Sharron, CT--The sun rises on a campsite on Belter's Bump in Sharon, Connecticut after an early-morning thunderstorm.

A ledge where the day’s hike ended looks out on the sun set over the monument marking High Point, NJ, where the day’s hike began.

A rattlesnake dines on a mouse on the Appalachian Trail over Bear Mountain in New York.

An Appalachian Trail thru-hiker reacts after she finds a slug inside her boot.

Joe “Cool Breeze” Fennelly, a repeat through hiker of the Appalachian Trail from Cheshire, CT, works with a trail crew maintaining the path during the years he isn’t walking the length of

Concrete pipes waiting to be laid as part of a road improvement project at the base of Kinsman Mountain in New Hampshire provided beds for the night for Susan Campbell and I.

Two days before graduation Instructor Chris Lee, left, reaches out to Takisha, a student from the Long Lane School who is at the Wilderness School to help her manage her anger better.

Matt, 13, right, consoles Kevin, 15, center, as they struggle during their first days of the 20-day Wilderness School program along the Appalachian Trail.

Marquise, who says he doesn't like hiking and climbing, withdraws from his crew at the end of a day of hiking along the Appalachian Trail.

After returning to base camp from 17 days in the backcountry, Wilderness School student Stephanie, right, dances in celebration with one of her instructors, Danielle, while Krysta, another student in the program, lies in the sun to recover from her ordeal.

Stephanie and Monica bandage one another's knees as they near the end of the 20-day journey through the woods that organizers hope will teach them self-reliance, teamwork, and enhance their interpersonal skills. 'You ladies just keep coming out with it,' said their instructor, Chris. 'I feel so honored working with this crew.'

Students from The Wilderness School, a program for troubled youths in Connecticut, regroup after being caught in a violent thunderstorm without shelter.

'This is bull...I'm leaving, I'm going home,' Trevor, 13, of New Haven, announced after cleaning rabbit hutches, fighting with one of his crewmates, and hiking through an asthma attack with a heavy pack up Bear Mountain on the Appalachian Trail in Connecticut. 'You've only got a 1/4 mile to go!' 'You've only got seven more days!' his peers encouraged, but it wasn't until he reached the Paradise Lane overlook that his attitude changed. 'This is beautiful. Can we stay here?' Trevor was part of a 20-day program for troubled youths at the Wilderness School in Connecticut.

Chris “Grim Creeper” Warren, here walking over Kinsman Mountain, NH, walked an average of 24 miles a day during her 1995 thru-hike, in which she was trying to break her record of hiking the trail in 5 months a few years earlier.

During a 100-degree heat wave Tanner “Wayah the The Wolf” Critz dives into Lake Canopus along the Appalachian Trail in New York during his thru hike of the trail.

A wall plug is a humorous comment along the Appalachian Trail in New Jersey.

The sun sets over Edmunds Col on Mount Jefferson in the Presidential Range of New Hampshire's White Mountains.

The summit of Kinsman Mountain, in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.