Misplaced Pages

#888111

78-769: Several parks and forest preserves encompass parts of the Ramapos (see Points of interest, below ), and many hiking trails are in the Ramapos, including sections of the Appalachian Trail , which is maintained and updated in the Ramapo Mountains by the New York–New Jersey Trail Conference . The mountains are named after the Ramapo Fault , which trends northeast to southwest, and separates the eastern Piedmont geologic province from

156-461: A campsite. Hikers also create their own community while on the trail. Many hikers create long lasting friendships while on the trail. Conversations are easily started because of the common interest of hiking . The Appalachian Trail is relatively safe. Most injuries or incidents are consistent with comparable outdoor activities. Most hazards are related to weather conditions, human error, plants, animals, diseases, and hostile humans encountered along

234-424: A great deal of attention to the project by publicizing the first claimed thru-hike. The claim was later criticized for the hike's omission of significant portions due to shortcuts and car rides. Shaffer later claimed the first north-to-south thru-hike, the first to claim to do so in each direction. Chester Dziengielewski was later named the first southbound thru-hiker. In 1998, Shaffer, nearly 80 years old, hiked

312-695: A hiker visiting from England was killed on the trail by falling while taking photos at the Annapolis Rocks overlook in Maryland. The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic prompted the Appalachian Trail Conservancy to discourage use of the trail and the National Park Service to close all AT-managed hiking shelters from Virginia to Maine. The withdrawal of volunteers and trail-maintenance crews left the trail unprepared for

390-758: A hiker was killed on the trail in Maryland when a large tree blew over and fell onto him. Violent crime is rare but has occurred in a few instances. The first reported homicide on the trail was in 1974 in Georgia. In 1981, the issue of violence on the Appalachian Trail received national attention when Robert Mountford, Jr. and Laura Susan Ramsay, both social workers in Ellsworth, Maine , were murdered by Randall Lee Smith . Another homicide occurred in May 1996, when two women were abducted, bound and murdered near

468-468: A reference to yellow road stripes, is given to those who hitchhike to move either down or up the trail. Part of hiker subculture includes making colorful entries in logbooks at trail shelters, signed using pseudonyms called "trail names". The Appalachian Trail Conservancy gives the name "2000 Miler" to anyone who completes the entire trail. The ATC's recognition policy for "2000 Milers" gives equal recognition to thru-hikers and section-hikers, operates on

546-491: A system of communication for a network of hikers along the trail. Shelter logs—entries written in log books at certain shelters—can provide proof of who summits certain mountains and can warn about dangerous animals or unfriendly people in the area. Hikers may cite when a certain water source is dried up, providing crucial information to other hikers. In addition to official shelters, many people offer their homes, places of business, or inns to accommodate AT hikers. One example

624-589: A wooden floor, although some shelters are much more complex in structure. Shelters are usually spaced a day's hike or less apart, most often near a water source (which may be dry) and with a privy . They generally have spaces for tent sites in the vicinity as the shelters may be full. The Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) operates a system of eight huts along 56 miles (90 km) of New Hampshire's White Mountains. These huts are significantly larger than standard trail shelters and offer full-service lodging and meals during

702-863: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a location in Orange County, New York is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a location in Rockland County, New York is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail , also called the A.T. , is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States , extending almost 2,200 miles (3,540 km) between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy claims

780-563: Is a separate trail and not an official extension of the Appalachian Trail. Other branches are designated in parts of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and along the western shore of Newfoundland, to the northern end of the Appalachian Mountain range , where it enters the Atlantic Ocean, near L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site . The route has since been extended to Greenland , Europe , and Morocco . Although

858-613: Is far more prevalent along the trail than true alpine conditions. While it mainly exists in the north, a few mountains in the south have subalpine environments, which are typically coated in an ecosystem known as the Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest . Southern ranges and mountains where sub-alpine environments occur include the Great Smoky Mountains , where sub-alpine environments only begin around 6,000 feet (1,800 m) in elevation, Roan Highlands on

