A single mom and her 15 kids left all the "noise" of the world behind and embarked on a 2,000-mile journey of "bonding" and "healing," eliciting both admiration and condemnation on social media.
Nikki Bettis, a 48-year-old single mom and biological mother of 15 children from Danville, Virginia, told Newsweek in an interview that hiking the Appalachian Trail (AT) has been a lifelong goal. She initially began planning in 2022 to make a "thru-hike" in 2025. However, Bettis said she's "spontaneous," so she got her kids ready and they took off for the adventure this year, starting on March 8 in Georgia.
"I have absolutely zero regrets," Bettis told Newsweek. "I've lost relationships due to choosing to take on this hike. That was a regret I held onto for many miles, but I'm learning to see my own worth. Those who truly value who I am as a person and who we are as a family are the ones that will stay."
Bettis and her 10 sons and five daughters have embarked on an incredible adventure, hiking the AT, which spans nearly 2,200 miles of rugged wilderness across 14 Eastern U.S. states, from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Maine's Mount Katahdin. The 15 adventurous offspring are: Grayson, 25; Evye, 23; Aubrey, 20; Garrison, 18; Grant, 18; Garrett, 17; Gavin, 16; Ivye, 14; Graham, 12; Gatlin, 12; Gates, 11; Lillye, 10; Grisham, 8; Galax, 6 and Opye, 4.
The family, which goes by the trail name of 32 Feet Up, has amassed more than 17,000 followers on Facebook and often posts updates on their journey. Bettis, in multiple interviews via text message and email from the trail, told Newsweek what it has been like to trek thousands of miles with 15 kids, whose ages range from 4 to 25, in tow.
"All biological and all from one past 20-year marriage," Bettis told Newsweek of her 15 kids. "There are two sets of fraternal twin boys in there, so that helped the numbers out a little."
Bettis said two of the kids are not on the trail full time but "section hike" with the family as their work and schedules allow. Newsweek is waiting to hear back from Bettis on whether the younger children are homeschooled or taking time off.
"Having people come and go and being able to regularly see the two kids who are not on the trail helps tremendously in boosting morale and keeping us moving," she said.
Bettis, who was more than 1,800 miles into their adventure when she spoke with Newsweek, offered numerous tips and helpful insight for people, especially parents, thinking about hiking and camping with children. Her youngest, 4-year-old Opye, has become a fan favorite on the 32 Feet Up crew's Facebook page. Videos show Opye, who goes by the trail name "Not Oatmeal," scaling steep terrain with ease. She has to qualify for a "special use permit" to summit Katahdin, the AT's final peak, in Maine's Baxter State Park, which requires children to be at least 6 to summit, according to the park's rules and regulations.
"She's 4 and is crazily amazing," Bettis told Newsweek of Opye. "I think she's single-handedly stolen the hearts of the hiking world. She's been a trooper since Day One. She's absolutely fearless."
Bettis and her children have experienced a mix of highs and lows on the AT as they hike and climb more than a dozen miles per day.
"We laugh our way through it all," Bettis said. "It's the absurdity of some of the things we're doing while making memories and bonding that will last for, hopefully, generations."
The Ups and Downs of Trail Life
Bettis told Newsweek that she decided to take her dream AT trip when she started noticing "cracks starting to show" within her family after going through a tough time amid separating from the children's father and the closing of two family businesses. After noticing the discord, she decided to use their love of hiking and backpacking to reconnect with her children on a "journey of healing."
"We've always been a super close and tight-knit family," she said. "However, with the stress of the two businesses we owned, what we'd been through personally as a family, the separation and traumatic stuff the kids had witnessed. Dissension between them was growing and we just weren't the same crew anymore. As a mom, it was like watching everything you'd tried so hard for years to build just crumble and break into a million pieces that I didn't know how to put back together. So, one day I announced we were hiking the AT together as a family."
She said nine months later, they left the "chaos and noise" of the outside world behind and began their 2,000-mile journey. Bettis said they've had some "tough days" on the trail, both mentally and physically, but they're still pushing along and aiming for a completion date sometime in October.
"The toughest aspect has been the healing we're all experiencing as we walk our way towards a new and better life," she said.
The physical demands of trekking more than 2,000 miles through the wilderness have been exacerbated by the summer's extreme weather, including record-breaking heatwaves and catastrophic flash flooding. Bettis and her kids have had to push through downpours and thunderstorms while hiking through the White Mountain National Forest, encountering thick mud and slick rocks.
