by Julie Dodd
Hiking season is in full swing in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and the Smokies Ridgerunners are hiking the 72-mile section of the Appalachian (A.T.) in the park to promote hiker education and assist hikers.
“I’m grateful that the Ridgerunners are out there to help hikers,” said Anne Sentz, Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) regional manager for the A.T. in the Smokies.
Sentz is the supervisor for the Smokies Ridgerunners, who are ATC employees. She also coordinates support for the Ridgerunners through a collaboration with ATC, Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP), Friends of the Smokies, and the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club.
This year, Friends will provide $55,000 for the Smokies Ridgerunners, which includes funding for their salaries, uniforms, first aid kits, and training.
Smokies Ridgerunners
James Kinch and Dennis Anderson are the Smokies Ridgerunners for the “short season” – February through June. They are on the A.T. four days and three nights a week.
This is Kinch’s second year as a Smokies Ridgerunner. He thru-hiked the A.T. twice and was a Ridgerunner in Northern Virginia in 2024.
Anderson thru-hiked the A.T. in 2022, the Pacific Coast Trail in 2024 and the Long Trail in 2025.
The ATC currently is hiring a third Smokies Ridgerunner for the “late season,” mid-May through October. Check the ATC website for application information: https://appalachiantrail.org/about/careers/
Hiking ability is important for being a Ridgerunner, but other skills are critical to being a successful Ridgerunner, Sentz said.
“We get a lot of applications from people who like to hike and want to be out in the woods,” Sentz said. “But this job is about more than just hiking – it’s wanting to help and educate hikers and assist with A.T. maintenance.”
Before starting their work on the A.T., the Smokies Ridgerunners participated in both safety training and training with the GSMNP staff.
Wilderness First Aid and CPR training
Kinch, Anderson and the ATC’s Georgia Ridgerunners participated in a two-and-a-half-day safety training led by Landmark Learning at Amicalola Falls State Park in Dawsonville, Georgia, eight miles from the southern terminus of the A.T. The Smokies Ridgerunners’ participation was funded by Friends of the Smokies and enabled the Ridgerunners to earn both Wilderness First Aid and CPR certifications.
The training prepared the Ridgerunners for the wide range of injuries and emergencies they might encounter — including ankle injury, fatigue, hyperthermia, chest pain, and medical conditions.
“The training gives people that experience of building technical knowledge and thinking through what the next steps are,” Sentz said.
Through instruction and practice scenarios, the Ridgerunners learned how to evaluate the hiker’s situation and decide what they could do and when they need to call for support from the park.
With the instructor observing, the Ridgerunners role-played different situations, switching who was the accident victim. They practiced conducting a visual assessment of the accident victim and asking questions to learn more about the situation and the victim’s medical history.
“The training makes you realize that when you’re out there and something happens, you have to take a breath and calm yourself to think through what needs to be done,” Sentz said, who also participated in the training.
The training covered the appropriate use of medications and medical supplies included in the first aid kits the Ridgerunners carry.
First aid situations on the A.T.
During their first month working on the A.T. as Ridgerunners, both Kinch and Anderson encountered first aid situations.
Kinch encountered a hiker who was extremely fatigued and dehydrated and had chest pain. Kinch got the hiker hydrated, monitored his vital signs, and relayed the information to the park using his park radio.
The decision was made that the hiker needed to be extracted from the A.T. Kinch stayed with the hiker, administering additional aid, until rangers arrived and transported the hiker using a special 4-wheel drive vehicle.
“James played that vital on-the-ground role,” Sentz said, providing aid until rangers arrived and carrying the hiker’s gear as well as his own pack.
Anderson assisted a hiker he encountered on the trail who was having difficulty walking due to inflammation and leg swelling. Based on his visual and verbal assessment of the hiker, Anderson contacted the park to make arrangements for the hiker to be met by rangers at Kuwohi. Anderson escorted the hiker to meet the rangers, carrying the hiker’s pack as well as his own pack.
Responding to those situations meant both Ridgerunners had to adjust their hiking schedules for the day – hiking more miles than planned and arriving later than scheduled at their destination shelter for the evening.
Sentz said the ability to be flexible is an important quality for a Ridgerunner and something she looks for in evaluating applicants.
