Stanley ‘PHD’ Batchelor

Stanley 'PHD' Batchelor

ALABAMA

Stanley Batchelor is from the farming community of Enterprise, Alabama, and now lives in central Alabama. He grew up working for farmers, and had thousands of acres of land to roam, hunt, and fish. The outdoors has always been a major part of his life. He started camping at an early age and has great memories of camping in the Southeastern United States especially Alabama, North Georgia, and the Great Smokey Mountains.

He is a Paramedic and Registered Nurse, and has spent over 30 years as a reservist with the US Public Health Service’s National Disaster Medical System where he has used many of the skills he learned in the outdoors to respond to major disasters and help provide medical care to those affected.

He is a member of the Alabama Hiking Trail Society, and gets outdoors every chance he can to camp, hike, backpack, or canoe. He is a supporter of public lands, and realizes the value that they have in improving one’s life.

He is part of a group of volunteers who are working to restore the Flagg Mountain CCC Camp Cabins and Fire Tower, and to develop and maintain the southernmost section of the Pinhoti Trail. He foresees the day when someone hikes the Appalachians, they will start at Flagg Mountain and hike to Maine.

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I used to sit in my office and wish I had a little cabin and fire where I could sit and read a book..

Then they reopened Flagg, and now I have it.

Fast Five Q & A:

What’s your primary activity on public lands?
Hiking, camping, backpacking, just walking through the woods.

What do you do when you’re not outdoors?
I’m a RN and an EMT paramedic, and I grew up camping and in the outdoors. I also like fishing and hunting. I woodwork, I’m playing with stained glass now, …I piddle.
(Ed. note: Stanley is always up to 6-10 projects at once, minimum!)

Why is Flagg Mountain special to you?
I used to sit in my office and wish I had a little cabin and a fire where I could sit and read a book. Then they re-opened Flagg Mountain, and now I have it, and it’s only 20 miles away. They also have the trail there, so I got to start back to backpacking.
Helping Sunny (Ed. note: Sunny Eberhart, aka ‘Nimblewill Nomad’) build some tent platforms, he gave me the trail name ‘PHD’ for ‘Post Hole Digger.’ To me, Flagg Mountain is one of the gems of Alabama.

How did you first learn about Flagg Mountain?
I was researching places in Alabama to go camping and backpacking during some down time from disaster response in Puerto Rico, and found it online. I had to have foot surgery when I got back, but it was only 2 weeks later that I was walking the trails up there.

Any other favorite spots you recommend?
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Vogel State Park in north Georgia, anyplace I’ve been on the Appalachian Trail, the Ocoee National Forest in GA / TN, Nantahala NF in NC, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and Shenandoah NP, there are so many places I love.