Mike Wurman joins the festival this year to give an "Eat, Drink and be Literary" author's talk on Friday night, June 7, at the Old Stone School in Hillsboro, VA (a ticketed event). His work will be featured at the festival in our "Art of the Trail" invitational show, with a free opening reception on June 7th at 6 p.m. 

Completed in journal fashion, Mike's book A Sketch & A Prayer chronicles the miles and stories of his journey along the Appalachian Trail in search of inspiration. Filled with stories, drawings, pictures, tips and tricks, the book shows, firsthand, the ups and downs of a long-distance hiker. These days, Mike is at work on his fourth book. We asked him to tell us how hiking the Appalachian Trail changed him and his art. 

After I moved to Asheville, North Carolina, to pursue a career as a pencil artist, I began to feel uncertain about my abilities as an artist—and as an individual. I had lost my passion for creating, and I stopped drawing.

In 2014, I went hiking across the summit of a nearby, bald mountain named Max Patch, where I literally crossed paths with the Appalachian Trail. I was immediately inspired to draw again, but I also knew immediately the Trail was calling me to make the 2,200-mile pilgrimage from Georgia to Maine.

Despite having no backpacking experience, two months later I left from Springer Mountain, Georgia, carrying two sketchbooks and an assortment of pencils, and I headed north. It often wasn't easy, but my journey on the Trail strengthened my belief in myself and my love for nature. I realized I wanted to share that with others through my art.

While I still work in pencil, I realized it was time to branch out beyond the black-and-white world of graphite so that I could truly convey the vivid imagery I experienced on the Trail each day. And so, I taught myself to draw with pastels, adding color to my art so I could better capture the wonders of nature.

I've continued to be inspired to explore new adventures and landscapes. After the A.T., I thru-hiked the Colorado Trail and the West Highland Way in Scotland. With a sketchbook in hand, I'm always looking for my next great adventure.

—Mike Wurman

Meadows Farms Nurseries has been a major sponsor of our A.T. Festival from the start. We asked owner Jay Meadows about his connection to Loudoun and our A.T. Festival. Here's what he had to say:

I have lived in Loudoun since 1972. I grew up in Sterling and graduated from Broad Run High School in 1979. We raised our kids in Ashburn—and, now, my wife Doreen and I are empty nesters in Round Hill. So, I have worked my way across the county over the last 50 years. My family owns Meadows Farms Nurseries, and we've been doing business in Loudoun all that time.

I love the county and have enjoyed all it offers over the years. Great commerce, great sports, great schools, great people and wonderful opportunities to enjoy the outdoors. I love western Loudoun with its open spaces allowing me to own a little bit of land for hunting, fishing and gardening. 

Beyond my own home, I have a great appreciation for our local mountains and waterways. I love to kayak fish for smallmouth bass on the Shenandoah. Doreen and I like to hike—most notably we get out to the Thompson Wildlife Area every spring to view the trillium bloom. It is wonderful.

We got involved with the original Round Hill Appalachian Trail Festival because it sounded like a worthwhile event to us. Living in Round Hill, we are interested in preserving the countryside all around us. The A.T. is a big part of that.
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In addition to being sponsors, we've been able to attend the festival most years. It's fun running into people we know, listening to the music, checking out the vendors and soaking up all the cool vibe.

• Thru-hikers Devin and Di know what they wished they'd had on the trail: a tasty, protein-packed, energy-boosting, light-weight snack. So, they're making their dream a reality for this year's long-distance hikers by introducing "Double D's DIRT," a shredded pork jerky. Double D's DIRT joins us at our A.T. Festival as a sponsor and vendor. We asked them about their A.T. experience and their new business.

​What inspired you two to thru-hike the A.T.?
We both grew up in the Carolinas, and the Appalachian Trail was on each of our bucket lists for a long time. Devin is an Eagle Scout who grew up hiking sections of the A.T. with scouts and friends. While attending school in NY he hiked the PA, NJ and NY sections of the Trail and vowed to thru-hike one-day. Di hiked sections of NC/TN as a student and parts of NY when she was living in the city. The opportunity to thru-hike presented itself in 2022, and we jumped on the adventure!

Trail names?
Our joint trail name is "Double Ds." It was given to us by a shuttle driver and retired Amicalola ranger, Ron, who saved us from a snow storm the first week of our hike.

A trail story to share?
We were the beneficiaries of trail magic in the middle of Maine's 100-Mile Wilderness—TWICE!

We were really low on food about five days into the wilderness. We weren’t sure how we were going to make it to the other side. As we were walking, really hungry and trying to ration what little food we had left, we crossed paths with a ridge runner who was out for her last hike of the season. We told her about our situation and admitted we should have known better by this point in our hike. She was super understanding and just happened to have her truck parked a mile down the road full of food! She hooked us up with a big lunch and sent us on our way with a couple days' worth of food.

