Appalachian Trail: A brief history.

“Ugh, Another Appalachian Trail Post, will this guy just go hike already?”

I know, I know, BUT my wife’s loveable Aunt DD, requested I write a post on the history of the trail.  I’m never one to say no to a lady, so here goes.

The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, generally known as the Appalachian Trail or simply the A.T. (if your into brevity, dude) is a marked hiking trail in the eastern United States extending between Springer Mountain in Georgia  and Mount Katatin in Maine.  The trail is approximately 2,200 miles. Its exact distance varies slightly every year due to changes in the “official trail,” (for over-use or trail maintenance etc.).

The Appalachian Trail (AT), Pacific Coast Trail (PCT), and Continental Divide Trail (CDT) make up what is called in the biz the “Triple Crown,” people who have done a triple crown are spoke of like legends in the hiking community.

But enough hiker nerdom, (I know most of you aren’t hiker nerds anyway and that’s your loss) let’s really get into the history of the Appalachian Trail.  In order to do this, we need to go back, way back.

 

Buckle up. It’s time for another one of  crazy Uncle Logan’s living room lectures!

 

Let’s start with The American Conservationist Movement  (1850-1920)

Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir

 

Without going too deep, here is the skinny on this movement:

After the Industrial Revolution, a new, fun, some might even say sexy( if you like muttonchops), political viewpoint began to arise: Conservationism.  This movement was spearheaded by some of the brightest minds of the time.  Minds like Henry David Thoreau (writer and neck beard pioneer) whose book Walden inspired people to take pride in nature and preserve it for generations to come.  Some other famous Conservationists included Teddy Roosevelt, John Muir and Ansel Adams.

With birth of the Conservationist Movement the Forest Service, The National Parks and The First National Forest were created.

So what does this have to do with the Appalachian Trail?

Without the Conservationist Movement, no one would have taken the Appalachian Trail seriously.

The trail was originally  conceived by Benton MacKaye, a forester who wrote his original plan for the trail in 1921. MacKaye’s idea detailed a grand trail that would connect a series of farms and wilderness work/study camps for city-dwellers.  (Now whether or not these work camps were envisioned as straight up hippie communes we may never know, but I like to think so).

After the first section of the Trail opened 1923, Benton Mackaye called for a conference in 1925.  It was here that the  the Appalachian trail Conservancy was born, and it is still the main caretaker of the trail to this day.

After this initial conference. the movement to complete the trail gained more and more steam.

Ned Anderson (a literal trailblazer) who blazed and set up the entire section of the trail in Connecticut, became the first person to walk the entire trail from beginning to end, however, he only completed section hikes, and not a true thru hike.

In 1948, Earl Shaffer of York, Pennsylvania completed the first documented “Thru Hike.” He hiked Northbound just as most hikers do today.  Earl Shaffer was a Army veteran of WW2 and said that the Trail was a great way for him to “walk off the war.”  In 1965, he hiked again.  This time, he went southbound and is the first documented person to complete a thru hike in both directions.  Finally, in 1998 at  the ripe old age of 80 he completed another Northbound thru hike. (What a bad mama jammer!)

Since the 1960’s, thanks in part to improvement in camping equipment and the increased popularity of the trail, the number of thru hikers has increased extensively from only 37 completing a thru hike in the 1960’s, to over 4,000 in the 2010’s (and its only 2015).

So here we are, 94 years after Benton MacKaye first dreamed of the AT.  It’s history is based on a love and appreciation for nature, physical endurance, and perseverance.  It has helped many people walk off the demons of whatever haunts them or get in touch with one self.  It is a place for extremists of past, present, and hopefully, future.

Thanks for reading so far.