arts + culture
By Judge B. Wilson II
T
he Appalachian Trail is America’s first longdistance trail, stretching 2,190 miles – from Springer Mountain, Ga. to Mount Katahdin in the wilderness of Maine’s Baxter State Park. Like Christian Appalachian Project, the trail began as the dream of one person and became a reality through the tireless efforts of thousands of dedicated supporters and volunteers. From a regional planning proposal by Benton MacKaye in 1921, the idea for the Appalachian Trail eventually gained momentum and was completed in 1937. In 1938, a hurricane ravaged the trail, particularly in New England. Many of the original volunteers who had blazed the trail were called into active duty during World War II and the rationing of transportation and other scarce resources made it increasingly difficult to maintain the trail. It gradually fell into disuse and disrepair. In spite of these setbacks and false starts,
the first continuous “thru-hike” was completed by a young veteran, Earl Shafer, in 1948. Prior to this, most assumed that a thru-hike in a single year was impossible. Shafer’s hike led to increased public awareness of the Appalachian Trail (referred to by hikers as the “AT”) and boosted efforts to restore the trail. This restoration was accomplished by 1951 and a series of volunteer clubs, coordinated through the Appalachian Trail Conference, assumed responsibility for maintaining the trail and promoting its use. By the 1960s and 1970s, there were growing numbers of hikers and campers enjoying the trail. In 1968, Congress passed the National Trails System Act and the AT became one of America’s first National Scenic Trails. I was raised in East Tennessee, about 20 miles from the AT. My first trail hike was as a Boy Scout in 1969. We walked from Devil’s Fork Gap to Sam’s Gap on the SPRING / SUMMER 2017 | christianapp.org/MtSpiritGive
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