Though the trail can be physically and mentally taxing, she described it as an overall "amazing" experience.
While Bettis said she has "too many" favorite memories, one unforgettable moment happened on Mother's Day when they were awakened by the wild ponies of Grayson Highlands poking their heads inside the family's tents.
"Definitely the most fun Mother's Day I've ever had," she said. "We're a good-natured crew and find it easy to laugh at the obstacles, which makes even the difficult things memorable and fun."
Mom Hikes Appalachian Trail With 15 Kids
As the family documents their travels on Facebook, they've attracted the attention of some "haters" on social media, with people criticizing Bettis for "forcing" her children to hike thousands of miles.
However, the kids frequently fire back at those scrutinizing the family's adventure. One of Bettis' 10 sons, 17-year-old Garrett, said he originally wanted to stay home but eventually tried to "make the best of it." He said he soon realized all the memories the family was creating on the trail, adding that it brought them all "closer to each other."
"I'm the one who really didn't want to go on the trail," Garrett, who goes by the trail name "Shortz," said on Facebook. "I've had quite a few chances to leave, but I chose to stay and complete the AT. That said, all the haters saying the kids are forced on here can kiss my a**."
Despite the scrutiny and backlash, Bettis said her family has met some "incredible" people on their hike, thanks to social media.
Bettis told Newsweek that while the trail has challenges, she would do it all again in a heartbeat, saying that her family has "lost in the past but this trail and its people have given back so much more."
New Friends on the Trail
A photographer, Chelsea Bordonaro, 36, of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, is one of several people who have helped the family. Followers of Bettis and the kids have helped by giving them snacks, rides, a play to stay and shower, or even just a morale boost by joining them on the trail for several miles.
Bordonaro told Newsweek in an interview that she was a fan of the 32 Feet Up crew and started following the family's adventures on social media. When they neared New England, she said, she knew she had to reach out to Bettis to include her family in her photography project #portraitsfromtheAT and they obliged. As part of the project, Bordonaro photographs "thru-hikers," people who intended to hike the entire trail in one season. She told Newsweek that she brought her 3- and 5-year-old daughters along with her to the photography session.
"It was really neat to see their fascination with the younger hikers," Bordonaro said. "It brought them to silence as they watched me take each of the portraits and wrangle the group. Nikki's kids were all so sweet and respectful, lots of 'yes ma'ams, no ma'ams.'"
Bettis said another person they met on their journey goes by the trail name "Smoky," and referred to him as an "integral part" of their journey. She said they first met in Georgia and asked Smoky to join the group full time when they saw him at Hughes Gap in Erwin, Tennessee.
Smoky is featured in numerous family photos, including ones of the group wearing matching skeleton onesies.
Preparing Children for the Trail
Critics of Bettis accuse her of forcing the children to go on the trip. Some took aim at the single mom for bringing her 4- and 6-year-old children on a months-long hike of the AT, which has mountainous terrain for a large portion of the journey. AT trail purists have also criticized the family for "jumping around" on the trail—driving to different areas to hike—rather than doing a true thru-hike, walking from Georgia north. Bettis told Newsweek that they have to hit some sections of the trail early because they close for the season or require different permits in a few weeks, and they wouldn't make it to those locations in time.
Despite the controversy over bringing young children, Bettis told Newsweek she "couldn't imagine doing it without them." She said her family has backpacked and camped often, so her children have plenty of experience.
"I wouldn't have taken on the trail with this many kids and their young ages had we not had some experience going into it," she said.
To prepare, she said, she's a "researcher at heart" and immersed herself and the kids in AT knowledge by watching YouTube videos of other hikers' experiences. She said she also talked with people who have hiked the AT, so she was prepared for the parts of the trail that would be the most "treacherous."
"I didn't want to get us in over our heads or put any of them in danger for lack of preparedness," Bettis told Newsweek. "We also hiked a lot to ensure the little ones could do the miles before committing to 2,198.4 of them. We camped and backpacked when we could to ensure the littles would sleep in tents and not be one big train wreck of sleeplessness for us all."
Bettis said her advice to other families thinking of camping with small children is knowing kids will "whine and complain" but remembering they will also do that at home.
"Start slow and let them pick destinations that inspire them," she said.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Maura Zurick is the Newsweek Weekend Night Editor based in Cleveland, Ohio. Her focus is reporting on U.S. national news ... Read more
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