Founder, Chairman of the Board and Secretary

With over 40 years of Pinhoti work since he started in 1982, Mike has personally been involved in negotiating or locating private donations or State or Federal funds to acquire 15 tracts of land totaling over 7,500 acres of Pinhoti Trail corridor in Alabama and 10 tracts totaling over 2,000 acres of Pinhoti Trail corridor in Georgia. He also worked with Congress between 1990 and 2010 to obtain funds to construct 25 miles of the Pinhoti on the Talladega National Forest between Dugger Mountain and US Hwy 278 and 31 miles of trail between the Trammel Trailhead near Sylacauga and Porter Gap/Alabama Highway 77 near Talladega . In the 1990s he worked to obtain Federal funds to construct 80 miles of the Pinhoti on the Chattahoochee National Forest in Georgia. From 1979 through early 1983 , Mike was a leader in the effort to pass legislation to create the Cheaha Wilderness. Most of Mike's work on the Pinhoti was done as an unpaid volunteer while he practiced law full - time on non- conservation related matters for large law firms in Birmingham and Winston-Salem, NC

President-

Hayward is a structural engineer with LBYD Engineers in Birmingham. He became involved in trail maintenance and building through the Alabama Hiking Trail Society (AHTS) in 2006 and has been a volunteer maintainer on the Alabama Pinhoti Trail since 2008. He has served in past leadership roles with the AHTS including representative to the Alabama Trails Commission Advisory Board and is a former board member of WildAlabama. Hayward has served on the Alabama Pinhoti Trail Association (APTA) board since 2018. His primary focus with the APTA has been to support the maintainer community. Hayward has worked passionately to coordinate the efforts of the dedicated trail volunteers and to foster growth for new participation in the caretaking of the Pinhoti.

Vice President

A local public school administrator, Adam serves as President of the Friends of the Talladega National Forest and helps with maintenance on the Pinhoti Trail (with a Class B sawyers certification -USFS). A resident of NE Alabama since 1974, Adam has over 45 years of experience investigating, traveling, researching and enjoying the Talladega National Forest and the Pinhoti Trail. Hiking, camping, canoeing and fly fishing in the Talladega National Forest have been his outdoor passions since circa 1978. He considers himself an amateur dendrologist with a bachelor’s degree in Forestry from Auburn University. He is President and CEO of Pinhoti Outfitters LLC, a licensed tour guiding service of the Talladega National Forest.

Vice President: Special Projects

Nathan is a long distance hiker (AT,PT).
He is co-founder of the Pinhoti Outdoor Center, President of Alabama Hiking Trail Society, Chairman of the Board for the Pinhoti Experience Foundation, and serves on the Advisory board for Alabama Trails Commission.
Over the past 6 years, Nathan has worked tirelessly to help hikers from all over the world and established himself as a trusted source for the Pinhoti.

Treasurer

Mr. Shumaker received his Juris Doctor from Cumberland School of Law of Samford University in 1965 and began his practice of law in Gadsden and Centre, Alabama. Al has been active during his career with the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce, the Centre Rotary Club, Cherokee County Chapter of American Red Cross, and on the board of the Greater Alabama Boy Scout Council. He is currently serving as a trustee on the Board of Directors of Samford University, and as a trustee on the board of the Community Foundation of Northeast Alabama.

Board Member

Kimm is co-founder and owner of the Pinhoti Outdoor Center, VP of Flagg Mountain for Alabama Hiking Trail Society, CEO/Executive Director of Pinhoti Experience Foundation, and Chairman of the Board for Sylacauga Chamber of Commerce. Over the past 6 years, Kimm has developed a passion for hikers and an intense focus on tourism as it pertains to the outdoors. As the event director of the Pinhoti Fest, she is neck deep in every aspect of the trail and how to incorporate trail towns, gear vendors, and other entities that have a vested interest in the Pinhoti.

Board Member:

AKA Trail Boss. Rick has more volunteer trail hours than most people spend outdoors in total. You will frequently find him, and Tucker, on some of the toughest sections of the Pinhoti with tools in hand and clearing the path for others to enjoy.
Through the years, Rick has hiked Al Pinhoti over 22-times and Ga Pinhoti 9-times not counting maintenance hikes!
He retired from General Motors after 37-years as a facilities Manager with their world wide headquarters. He was a volunteer with the AARP in Ky. for 10-years (state zone coordinator for driving safety & state tax aid coordinator). Rick also worked as lobbyist for the AARP.

Board Member

Jay is a seasoned professional trail builder with a passion for environmental science. He is the owner/operator of Riverside Trail Services and can be found all over Alabama and the southeast with tools in hand, moving dirt and clearing a path. A former student athlete at Auburn University and having majored in environmental science, Jay is laying the foundation for his commitment to sustainability. Since 2017, he has been actively involved in the Pinhoti Trail efforts, showcasing his expertise in trail construction and dedication to preserving nature's beauty.

Board Member

Marty is a Civil and Structural Engineering from Toomsboro, Georgia. He has been hiking sections of the Appalachian Trail from 1971 to present with 1060 and 1939 total original miles hiked on the AT.. He has logged over 8000 miles of hiking on all hikes of record
Marty serves as:
-Member of and historian for the “Old Pros” hiking group
-Benton MacKaye Trail Association as a Life Member since 1985 . Serving as trail Construction Supervisor; Secretary; President (1991, 1992, 1998)-Active Maintainer of Section 4b (Payne Gap to Wilscot Gap) – late 1980’s to present.
-Alabama Trails Association as Georgia Liaison to the Board of Directors – 1990’s
-Georgia Pinhoti Trail Association as Member, Board of Directors – 1996 to present
-Great Eastern Trail Association as Member, Board of Directors (Representative from the Georgia Pinhoti Trail Association)
-Georgia Trails and Greenways Advisory Board and Former Member

Board Member

Richard Smith is a resident of Calhoun County, Alabama. He started hiking the Pinhoti Trail in the seventies while in the Boy Scouts and some of his favorite memories are from backpacking the Pinhoti and exploring other parts of the Talladega National Forest. He retired from a career in law enforcement in 2013 and has through hiked the Appalachian Trail, Colorado Trail, the Alabama section of the Pinhoti Trail and numerous other trails across the country. In 2017, Richard became a volunteer trail maintainer, because of his desire to give back to the trail. He has an unwavering commitment to the continuation of developing and maintaining the trail with hundreds of volunteer hours brushing, chainsaw work, trail building and shelter repair. Richard has certifications as a Class B Chainsaw Sawyer and Crosscut Sawyer.