SECTION 10

#1732787900889

936-606: Is made up of maples, birch and beech , with colorful foliage displays in September and October. While the vast majority of lowland forest south of the White Mountains is hardwood, many areas have some coniferous trees as well, and in Maine, these often grow at low elevations. There is a drastic change between the lowland and subalpine , evergreen forest, as well as another, higher break, at tree line , above which only hardy alpine plants grow. The sub-alpine region

1014-800: Is only around 3,500 feet (1,100 m). This elevation in Massachusetts would barely be a subalpine region, and, south of Virginia, consists of lowland forest. This illustrates the drastic change in climate over 2,000 miles (3,200 km). Bicycles are prohibited from most of the trail, except for the sections that follow the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (C&O Canal) in Maryland and the Virginia Creeper Trail in Virginia . Horses and pack animals are prohibited except horses on

1092-567: Is the Little Lyford Pond camps maintained by the Appalachian Mountain Club. Inns are more common in sections of the trail that coincide with national parks, most notably Virginia's Shenandoah National Park. The trail crosses many roads, providing opportunity for hikers to hitchhike into town for food and other supplies. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy lists over 40 communities that have qualified as part of

1170-500: Is the largest omnivore that may be encountered on the trail, and it inhabits all regions of the Appalachians. Bear sightings on the trail are uncommon, except in certain sections, especially Shenandoah National Park and portions of New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts sections, where bear populations have increased steadily since 1980; confrontations are rarer still. Other hazards include venomous snakes, including

1248-708: The Gulf of St. Lawrence to Newfoundland, where the trail picks up again at Channel-Port aux Basques and follows the west coast of the island up the Great Northern Peninsula before terminating at the island's northernmost tip, Cape Bauld. From there the IAT skips over the Strait of Belle Isle to the northern terminus of the Appalachian Mountain chain at Belle Isle . Geological evidence shows that

1326-664: The National Forest service actually mows the grasses periodically in order to keep the balds free of trees. There are no subalpine regions between Mount Rogers in Virginia and Mount Greylock in Massachusetts , mainly because the trail stays below 3,000 feet (910 m) from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to Mount Greylock. But Mount Greylock has a large subalpine region, the only such forest in Massachusetts, extending down to 3,000 feet (910 m), which in

1404-622: The National Park Service to map a permanent route for the trail, and by 1971 a permanent route had been marked (though minor changes continue to this day). By the close of the 20th century, the Park Service had completed the purchase of all but a few miles of the trail's span. The International Appalachian Trail is a 1,900-mile (3,100 km) extension running northeast from Maine into New Brunswick and Quebec's Gaspé Peninsula , where it ends at Forillon National Park . It

1482-463: The National Park Service , United States Forest Service , and the nonprofit Appalachian Trail Conservancy. Most of the trail is in forest or wild lands, but some parts traverse towns, roads, and farms. From south to north it passes through Georgia , North Carolina , Tennessee , Virginia , West Virginia , Maryland , Pennsylvania , New Jersey , New York , Connecticut , Massachusetts , Vermont , New Hampshire , and Maine . Thru-hikers walk

1560-646: The North Carolina - Tennessee border, where sub-alpine growth descends below 6,000 feet (1,800 m), and Mount Rogers and the Grayson Highlands in Virginia , where there is some alpine growth above 5,000 feet (1,500 m). Appalachian balds are also found in the Southern highlands, and are believed to occur due to fires or grazing in recent centuries, or in some cases due to thin, sandy soils. Several balds are sprouting trees, and on some,

1638-575: The Shenandoah region of Virginia. Shelters are generally maintained by local volunteers. Almost all shelters have one or more pre-hung food hangers (generally consisting of a short nylon cord with an upside-down tuna can suspended halfway down its length) where hikers can hang their food bags to keep them out of the reach of rodents. In hiker lingo, these are sometimes called "mouse trapezes". Most shelters also contain "unofficial registries", which are known as shelter logs. These logs usually come in

