Tellico Village resident Janette Pacitti has joined the Great Smoky Mountains 900 Miler Club, which signifies the completion all the trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Pacitti and her husband, Tony, came to Tennessee 3 1/2 years ago after she worked as a teacher in high school and college for 35 years in southern California. While Pacitti hiked in her free time, she didn’t begin hiking more regularly until she moved to Tellico Village.
“Work gets in the way of a lot,” Pacitti said, laughing. “But I’d hike different places. I just like the outdoors. ... When I first moved here I hiked with the Tellico Village Hikers and the ladies who hike and I met other people hiking, which I enjoyed, and then I learned about the map and I thought — at that time it seemed incredibly unattainable goal, but just hiking and hiking and met some great friends to hike with and it just came together.”
That unattainable goal through the course of three years finally came to completion in November. Although she jokingly said she hiked about 20 miles her first year, she “intensely” hiked last year, going four days per week.
“Just the more I hiked the more I realized that it wasn’t that unattainable,” Pacitti said. “When I first thought it was really an incredible thing and then you meet so many people that have done many maps, it just puts it in perspective. I mean there’s some incredible hikers out there, just really nice people.”
Dolly Garnett, one of Pacitti’s hiking partners, said completing all of the trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a “big deal.”
“To reach this goal requires many hours and miles of driving resulting in many long days and creative logistics, including key swaps, car shuttles and (willing) supportive hikers to accompany her along the way,” Garnett said in an email correspondence. “One must hike many more than 900 miles to reach all of the trails. Many hike about 1,500 miles to complete their map. You have to repeat many trails in order to get to the ones that are more difficult to reach.”
There are 507 members in the Great Smoky Mountains 900 Miler Club as of Jan. 12, according to the club’s website.
The hardest parts of the hikes were the logistics and dealing with the weather once out in the wilderness, Pacitti said.
“Actually the hikes — we were talking about it yesterday — they were all real pleasant,” Pacitti said. “Some people who get off (the hikes) would say, ‘I’d never want to do it again,’ but I love the hikes. It was fun to get to see the different parts of the park. The hardest part living here is the long day, you know, because a couple of hours driving over there and a long hike and then a couple hours back. So the hardest part of it (was) the logistics of it, but again, with the more people that you know to help with it to hike with you (it) kind of makes it easier.”
Garnett wasn’t surprised Pacitti completed the goal once she set her mind to it.
“She did most of the trails in eight months,” Garnett said. “There are 507 members in the 900 Miler Club since it was founded in 1995. I assume most of these people live in East Tennessee. Not too many in Tellico Village have accomplished this. ... The point is that it is not achieved very often, especially among Village hikers.”
Pacitti hopes to continue hiking because “it’s just beautiful being out there.”
“I’d like to learn more about the mountains and their history and the names of the different mountains,” Pacitti said. “There’s so much to learn when you’re out there, it makes it more interesting.”
