If two of your pastimes are drinking beer and hiking, you’re in luck. The Devils Backbone Brewing Company is hiring for one of the best jobs you’ll probably ever have and giving you $20,000 for your trouble. It combines tons of downtime with plenty of relaxing chill time — oh, and beer, of course. Think you’re up to the task?
- Devils Backbone is looking for a Chief Hiking Officer (CHO) for 2021. The company, based in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, wants to find someone who’s excited to hike along the Appalachian Trail next year between March 1 and September 30, 2021. Sounds like a dream position.
- So what exactly makes an ideal Chief Hiking Officer? “You’ve gotta love hiking and beer,” reads the job description. “We mean really love it.” In other words, if you consider a walk through your local park a hike, this probably isn’t for you. The terrain in Appalachia is incredibly beautiful and can be treacherous in parts, so you need to know what you’re doing.
- The position requires a five to seven-month commitment. Yes, the hike is that serious. The trip across Appalachia is an intense 2,200 miles and goes through 14 states from Maine to Georgia, so this is serious business. Sure, there’s beer along the way, but not even a lifetime supply could make this easy by any stretch of the imagination.
- You need to live in a particular location to apply. Only residents of Washington, DC, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia are eligible to take the hike, so don’t apply if you’re not from one of those places.
- The perks are worth it, though. In addition to $20,000, you get free backpacking gear to take on your hike across Appalachia, lots of free beer with regular resupply dates, Devils Backbone swag, roundtrip airfare to the start and finish locations, and a $200 Visa debit card. Pretty sweet.
- So how do you apply? Applications for Devils Backbone’s CHO position are open until the end of July, so you have time to put together a bomb application. You’ll need to really stand out and make it known why you should be chosen for the position, so make sure you get creative.