SECTION 20

#1732787900889

1716-622: The Smoky Mountains ; and moose , which may be found in the vicinity of Massachusetts and northward. Small mammal species that inhabit along the trails are beaver , squirrel , river otter , chipmunk , porcupine , bobcat , two species of fox , boar , woodchuck , raccoon , and coyote . Bird species that reside in the trails are wild turkey , ruffed grouse , mourning dove , raven , two species of eagle , wood duck , three species of owl , and three species of hawk as well as warblers . There are different kinds of squirrels along

1794-668: The Triple Crown of Hiking in the United States. The trail was conceived by Benton MacKaye , a forester who wrote his original plan—called "An Appalachian Trail, A Project in Regional Planning" —shortly after his wife's death in 1921. MacKaye's idea detailed a grand trail that would connect a series of farms and wilderness work/study camps for city-dwellers along the Appalachian Mountains from

1872-506: The White Mountains in New Hampshire , it often occurs well below 3,000 feet (910 m). At Mount Moosilauke , which summits at 4,802 feet (1,464 m), the first alpine environment on the trail is reached, where only thin, sporadic flora are interspersed with bare rocks. Between the two regions is the krummholz region, where stunted trees grow with their branches oriented away from the winter's prevailing northwest wind, giving

1950-598: The 1920s. Fink was inducted into the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame in 2019. In 1922, only a year after MacKaye's article proposing an Appalachian Trail was written, Fink began corresponding with hiking leaders in New England about building the Trail. When Avery began planning the Trail's route in the south, Fink was the first person he contacted. Many of the trail's present highlights were not part of

2028-659: The A.T. above treeline include Mount Moosilauke , several miles along the Franconia Range and along the Presidential Range . In the Presidentials, the trail climbs as high as 6,288 feet (1,917 m) on Mount Washington and spends about 13 miles (21 km) continuously above treeline, in the largest alpine environment in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains . The segments of

2106-464: The AT with automobile support teams, without backpacks, and without camping in the woods. Thru-hikers are classified into many informal groups. "Purists" are hikers who stick to the official AT trail, follow the white blazes, except for side trips to shelters and camp sites. "Blue Blazers" cut miles from the full route by taking side trails marked by blue blazes. The generally pejorative name "Yellow Blazers",

2184-551: The Appalachian Mountains, certain mountains of Western Europe, and the Anti-Atlas range in North Africa are parts of the ancient Central Pangean Mountains , made when minor supercontinents collided to form the supercontinent Pangaea more than 250 million years ago. With the break-up of Pangaea, sections of the former range remained with the continents as they drifted to their present locations. Inspired by this evidence,

2262-404: The Appalachian Trail as well, especially in Maine. They are generally smaller and very territorial, and produce a loud call if approached. For most hikers, the most persistent pests along the trail are ticks , mosquitos , and black flies along with the mice that inhabit shelters. Plant life along the trail is varied. The trail passes through several different biomes from south to north, and

2340-622: The Appalachian Trail ends in Georgia, the Appalachian Mountains continue south to Flagg Mountain in Alabama. In 2008, the Pinhoti National Recreation Trail in Alabama and Georgia, which terminates at Flagg Mountain, was connected to the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail via the Benton MacKaye Trail . Promoters of the Southern extension refer to MacKaye's statement at the 1925 conference that

2418-595: The Appalachian Trail to be the world's longest hiking-only trail. More than three million people hike segments of it each year. The trail was first proposed in 1921 and completed in 1937. Improvements and changes have continued since then. It became the Appalachian National Scenic Trail under the National Trails System Act of 1968. The trail is maintained by 31 trail clubs and multiple partnerships and managed by

Ramapo Mountains - Misplaced Pages Continue

2496-553: The Appalachian Trail would require an act of the United States Congress . The 8.8-mile (14.2 km) Appalachian Approach Trail in Georgia begins at Amicalola Falls State Park 's visitor center and ends at Springer Mountain. Because Springer Mountain is in a remote area, the Approach Trail is often the beginning of North bound thru-hike attempts. Much of the Approach Trail was originally built as part of

