Over six months in 2015, a 61-year-old hiker known on the Appalachian Trail as 3D photographed his own face almost every day, from early spring in Georgia to the end of summer in Maine. His son stitched the portraits into a short timelapse, and the steadily growing beard turned a private trail record into a widely shared hiking video that autumn.
The video was uploaded to YouTube by DABBERWOCKY on 8 October 2015. The uploader describes the hiker as his father, John, trail name 3D, who walked the trail as a thru-hike between March and September 2015. Outdoor news site Unofficial Networks picked up the clip within days.
The Appalachian Trail beard timelapse
The idea is simple: the same face, framed in roughly the same way, day after day. Played back at speed, the portraits compress a walk from March to September into a few minutes, and the beard becomes a clock that measures the miles.
Because the camera distance stays consistent, the eye locks onto the face while everything else flickers past. You notice changes in expression, clothing and light that would be invisible from one day to the next. A single before-and-after pair would show the result; the sequence shows the months it took.
Appalachian Trail facts: length, states and history
The Appalachian Trail runs from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Katahdin in Maine. Its official length in 2024 was 2,197.4 miles (3,536 km), a figure that changes slightly most years as sections are rerouted. The footpath crosses 14 states: Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
- Origins: forester Benton MacKaye proposed the trail in 1921, and volunteers completed a continuous route in 1937.
- Protection: it became one of the first two National Scenic Trails under the National Trails System Act of 1968.
- Highest point: Kuwohi (formerly Clingmans Dome), 6,643 ft (2,025 m), in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
- Lowest point: 124 ft (38 m), near the Bear Mountain zoo in New York.
- Waymarking: white paint blazes, 2 by 6 inches, mark the main route; blue blazes lead to shelters, viewpoints and water.
The trail is cared for by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, founded in 1925, together with the National Park Service and local volunteer trail clubs.
What a thru-hike involves
A thru-hiker walks the whole trail within a single 12-month period. Most take five to seven months, which matches John's March-to-September walk. The majority travel northbound, starting in Georgia in early spring so that they reach Katahdin before autumn. Baxter State Park, which manages Katahdin, strongly discourages thru-hikers from summiting before 15 May or after 15 October.
It is a hard goal. Between 2011 and 2018, only around a fifth to a quarter of northbound hikers who set out finished the entire trail. Many more complete it in sections over several years and are recognised by the Conservancy as "2,000-milers" in the same way.
Trail names are part of the culture. Hikers sign shelter logbooks with nicknames earned or chosen on the walk, which is why John is better known to the people he met as 3D. Plan your own trip with the Conservancy's thru- and section-hiking guidance, which covers permits, registration and current conditions.
Make your own daily portrait series
The project works on any journey, from a week-long walk to a year of commuting. Keep three things steady: the distance from the lens, the camera height and the position of your face in the frame. Shoot at the same point in the day if you can, such as the moment you stop for the night. Save the date with each picture, and simply carry on after a missed day; small gaps vanish in the finished edit.
A phone and a free editing app are enough to assemble the frames at four to ten per second. The result will tell the story of your trip better than a folder of scenic views.
Related reading
- The Longest Way: Christoph Rehage’s Walk across China and His Decision to Stop
- Andy Davidhazy’s Pacific Crest Trail: A Photo for Each Mile
- Travis Burke’s van travels
- Rafał and Aleksandra’s bicycle journey in Georgia’s Svaneti region
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