Appalachian Trail Chaplain

06/02/2026

05/30/2026

Greeting Friends;
I'm glad you decided to follow my section hike of the AT from Pearisburg, VA, to Waynesboro, VA. I really got into backpacking after retirement thru-hiking the Uwharrie Trail with the Three Rivers Land Trust out of Salisbury, NC. I met some fellow hikers on those thru-hikes and formed some friendships that took me to section hiking the Mountains to the Sea Trail, Foot Hills Trail in South Carolina as well as a section of the Palmetto Trial. I finally hiked the AT in the Shennadoah section last fall.

I enjoyed the views but mostly enjoyed the people along the way. After posting on Facebook, a chaplain colleague reached out and asked if I would be interested in hiking a section of the AT as a Circuit chaplain. I applied and was selected to serve in that ministry. We were commissioned in February by the Holston conference of the United Methodist Church.

As a Circuit Chaplain, I will hike with others who aspire to reach the goal they've set for themselves. My role is to be a support person for those who have physical emotional or spiritual needs while on the trail. It may be as simple as sharing water purification tablets or a cliff bar to listening to what sparked their desire to hike the trial. In the literature I read about the AT, many folks are going through some transition. It could be a gap year before starting college, grieving a significant loss i.e. the death of a loved one, the loss of a relationship, or searching for meaning in life. Others just want to hike the AT because it is there.

I'm looking forward to my time on the trail and the experiences yet to be had. I ask your prayers for the hikers on their journey and that I will be blessing to them and they to me. God's Peace!!

05/26/2026

Jeff “Rocky Top” Wadley checking in from the very wet trail in Virginia. In the movie Forest Gump, Tom Hanks character said “One day it started raining and did not stop, then all of a sudden out of no where it just stopped.” Well, the phrase “No rain, no Maine” is at work here in northern VA. It started raining last Thursday at 2:00 and it is still raining (Monday night Memorial Day). The good news is I am never without drinking water.

Last Monday-Wednesday it was approaching 95 degrees and then suddenly it’s in the 50’s. As my friend Dwight McCarter would say “Go figure.”

I have made many new friends and have been well taken care of by friends I have known for a while. It’s good to have a place to get off trail, do laundry and dry out!

Fresh Expressions invited me to be a part of their podcast this week and once it’s airs I’ll let folks know how to listen. I gave a short history of the chaplaincy and why we are even doing this in the first place, plus I gave some more details of the day to day life of a AT thru-hiker (hike, eat, sleep, repeat).

Next week I will come off trail to attend a portion of Holston Annual Conference at Lake Junaluska. I’ll be the one in a suit on the platform getting my official retirement certificate. Yay! I suspect I will not be able to wear my trail clothes however.

Here are a few pics of the last few days. Hope you enjoy!

Rocky Top

05/18/2026

Jeff “Rocky Top” Wadley with a AT Chaplain update on 5-18. Having a blast! Looks like rain later this week so that means our water sources will be better. Water is the lifeblood of the trail and campsites, decisions are all made surrounding the availability of water. Met friends from Norway, Ohio, and Montana and more last week. Enjoyed trail magic from two friends of mine near Daleville, a pastor from Bedford, and from a hiking group who had a charcuterie board table! Good ministry conversations with hikers and I will be on a podcast with Fresh Expressions soon. Gotta head to Maine…

05/13/2026

Jeff “Rocky Top” Wadley reporting from the AT. All is well. In fact very well. It seems as if my trail name has caused Florida and Alabama fans to give me “other” names. Nonetheless, Rocky Top is journeying with thru, section, and day hikers alike. Want to see some cool photos? Well here you go….

05/11/2026

05/05/2026

Our 2026 Appalachian Trail Chaplain, Jeff Wadley (Trail name "Rocky Top") set off on his thru hike today from Pearisburg, Va.! He and his traveling companion, Flat Bob (aka a photo of ATC ministry co-founder Bob Hayes) are headed north!

The other ministry co-founder, Alan Ashworth, snapped some pix of Rocky Top has he set off, with Flat Bob in tow!

05/03/2026

The Confidence to Keep Going
“I’m done. Last night, lying in my tent, I admitted to myself that I don’t like hiking and I don’t like camping. It’s 35 degrees, and I’m living outside. I’m not enjoying myself, and I need to find the nearest off-ramp and go home.”

Those were the words I overheard early one morning this past week while I was still tucked inside my warm sleeping bag. This hiker was not attempting a thru-hike; she was section hiking about 75 miles of the 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail. Still, her frustration reflects something most thru-hikers experience. Every year, 3,000 or 4,000 people begin the AT, but only about 25% successfully finish. Sometimes hikers leave because of circumstances beyond their control. Other times, the trail simply becomes too difficult, and they quit.

But imagine if you were an aspiring thru-hiker and someone who could see the future told you with certainty that you would be among those who completed the trail. You would still have to walk every mile. The place called Jacob’s Ladder in North Carolina would still be insanely steep. Pennsylvania would still be terribly rocky. The White Mountains in New Hampshire would still be treacherous. There would still be cold mornings, rainy days, sickness, loneliness, exhaustion, and injuries. Staying organized with your supplies and food would still be challenging. Yet if you knew the outcome was secure, you would endure. Through hardship, you would say, “this stinks, but I know it will ultimately work out.” You would keep going knowing that the journey would lead to the finish.

The Christian life is not an easy life. There are days when we wonder if we can continue faithfully following Jesus. We face discouragement, doubts, temptation, and seasons when God seems distant. Yet our hope does not rest in our own strength or consistency. Scripture tells us that we have “his very great and precious promises” (2 Peter 1:4). Because of this, we can “fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:2). The God who began His work in us will carry it on to completion (Philippians 1:6). Jesus Himself promised that He will never lose those whom the Father has given Him (John 6:39), and nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ (Romans 8:38–39).

So yes, there are difficult stretches on the journey. But for those who trust in Christ, the end is secure—not because of our goodness, but because of His. One day we will be fully renewed and forever united with our Savior, and we will discover that He carried us all along the way!

Grace & Peace!
Soulman

04/26/2026

Traveling Light—On the Trail and Beyond

One of the most noticeable trends on the trail is the move toward ultralight backpacking. When I backpacked as a teenager, weight wasn’t something I thought much about—in fact, a heavy pack almost felt like a badge of honor. I’m pretty sure I carried close to 60 pounds when I was 16. These days, I carry less than half that—and the lighter, the better.

Getting my pack weight down took some work. I’ve had to upgrade most of my gear, choosing quality items measured in ounces rather than pounds. And those ounces are expensive! But I can say without hesitation—my 464-ounce pack feels a whole lot better than the 40, 50 or 60 pound loads I used to carry

I’m still not considered “ultralight.” Those hikers take it to another level—cutting toothbrushes in half, cold-soaking meals to skip a stove, and using trekking poles to hold up their tents instead of carrying tent poles. The goal is simple: carry less and move more freely. And on the trail, you quickly learn that not everything you bring is necessary—some things just weigh you down.

It’s hard not to see the spiritual parallel. The Bible speaks of traveling light—not in terms of gear, but of the heart, where we often carry burdens we were never meant to bear. We’re told to “strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up.” (Hebrews 12:1, NLT). And Jesus reminds us, “my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (Matthew 11:30, NLT).

I’m finding that, both physically and spiritually, the journey is better when the load is lighter—less weight, more reliance on God and others, and more space to notice what He is doing along the way.

Still learning what that looks like—one step at a time.

Grace and Peace,
Soulman
Appalachian Trail Circuit Chaplain