2574-424: The Appalachian Trail, before the southern terminus was relocated from Mount Oglethorpe to Springer Mountain. The Appalachian Trail is home to thousands of species of plants and animals, including 2,000 rare, threatened, endangered, and sensitive plant and animal species. The American black bear ( Ursus americanus ), among the largest animals along the Appalachian Trail, rarely confronts people. The black bear

2652-574: The C&;O Canal and in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Several short segments of the trail, in towns and scenic natural areas, were built to ADA accessibly standards for wheelchair use. Throughout its length, the AT is marked by white paint blazes that are 2 by 6 inches (5 by 15 cm). Side trails to shelters, viewpoints and parking areas use similarly shaped blue blazes. In past years, some sections of

2730-636: The Eastern timber rattlesnake and copperhead , which are common along the trail. Both snakes are generally found in drier, rockier sections of the trail; the copperhead's range extends north to around the New Jersey –New York state line, while rattlesnakes are commonly found along the trail in Connecticut and have been reported, although rarely, as far north as New Hampshire . Other large mammals commonly sighted include deer ; elk , reintroduced in

2808-631: The Georgia to New Hampshire trail should, in the future, extend to Katahdin, and "then to Birmingham, Alabama". As of March 2015 , The Pinhoti Trail terminates at the base of Flagg Mountain, near Weogufka in Coosa County , 50 miles (80 km) east of Birmingham. In 2010, the Alabama state legislature formed the Alabama Appalachian Mountain Trail Commission to provide state resources for trail improvements, although officially designating Pinhoti as part of

2886-536: The Highland province. The Ramapos are composed of granite , gneiss , and marble , as old as 1.3 billion years. Out of the Furnace 41°10′20″N 74°06′00″W  /  41.1723°N 74.1001°W  / 41.1723; -74.1001 This Bergen County, New Jersey state location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Passaic County, New Jersey state location article

2964-532: The Hopper (a glacial cirque westward of the trail as it traverses Mt. Greylock in Massachusetts), and "The Hermitage", near Gulf Hagas in Maine. In the south, the forest is dominated by hardwoods, including oak and tulip trees , also known as yellow poplar. Farther north, tulip trees are gradually replaced by maples and birches . Oaks begin to disappear in Massachusetts. By Vermont, the lowland forest

3042-552: The IAT to the Appalachian terrains of Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Wales, setting off a series of expansions through Europe and Northern Africa in which existing trails co-branded with the IAT. The IAT/SIA starts in Katahdin Woods & Waters National Monument in the U.S. State of Maine. Thence to Mars Hill , Maine, before following the U.S.-Canada border north to Fort Fairfield, Maine , where it crosses

3120-638: The appearance of flags; they are sometimes called "flag trees". This region resembles lowland terrain hundreds of miles north in Canada. It also contains many endangered and threatened species. The trail has been rerouted over New Hampshire's Presidential Range so the Appalachian Mountain Club can protect certain plant life. The alpine cutoff in the Whites is generally between 4,200 and 4,800 feet (1,300 and 1,500 m). Mountains traversed by

3198-975: The border into Perth-Andover, New Brunswick . It continues up the Tobique River valley to Mount Carleton before crossing the Miramichi Highlands to the Restigouche River valley in Quebec and along the Chic-Choc Mountains of the Gaspé Peninsula , ending at the peninsula's easternmost point, Cap Gaspé in Forillon National Park . From Cap Gaspé, the IAT skips to a small section in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and over

Ramapo Mountains - Misplaced Pages Continue

3276-663: The cause. In 1929, Perkins, who was also a member of the Connecticut Forest and Park Association and its Blue Blazed Trails committee, found Ned Anderson , a farmer in Sherman, Connecticut , who took on the task of mapping and blazing the Connecticut leg of the trail (1929–1933). It ran from Dog Tail Corners in Webatuck, New York , which borders Kent, Connecticut , at Ashley Falls, 50 miles (80 km) through

