco Polo
5. Johnny Appleseed

[Papa D]

1. Moses
2. Amerigo Vespucci
3. Hernan Cortes
4. Marco Polo
5. Johnny Appleseed

+1 to Johnny Appleseed

[rocketsocks]

And +1 for Moses,cause let's face it.........he's Moses!

[Barbarosa]

The guide books "The Pacific Crest Trail: Volume One and Volume Two", raised doubts about Ryback's claim and produced evidence that he accepted rides for some of the journey. Ryback and Chronicle Publishers sued Wilderness Press, the publisher of the guide books,^[16] but the suits were dropped in 1974.^[17

[Blue Jay]

3. Hernan Cortes
4. Marco Polo

I could be wrong, as I was not hiking that year, but didn't these thrus have horses?

[Penn-J]

I agree that almost all the names mentioned were influential. But the person who probably influenced the most people over the decades was Henry David Thoreau. In addition to Walden, his books and essays told of exploratory walks to the mountains of Western Mass, Monadnock, Washington, and first called broad attention to the wild Maine mountains and rivers. His writings inspired Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir, among the millions who have sung his praise.

I agree. I read Thoreau on a daily basis.

[DogPaw]

I put my vote in for Emma Gatewood, by virtue of hiking the AT multiple times with a duffel bag, toothbrush, light blanket, food, and a stick. In her old age. Consecutively.

[lemon b]

Johnny Appleseed is a myth. No more real then Alice in Alice in Wonderland.

[vamelungeon]

Johnny Appleseed is a myth. No more real then Alice in Alice in Wonderland.

Johnny Appleseed was in fact a man named John Chapman and was quite real.

[vamelungeon]

I'm surprised Dorothy Laker hasn't been mentioned. Certainly on my top 10 list, anyway.

Good point! She's one of my hiking heroes.

[hikerboy57]

Johnny Appleseed was in fact a man named John Chapman and was quite real.

if you borrowed the caterpillars hookah, you would find out that alice is very very real.

[rocketsocks]

if you borrowed the caterpillars hookah, you would find out that alice is very very real.

I never met alice,but I did meet that little tuft of moss down there at the foot of the mushroom.

[lunchbx]

Not a thru-hiker but def influenced me to getting off my bum and into the outdoors Mr. Richard Proenneke