By Shelby Stewart
Staff Writer
Last year at just 18 years old Lynne Wummel took on 14 states and the 2,189 mile Appalachian Trail the longest marked trail in United States. She completed the trek on July 27 at top of Mt. Katahdin in Maine.
So this year Wummel is going to ditch the hiking boots and jump on two wheels for a summer long coast-to-coast bike trip.
“It started off as something fun to do this summer on the break between spring and fall semesters,” said Wummel. “I wanted to do some good for someone while I’m out there.”
Wummel, a 2016 Brandon High School graduate wants to raise a dollar for each mile she and her two friends will bike, a total goal of $4,288, for the Sierra Club. The organization works to provide cleaner, cheaper energy, protect the environment, and save animals being threatened with extinction.
“I’m so passionate about our environment, there’s a lot of good in it,” she said. “A lot that has to be fought for, we have to collectively come together to protect it.”
Wummel will be biking from Yorktown, Va., starting May 13, and will go through 9 states until she reaches the coast in Oregon. The trip will take two-three months.
“I’m going to meet a lot of amazing people this summer and they’ll provide us with shelter or food. There’s an app, warm showers, and it’s for cyclists and other cyclists in the community offer to provide their home or food or a place to pitch my tent,” she said.
The trail that she will be following is called the Trans American Trail, which goes through Yellow Stone National Park in Wyoming. That is one thing Wummel is excited to see.
“I’m just excited to be mobile again, to have everything I need to survive on me,” she said. “I like not knowing where I’m going to put my head at night, I like not knowing where my next meal is coming from.”
For anyone looking to follow her journey, she will be updating a bi-weekly blog at wanderheart.life. Donations can be made at www.teamsierra.org/my-campaign/lynnewummel.