3354-485: The climate changes significantly, particularly dependent upon elevation. In the south, lowland forests consist mainly of second-growth; nearly the entire trail has been logged at one time or another. There are, however, a few old growth locations along the trail, such as Sages Ravine straddling the Massachusetts-Connecticut border and atop higher peaks along the trail on either side of the same border,

3432-522: The cold climate. Maine also has several alpine regions. In addition to several areas of the Mahoosuc Range, the Baldpates, and Old Blue in southern Maine have alpine characteristics despite elevations below 4,000 feet (1,200 m). Saddleback Mountain and Mount Bigelow , further north, extend only a bit above 4,000 feet (1,200 m), but each has long alpine areas, with no tree growth on

3510-414: The entire trail in a single season. The number of thru-hikes per year has increased steadily since 2010, with 715 northbound and 133 southbound thru-hikes reported in 2017. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy estimates there are over 3,000 attempts to traverse the entire trail each year, about 25% of which succeed. Many books, documentaries, and websites are dedicated to the pursuit. Some hike from one end to

3588-441: The first section of the trail, from Bear Mountain west through Harriman State Park to Arden, New York , was opened. MacKaye then called for a two-day Appalachian Trail conference to be held in March 1925 in Washington, D.C. This meeting inspired the formation of the Appalachian Trail Conference (now called the Appalachian Trail Conservancy ) (ATC). Arthur Perkins , a retired judge, and his younger associate Myron Avery took up

3666-431: The form spiral-bound notebooks that are kept in containers in shelters all along the trail, and signing in them is not required. These logs give hikers a way to leave day-to-day messages while they are on the trail to document where they have been, where they are going, and who/what they have seen. The logs provide a space for informal writing and can also be used to keep track of people on the trail. Most of all, they provide

3744-488: The highest point in the North ( Mount Washington in New Hampshire) to the highest in the South ( Mount Mitchell in North Carolina). Hiking was an incidental focus of his plan. In 1922, at the suggestion of Major William A. Welch , director of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission , his idea was publicized by Raymond H. Torrey with a story in the New York Evening Post under a full-page banner headline reading "A Great Trail from Maine to Georgia!" On October 7, 1923,

3822-507: The honor system, and recognizes blue-blazed trails or officially required roadwalks as substitutes for the official, white-blazed route during an emergency such as a flood, forest fire, or impending storm on an exposed, high-elevation stretch. As of 2018, more than 19,000 people had reported completing the entire trail. The northbound completion rate of hiking the trail in twelve months or fewer varied from 19% to 27% from 2011 to 2018. The southbound completion rate varied between 27% and 30% during

3900-415: The influx of users escaping home isolation. In 2021, the conservancy suspended issuing hang tags for through-hikers for a period during the continuing pandemic. Trail hikers who attempt to complete the entire trail in a single season are called " thru-hikers "; those who traverse the trail during a series of separate trips are known as "section-hikers". Rugged terrain, weather extremes, illness, injury, and

3978-402: The lungs. The affected hiker recovered and hiked the trail the following year. The section of the trail that runs through the Mid-Atlantic and New England states has a very high population of deer ticks carrying Lyme and other tick-borne diseases, and corresponds to the highest density of reported Lyme disease in the country. The weather is a major consideration for hikers. Hiking season of

SECTION 50

#1732787900889

4056-481: The new trail cleared and blazed, by six Boy Scouts from New York City and their guides. The thru-hike was much later recorded and accepted by the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association . In 1938, the trail sustained major damage from a hurricane that went through the New England area. This was soon before the start of World War II, and many of the people working on the trail were called to active duty. In 1948, Earl Shaffer of York, Pennsylvania , brought

4134-444: The northern-easternmost point of the Appalachian Mountains at Belle Isle , Newfoundland and Labrador . As of July 2020, there are widely geographically dispersed IAT-branded walking trails in Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Wales, England, Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. The IAT was proposed in 1994 by Richard Anderson, a Maine fisheries biologist, with plans to traverse

