preview

Appalachian Trail History

Decent Essays

The Appalachian Trail, also known as the “Footpath for the People” is approximately 2,200 miles long. The trail has two different starting points, the northern terminus beginning at Mt. Katahdin in Central Maine and the southern terminus beginning at Springer Mountain in Northern Georgia.

The Appalachian Trail is the longest continuously maintained foot trail in the world. The trail was conceived around 1921, built by private citizens, and was completed in 1937. Today the trail is managed by the National Park Service, US Forest Service, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, numerous state agencies and thousands of volunteers (Appalachian National) Between Maine and Georgia, the trail goes through 14 states, 8 national forests, 6 units of the national …show more content…

Around three-quarters of these hikers end up stopping somewhere in their tracks, for reasons such as, fatigue, injury, or illness. Though it might be thought that a thru-hiker has to be in great athletic condition for around a seven month hike, that is not always the case. “Emma Gatewood, nicknamed “Grandma Gatewood,” was 67 years old, with 11 children and 23 grandchildren, when she became one of the first-ever thru-hikers in 1955. Since then, hikers as old as 81 and as young as 5 have completed the trek, as have several blind hikers and an above-the-knee amputee.” (Greenspan) Between 1936 and 1969, there were only 59 completions of the trail that were recorded. However the numbers began to rise in 1970, when 10 people completed the trail. In the late 1970s, hiking the Trail started to become a trend and the term “2,000-miler” was used to identify the growing group of hikers. (“2000”) By 2008 the 10,000 completion hike was recorded. Today, there are around 18,000 recorded completions. In the first several decades of the trend of hiking the Trail, “women represented only about 15% of those who completed the entire A.T. Trends are changing, though. In 2016, women represented 29% of the total hike completions reported.” (“2000”) While preparing to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail, one must do more than just gather up gear. The process of preparation is all …show more content…

During the “backpacking boom” of the 1970s when there was a growing understanding about the natural environment beginning to be consumed at what had appeared to be an alarming rate, many groups of people began to take on the trail for long periods of time. (Cosmo) Trails that were previously only visited by few people because very well known locations. During this time, there was very little maintainance of the trails and even less education of visitors. People were hiking merely to take a break from the world around them. “What was once an experience where solitude was virtually guaranteed, became more and more a social event as more and more of us tried to.” (Cosmo) After some time, many hikers and trail managers grew concerned about the future of the trail and began trying to accommodate the growing number of hikers, while also protecting the Trails natural environment. After starting to upgrade popular campsites and trails to make them more durable, most hikers began to gain knowledge about how to take care of the trails while enjoying them. “Since the 1980’s the AT has been managed so that ‘Hiker regulations will be kept as unrestrictive as possible, and should be developed only to the extent they are proven necessary to protect the physical trail, its environment, and the interests of adjacent landowners.’ (from the Appalachian Trail Comprehensive Plan, 1981)”

Get Access