“I’m hiring people who understand that their plans for the day could totally change,” Sentz said. “They get a call that totally changes their day. They have to be mentally flexible – and have mental fortitude.”
GSMNP training
Park staff conducted a week-long training program at Sugarlands for the Smokies Ridgerunners. Friends paid the salaries of the Ridgerunners and Sentz to attend the training.
“I’m so grateful for the backcountry office for putting together a really robust week of training,” Sentz said.
The training included: operating communication radios, de-escalating situations with park visitors, working with the park’s Preventative Search and Rescue (PSAR) team, understanding park wildlife, critical incident stress management, awareness of park policies and procedures, and maintaining shelters and privies on the A.T.
The Ridgerunners learned to operate the park radio and Garmin inReach Satellite Communicator that they carry on the A.T. They also met the dispatch staff who handle the calls made with the park radio.
The park radio is used to contact the park dispatcher. The satellite communicator is used as a backup communication device when coverage isn’t available for the park radio or their own cellphones.
De-escalation training was led by a ranger who works in Cades Cove. She explained strategies to help resolve situations with upset park visitors.
“Most of the public interactions the Ridgerunners have are wonderful. People are excited about hiking,” Sentz said. “But sometimes people are having a very bad day, and we don’t want to escalate the situation, especially in the backcountry.”
Ridgerunners are not rangers and do not have law enforcement authority, Sentz explained. They strive to educate hikers to gain their cooperation — listening and calmly explaining park and A.T. policies and the reasons for those policies, such as not sleeping with their food instead of hanging the food on the bear cable system used at shelters.
Members of the park’s Preventative Search and Rescue (PSAR) staff discussed how the Ridgerunners and PSAR collaborate on hiker education and in assisting hikers who experience accidents or medical situations. A key role for Ridgerunners is helping hikers on the A.T. modify their hiking plans due to weather or other issues.
Park wildlife biologist Ryan Williamson led a half-day session about wildlife in the park, especially black bears. He explained how to keep both hikers and bears safe and how to assess situations to determine if a bear report should be made. The Ridgerunners also received bear spray deployment training.
Critical incident stress management was a new component of the Ridgerunner training this year. The Ridgerunners learned strategies for staying mentally and physically healthy after a strenuous situation, Stentz said.
“They need to be prepared as much as possible for anything they’d encounter – a death in the backcountry, an accident, an injury or stressful encounter,” Sentz said. “We want to make sure they’re prepared to do their jobs well.”
Staff from the backcountry office explained park policies and procedures and discussed the privies and what kind of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) is required while cleaning the privies. Staff members and the Ridgerunners hiked to Icewater Springs to practice maintaining the shelter and the privy. They picked trash discarded by hikers, swept the shelter, cleaned the fireplace, and sanitized the privy.
Advice for safe hiking
The Ridgerunners are on the A.T. to help hikers have a good experience, but a big part of hiking success is for hikers to be prepared.
“Know what you’re getting in to and be prepared. Carry enough food, a paper map and layers of clothes,” Sentz said. “I can’t emphasize preparedness enough. Your goal is to get yourself out of a situation and maintain a level of self-reliance.”
Sentz encourages someone planning to hike on the A.T. in the Smokies for the first time to talk with staff in the GSMNP backcountry office or contact the ATC.
“We love talking with people about planning trips,” Sentz said.
The park’s “Hiking Safety” webpage includes advice for planning for a successful hike, including the “Ten Essentials” to carry when hiking.
Learn more about the role of Ridgerunners by reading about Collin Chambers’ experience as a Smokies Ridgerunner for the 2025 season.
About Friends of the Smokies
Friends of the Smokies is the official nonprofit partner of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Through private donations, fundraising events, and specialty license plates in North Carolina and Tennessee, Friends of the Smokies raises money to fund needed projects and programs in the national park that would otherwise go unfunded.
Learn more about how to get a Friends of the Smokies license plate at BearPlate.org. You can make a direct tax-deductible donation at our website. We are also grateful for those who make contributions at our donation boxes throughout the park. Every gift makes a significant difference for our beloved Smokies.
Sign up to receive our monthly e-newsletter and email updates at friendsofthesmokies.org/stay-in-touch/