Bio

Briana DeSanctis was born in Farmington, Maine. Her family enjoyed the outdoors, and she has fond memories of hiking, fishing, and camping with them. After her brother was born, they built a house in the country with 55 acres of wooded land, which provided many opportunities for adventure and exploration.

Briana had always loved being outdoors and felt that fresh air and being in tune with nature were freeing and enlightening. She first learned about the Appalachian Trail in grade school, where the custodian had completed the trail and given a presentation about it. This sparked her dream of a nomadic lifestyle, but she was only 12 at the time.

In her early twenties, Briana moved to Vail, Colorado, where she fell in love with the mountainous landscape. She enjoyed kayaking, canoeing, spelunking, hiking, and cross-country skiing.

Years later, Briana moved back to Maine and began accumulating backpacking gear as she could afford it. She also received a comprehensive guide to Maine hiking trails, which she used to plan short backpacking trips on her days off.

After section-hiking over 100 miles of the Appalachian Trail in Maine, Briana decided to begin her own thru-hike the following spring. She said goodbye to friends and family and boarded a plane for Atlanta, returning on foot 6.5 months later with a deep sense of love, patience, appreciation, and gratitude.

A couple of years later, Briana noticed the American Discovery Trail on a map and was intrigued by its odd path configuration and length. She knew she could do it, but it would require more money, research, and planning than the Appalachian Trail. It took many years of preparation, but she was finally ready to lace up her trail runners and head for the Delaware Coast.

Briana began her journey in 2022 on New Year's Day. 770 days later, with over 50 million steps under her feet, 27 pairs of shoes worn and thousands of miles of every kind of path imaginable trekked she hiked into the Pacific Ocean on February 10, 2024, becoming the first woman to continuously hike this behemoth trail solo, in its entirety!

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With a mission to inspire others, Briana has been speaking all across the country to schools, outdoor centers, organizations and the media about how anyone can achieve their dreams.