Happy Birthday Appalachian Trail!

Posted: Thursday, August 16, 2012

This week marks the 75th anniversary of the Appalachian Trail. Quite appropriately a group of women with Adventures in Good Company is out backpacking a section of the “AT” this week in Vermont. The trip is just one of over a half dozen hiking trips we offer for women on the AT. Our women-only travel group is traversing about a 50 mile portion of the “green tunnel” that extends 2,180-mile stretching across 14 states from Springer Mountain, Ga., to Katahdin, Maine. Here’s a little AT history for you…

The idea for the trail was born in a 1921 article in the Journal of the American Institute of Architects. Benton MacKaye proposed an idea that still resonates today — a path that would let people escape the demands and drudgery of daily life.It took 15 years for hundreds of volunteers, state and federal partners, trail-maintenance clubs and young workers with the New Deal-era Civilian Conservation Corps to build the original path.

As many as 3 million people a year now visit some part of the trail to reconnect with nature and slow down. About 2,000 to 3,000 people each summer attempt a “thru-hike,” or journey along the entire length. Only 1 in 4 will succeed.

Day hikes and section backpacking (multi-day hikes sleeping in shelters or tents along the trail) are a great way to explore the trail. This week National Public Radio featured a discussion about hiking and the Appalachian Trail on its daily radio program “Talk of the Nation.” The program was a tribute to the AT and hikers/hiking trails everywhere. You can listen here to the program.

If listening to that radio program or just the thought of the a walk in the woods makes you smile – then think about celebrating the Appalachian Trail’s 75th birthday with Adventures in Good Company on one of these women's hiking trips.

 

2013

Wildflowers and Waterfalls (over 50) 4/14 - 4/20

Waterfalls and Wineries 5/16 - 5/19

Lodge to Lodge on the Appalachian Trail 5/19 - 5/24

Introduction to Lightweight Backpacking 6/23 - 6/30

Hiking the Great Smokies 10/19 – 10/26

Slackpacking Georgia 10/27 - 11/3

 
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