The next day we walked into a shelter for a lunch break. Two older couples sitting there immediately perked up and asked if we were thru-hikers. When we said yes, they were overjoyed. They had recently watched an A.T. documentary  and wanted to become "trail angels." They’d been waiting at the shelter all day, and we were the first hikers they’d seen! It was early October and they had decked out the shelter with jack-o’-lanterns full of candy. When we pointed out that the critters in the 100-Mile Wildness might be attracted by the candy, they decided we needed to pack it all out with us. So, we walked out of there with about ten pounds of candy, snacks, beer and TP. We forced all the hikers we saw to take all the candy they could carry!

In two days we went from almost no food to more than we could eat! Just more evidence that the Trail really does provide.

How has your time on the A.T. impacted your life in the two years since you hiked?
This experience will change you in ways you cannot prepare for. Post-trail depression is real, and our experience with it was severe. We found we're really over society. All we want to do is spend time outside with other folks who want to spend time outside. It feels great to return to the Trail and the community surrounding it. We’re weaving ourselves into the A.T. tapestry again this year, and it’s an incredible feeling.

What inspired you to start up Nomadd Life, your company behind Double Ds DIRT?
Nomadd Life actually started a couple years before our thru-hike when we were adventuring across the US and Mexico in our van, Lady.

Why is your product called DIRT? Will you be adding new products?
When you see it, you’ll get it! It looks a bit like dirt. But, we can guarantee that it’s the best DIRT you’ll find anywhere on Trail!

We didn’t officially introduce DIRT until mid-April this year. We hope to add new products next year including dried mushrooms, shrimp and a veggie blend. We're thinking about calling the veggie medley "Wabbit Food." 
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How are you getting DIRT in the hands of this year's hikers?
We’ve been doing trail magic up and down the trail, giving hikers “DIRTy” quesadillas. We’re also partnering with trail town restaurants to add a limited-time special on their menu, and we're working on getting into outfitters and hostels so hikers can pick up DIRT in their resupplies.

"Dig" some DIRT at the festival, and find more info on their new website: https://eatdddirt.com/.

Morris Jensen loves to travel and paint. His sketches and paintings have recorded journeys in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, the U.S., Canada, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iraq, Thailand, Vietnam, Kenya, France, Greece and Corsica. Jensen comes to the States this year to hike the A.T. in Virginia, sketching as he walks. He'll bring his new pictures to the festival's "Art of the Trail" show. We asked Jensen about his art and hiking.

Does sketching enhance your hiking experience?
I hike to sketch; nowadays, I rarely go out hiking or walking without taking a sketchbook. When sketching, I stop and get to see all sorts of things others may miss. As I sit quietly, the kingfisher returns to its fishing perch, the deer, having been spooked by a group passing by, returns to drink. The hardest thing to do, especially if hiking in a group, is to stop and sketch. You feel bad for holding the others up; so, let them go ahead and share the art with them later.

What sort of sketches do you do on the trail? 
Mainly atmospheric rather than realistic. It depends a lot on the subject. An atmospheric sketch can only be captured at the moment; a realistic painting can be reproduced later from a photo.

Other types of sketches that I like to do and ones I like to give away are 8x6-inch postcards of simple views as I’m hiking along, a hill crest, a fallen tree, or stump, a small bridge. I can then add a person's figure to these sketches at camp on an evening or on zero days. I attach my contact details to the back to stay in touch. And sometimes I get commissions this way.

What art supplies do you carry with you on a hike? 
There's no one best kit to carry—as all trips differ from each other albeit a day hike, a few days camping or a six-week Camino trip. Now, I’ve seriously had to rethink my kit for my three-month Appalachian Trail project, mainly because I need to be able to carry everything I'll need along the trail, including food and water.

I will carry two paint boxes, both designed for travelling. My first holds 14 pans and is for general painting. The second—a Painters Pocket Palette—holds 12 colours for mixing more greens, greys and earth colours, plus a few reds. (My go-to red is Alizarin Crimson.) You need to know your colour wheel and keep the old paint in your paint box corners for those greys needed to paint tree branches, rocks and rainy skies.

I am not a brush snob; I take old brushes, cut them down to about six inches and throw them into a zip bag. I'll carry large and small flat brushes, various rounds, a short and a long rigger and a trimmed fan.

By far the heaviest thing I carry is paper, so it's best to give it away. I cut and carry about 60, 8x6-inch rectangular sheets of watercolour to paint on and give away as gifts or exchange for beer, snicker bars and tea bags.
 
Other items I carry are sponges, a folding water pot, a kneading eraser, a viewfinder, a spray bottle and a folding seat. I also bring a craft knife for trimming pencils to a chiselled edge. This all adds to my weight, which is why I need a separate front pack. All in all it weighs about 2 kilos/ 3.5 lbs. 

