Trail Magic: Reports From Braid - Joe Liles' Appalachian Trail Hike
Joe Liles is an artist, book illustrator, author, and long distance hiker, that lives in Durham, North Carolina. He has degrees from North Carolina State University's College of Design in Landscape Architecture/Community Organization and the University of Michigan in Environmental Education.  Joe has been an art teacher for 35 years, first teaching at the American Indian Movement's Red School House in Minnesota and later at the NC School of Science and Mathematics.  Joe has illustrated several books over the years, starting in 1979 with The Mishomis Book, by Edward Benton-Banai.  Joe continues his involvement with American Indian communities by singing with the powwow drum group, Southern Sun, and writing and illustrating the serial “A Drumstick's Story” for News from Indian Country.  In 2009, Joe completed a thru-hike of the 2,200 mile Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine.  Joe spends his time today fly fishing streams and lakes in the Southeast, section hiking his favorite trails, getting involved in various art projects, and working to protect the Eno River, a tributary of the Neuse River in North Carolina.