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About
the Trail
source:
ATC website
Eighty
years ago, a dreamer named Benton MacKaye imagined a footpath running
along the eastern mountains, from New England to the southern Appalachians.
That dream became the Appalachian Trail, America's premier long-distance
hiking experience, stretching more than 2,174 miles between Maine
and Georgia.
Its terrain ranges from flat woodland paths to near-vertical rock
scrambles that challenge the fittest wilderness trekker; it can
lead hikers from busy town streets to high mountain ridges where
they won't cross a road for days.
The
“A.T.,” as it's called by hikers, is much more than
just a path through the woods.
It is a national scenic trail, part of the same national park system
that includes Yellowstone, Yosemite, and the Great Smoky Mountains.
Its official name is the Appalachian National Scenic Trail.
But, unlike those famous parks, it's not a concentrated preserve,
with campgrounds and paths within its boundaries. As the longest,
skinniest part of America's national park system, the A.T. stretches
over fourteen different states and passes through more than sixty
federal, state, and local parks and forests. Hundreds of roads cross
it. In some parts, the Trail “corridor” is only a few
hundred feet wide.
Each
year, several thousand hikers attempt a thru-hike; only about three
in twenty make it all the way.
kk.
AT
Links
Here
are some links that Mike and I found very helpful and informative
as we planned our AT thru-hike.
Whiteblaze.net
/ The number 1 online community dedicated to the AT. Any question,
anytime...you'll get the answer you need.
Trail
Journals / Read the online journals of AT hikers both
past and present
The
Appalachian Trail Homepage / A simple site that's packed
with good info. This is where I first began reading about the
trail.
Appalachian
Trail Conference / A wonderful organization dedicated to
the protection and conservation of the AT. They have a nice
website with plenty of thru-hiking info. Buy a t-shirt
or a poster
and support the ATC
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