The meaning of the term “walking distance” varies from person to person, but it means the longest for thru-hikers like Gene Pool.
The Lindsay resident, who often forgoes vehicles to walk to church, stores and other locations, will be hiking the Colorado Trail during the next six weeks.
Pool recently retired from a solution architect position at a technology company.
“The thought of another meeting to discuss a meeting made the thought of standing on a ridgeline in a thunderstorm sound like a good idea,” Pool said.
In 2024, Pool took a leave of absence from the company to hike the Appalachian Trail, during which he was indeed caught on a ridgeline as a thunderstorm approached.
“It was hair-raising—specifically poor planning,” he said. “It’s a good way to get electrocuted, so I had to get down below tree line fast.”
Pool majored in computer science at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma and spent years working in the computer programming world. He began to entertain the idea of hiking the Appalachian Trail after reading Bill Bryson’s memoir “A Walk in the Woods.”
From March to September 2024, Pool hiked the over 2,000 miles of the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine.
“I got to be outside and moving, seeing new places and meeting new people,” he said.
Jane Pool, his mother, notes that her eldest son has always had this type of relationship with the outdoors, where he would go on lengthy bike rides at a young age and was involved in Boy Scouts, achieving the rank of Eagle Scout.
“I can see where he connects spiritually with God and nature while he’s out there,” Jane Pool said.
Pool attends Lindsay United Methodist Church, where he heads the audio-visual team, volunteers with the youth group and participates in the young adults group. Church members track Pool’s progress when he goes on his hikes, and he shares insights from the trail.
“One of the nice things about long-distance hiking is that it breaks down barriers to leave you open to experience the present,” Pool said.
To help achieve this, Pool does not use headphones while hiking, instead preferring to hear the sounds of nature.
“I prefer to listen to what’s around me, like if a bear clicks its teeth to tell me I’m too close,” Pool said.
During his six months on the Appalachian Trail, Pool read e-books on his phone using the Libby app. He spent eight to 10 hours walking each day, leaving plenty of time to read, chat with new people and sleep.
The biggest lesson he had from hiking the Appalachian Trail was the need for better preparation.
“I needed to walk more with the weight on my back on uneven surfaces,” Pool said. “On the AT, it was 10 weeks until my feet stopped hurting.”
Preparation for the Colorado Trail trip has included rucking (practicing with a pack on) during laps around the lake at George Brown Park in Lindsay and up Bromide Hill at the Chickasaw National Recreation Area in Sulphur.
Compared to the Appalachian Trail, the Colorado Trail is less built up, with fewer shelters and latrines and more nature.
He is not worried about the elevation, having hiked a small section of the Colorado Trail in 2025 and visited Colorado multiple times before. The challenge comes from the wildfires currently raging in Colorado, which have caused closures on parts of the trail towards the northern end. Most Colorado Trail hikers start at the northern end near Denver and head south to allow for a gradual increase in elevation. Pool plans to start in Durango and head north, in the hope the trail has reopened by the time he reaches it.
“I’ve been out rucking and should be able to handle it,” Pool said. “It’s much flatter and much less bumpy here, but I don’t want to push super hard to start with, and I can scale up mileage over time.”
If the section of trail is still closed when he reaches it, he will take a shuttle around it.
Going northbound on the Colorado Trail also gives Pool an opportunity to run into a friend he met on the Appalachian Trail who recently began hiking the Colorado Trail southbound. The community for thru-hikers is very tightknit.
“It’s a fairly eclectic group of self-selected people who had all decided to do this one unusual thing,” Pool said.
Even after finishing this hike, Pool plans to stay involved in the hiking community. He plans to open a hostel on the Colorado Trail, where he sees potential because it isn’t as built up as the Appalachian Trail.
“So many people helped me out on my AT hike,” Pool said. “I want to put myself in a position to help other folks.”
When asked to advise others who might want to start hiking, Pool keeps it simple: “Just go do the hike. It’s not for everyone, but for those it’s for, it’s a good time.”
To track Pool’s hiking adventures, both past and present, read his online trail journal at trailjournals.com/genepool.
