AT Watch — Horizonline Pictures

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The Long Start to the Journey follows filmmaker Chris Gallaway on his attempt to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail.

“Frost” (as he comes to be known on the trail) encounters severe weather, injury, loneliness, and fascinating characters he meets along the way. He walks over 2,000 miles in seven months, experiencing major life changes from becoming engaged to a close family tragedy. In the course of his hike discovers the origin story of the Appalachian Trail and how the early values and battles of the trail movement shaped what the AT has become today.

The Long Start to the Journey is a beautiful odyssey through the mountains of eastern America, a story of growth through perseverance. It reveals why wilderness is something essential for people in the modern world.

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WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Reviews

Over the past twenty years, l've seen all sorts of films that purport to show an accurate picture of long-distance hiking on the Appalachian Trail... The Long Start to the Journey is by far the best of these pictures. A Walk in the Woods is great fiction, and may make for an entertaining movie, but Chris Gallaway's film is the real deal. It deserves the widest possible audience.

Jack Tarlin (Thru-hiker with over 25,000 total A.T. miles)

I've been hiking the trail for 43 years and l've seen a lot of narratives and a lot of films about the trail, and this is the best l've ever seen.

Warren Doyle

The Long Start to the Journey is such a compelling personal story of Gallaway's moving and emotional personal journey from Georgia to Maine. It is the best presentation of hiking through winter on the A.T. I have ever seen on film and is chock full of important pieces of Trail history.

Ron Tipton (Executive Director of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy)

One of the audience hits at this year's River Run International Film Festival... a natural crowd-pleaser.

ScreenDaily.com

A beautiful and touching film that succeeds in capturing the range of emotions we all experience when put to the challenge.

Ric Serena (Mile... Mile & a Half filmmaker)