What will you be working on as you hike?
I'll be sketching many more scenes than painting them because it puts less pressure on me to produce full watercolours. I'll also carry a small sketchbook  for details like fallen trees, the fire pit next to a shelter, a lone privy and the interesting old bridges. Also, local fauna and flora. All these subjects can, with the aid of photo references, be added to a full painting  once I’m back home in my studio. This leaves my main sketchbook free for fuller scenes.
 
I will do a few full watercolours, as show pieces for the A.T. Festival, and for this I will need a dozen or so sheets of high quality paper. This needs to be transported in a lightweight but solid case to avoid damage and humidity.

Pen and wash is primarily an urban sketching technique that can be adapted for landscapes. Using  a permanent ink pen I first draw the subject before filling in the colour, a handy method to capture details in topics such as stone and wood shelters and sign posts.

Here's a guest blog from Rick Oxner, friend of the fest and owner of Warm Peet—both a sponsor and a vendor at this year's event:

Warm Peet will be back for its fourth year at the Loudoun A.T. Festival. After all, this festival is where we launched our company in 2021, and it feels like home to us! Some things have stayed the same: we still make great socks and we still donate 100% of our profits to mental health organizations and nature conservation.

In other ways, 2023 was a year of transition for us with personnel changes, departure from social media and a move to the Boston, MA, area. Moving forward in new directions is always exciting. We have a robust festival schedule this year, kicking off on May 18th in Boston at the NAMIWalks event where all profits will go to NAMI Massachusetts to support their work promoting mental health awareness. Find our complete festival calendar here: www.warmpeet.com/events.

New sock designs and weights are in the works, and we anticipate launching new product lines by the end of the year—but, in the meantime, we have the same great OGs and no-shows available. We are also working on a retail presence in the northeast; details to come!
 
Besides the Loudoun A.T. Festival, one of our local recipients of Warm Peet donations has been Rock Recovery located in Arlington, VA. This year, Rock Recovery will be supporting Warm Peet at the A.T. Festival and manning our vendor tent. I can’t say enough about the work they do and how much I appreciate their support. 
 
Rock Recovery bridges mental health treatment gaps by providing access to services including therapist-led groups, mentorship and community-based empowerment programs—regardless of financial position. The nonprofit specializes in treating eating disorders, one of the most destructive and deadliest of mental health conditions about which there is still much stigma and misunderstanding. Many people are surprised to learn that one in 10 individuals will struggle with an eating disorder in their lifetime, and that those suffering range from very young to very old and include all genders and ethnic groups. 

All Warm Peet profits from the A.T. festival will support Rock Recovery—and, through the end of 2024, you can use the code “recovery20” for online orders, and all profits tied to that code will go to them as well.

Yellow House Natives joins the festival again this year, selling native plants that please our pollinators and take care of our critters. We asked Owner Wendy Dorsey to tell us a little about what got her into the native plant business.

What inspired Yellow House Natives?
I was dividing flowers at our house one day when my husband came over to where I was digging. I remember I looked up at him and said, "I should be growing native perennials."  It had just popped into my head. I had always loved growing things and had lately read a lot of articles about the importance of native plants. My husband said, "You should." Then I thought, "Oh, shoot." (Except it wasn't "shoot.")  I recognized this as a moment when I could rise and take the challenge, or treat it like it was just a passing whim. It was scary to think about as I knew it was going to mean a lot of work.  

How does this business fit with your family's history of conservation?
My husband and I care deeply about nature and preserving open and undeveloped spaces. He is a third generation family farmer in Clarke County, and we have put our two farms into conservation easement. We taught our children to be comfortable and respectful in natural places by going into the woods and around wetlands to look for wildlife. Our son graduated college this past spring and decided to come home and help work the farm. Working with farm services and NRCS, we have established field borders of native flowers and warm season grasses for quail and other wildlife and allow cover growth along the creek and on rock breaks. Most recently, our son improved a wetland area to create a better habitat for waterfowl.  

​How long has Yellow House been in business?
I officially opened in 2021, but I refer to this as my soft opening. I didn't advertise much, and I didn't participate in any garden fairs or plant sales off the farm.  My learning curve was steep and I wanted to be a bit more confident. In 2022, I did more marketing and started participating in events. Last year, I added even more events to my schedule—including the A.T. Festival. 2024 will be my third full year in business, and my schedule is busy.  But don't let that stop you from coming to visit my nursery, as I love being able to show people my entire selection.

Do you have any specialties?
Not really, other than the fact that I love to learn about native plants and the ecosystem and continue to do so every day.  I'm happy to share what I know.

Any advice for people getting started with natives?
Yes!  Go for it!  Don't get overwhelmed thinking you have to begin with a huge project. Begin by adding one native plant. Every effort, no matter how small, makes a difference. 

What can people expect to find at your A.T. Festival sale?
I will be bringing native perennials, ferns and grasses.  This year I've expanded my tree and shrub offerings, so I'll have some of those as well.