Appalachian trail histories

Something as massive and popular as the Appalachian Trail is bound to have an interesting origin story and, as it turns out, this 2,mile trail certainly does. What started out as a somewhat simple idea has now grown into a monster of a thru-hike , with its trails seeing upwards of thousands annually. Despite its name, the Appalachian Trail snakes its way through a majority of the East Coast, not just the Appalachian Mountains.

The trail received its name due in part to the fact that it begins in Georgia before winding its way through Appalachia, before ending at the summit of Katahdin, Maine. So, how did this incredible trek become conjured into existence? As it turns out, with a lot of perseverance and vision for the future.

Where does the appalachian trail start and end

Initially, the idea for the Appalachian Trail was nothing of what exists today. The man responsible for the brainchild went by the name of Benton MacKaye, who hadn't originally suggested a thru-hike. Rather, it was his idea to create what The Trek referred to as a 'utopian ideal' that would feature self-owning community camps. The idea was to set up these camps near the trail, and they would be entirely reliant on their own agricultural means of living.

Eventually, the idea was to allow people to appreciate authentic mountain living while having the support of a like-minded community. While the Appalachian Trail was only one part of the plan, this was the first step - the communities were planned to start after its creation. Unfortunately, the Appalachian Trail was an incredible feat in theory but proved tough to get off the ground - no pun intended.

Well into the s, the AT was still not completed and McKay found that the Southern states were struggling to make progress. In response, a man named Arthur Perkins, who was a retired judge, took over the completion of the trail. This also garnered attention from a man named Myron Avery, who was a lawyer in Washington. With these two now leading the charge, Avery became the head of the ATC over Perkins, while the team continued mapping out plans for the Southern states.