4212-410: The northwest corner of the state, up to Bear Mountain at the Massachusetts state line. A portion of the Connecticut trail has since been rerouted (1979–1983) to be more scenic, adhering less to highways and more to wilderness, and includes the Ned K. Anderson Memorial Bridge. Anderson's efforts helped spark renewed interest in the trail, and Avery, who led the project after Perkins's death in 1932,

4290-467: The organization's "A.T. Community" program, having become recognized for providing food, supplies and accommodations for passers-through. In the areas of the trail closer to trail towns, many hikers have experienced what is sometimes called "trail magic", or assistance from strangers through kind actions, gifts, and other forms of encouragement. Trail magic is sometimes done anonymously. In other instances, persons have provided food and cooked for hikers at

4368-407: The original trail often climbed straight up and down mountains, creating rough hiking conditions and a treadway prone to severe erosion. The ATC's trail crews and volunteer trail-maintaining clubs have relocated or rehabilitated miles of trail since then. In 1936, a 121-day Maine to Georgia veteran's group funded and supported thru-hike was reported to have been completed, with all but three miles of

4446-423: The other, then turn around and thru-hike the other way, a "yo-yo". Affiliated trail sections extend from either end from the north as the International Appalachian Trail into Canada and beyond, and from the south as the Eastern Continental Trail into the Southeastern states of Alabama and Florida . The Appalachian Trail, the Continental Divide Trail , and the Pacific Crest Trail informally constitute

4524-477: The portions of the Appalachian Mountains in Maine, New Brunswick, and Quebec that the Appalachian Trail did not cover. Following route selection, construction of the trail took place through the late 1990s. The first person to thruhike the IAT, as it then existed, was John Brinda from Washington State, in 1997. He did this as part of a long-distance hike of what is known as the Eastern Continental Trail starting in Key West, Florida ending at Cap Gaspé in Quebec. He

4602-416: The same period. International Appalachian Trail The International Appalachian Trail ( IAT ; French : Sentier international des Appalaches , SIA ) was originally a hiking trail which ran from Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument , in Maine , through New Brunswick , to the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec , after which it followed a ferry route to Newfoundland , and then continued to

4680-403: The south would be far from the subalpine cutoff. This is especially low because Greylock is exposed to prevailing westerly winds, as the summits along its ridgeline rise about 200 to 650 feet (61 to 198 m) higher than any other peak in Massachusetts. Farther north, several peaks in Vermont reach into the subalpine zone, the bottom of which steadily descends as one proceeds northward, so that by

4758-409: The state ranges from around 2,500 feet (760 m) in the Mahoosuc Range to below 1,000 feet (300 m) in parts of the Hundred-Mile Wilderness , where nearly every area higher than 1,000 feet (300 m) is evergreen forest. These forests include more species of evergreen, as well. In addition to the white pine , spruce , and hemlock prevalent further south, Maine has many cedar trees along

SECTION 60

#1732787900889

4836-457: The summer months. The Fontana Dam Shelter in North Carolina is more commonly referred to as the Fontana Hilton because of amenities (e.g. flushable toilets) and its proximity to an all-you-can-eat buffet and post office. Several AMC huts have an extended self-service season during the fall, with two extending self-service seasons through the winter and spring. The Potomac Appalachian Trail Club maintains trail cabins, shelters, and huts throughout

4914-462: The summit and unobstructed views on clear days. From Mount Bigelow, the trail extends for 150 miles (240 km) with only a small area of alpine growth around 3,500 feet (1,100 m) on the summit of White Cap Mountain . Mount Katahdin, the second-largest alpine environment in the eastern United States, has several square miles of alpine area on the flat "table land" summit as well as the cliffs and aretes leading up to it. Treeline on Mount Katahdin

4992-450: The time and effort required make thru-hiking difficult to accomplish. As of 2017, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy estimated that 3,839 hikers set out from Springer Mountain, northbound, 497 from Mount Katahdin, southbound, and reported 1,186 completions of hiking the entire trail, which includes those by both section and through hikers. Most thru-hikers walk northward from Georgia to Maine, and generally start out in early spring and follow

5070-412: The trail also used metal diamond markers with the AT logo, few of which survive. Most hikers carry a lightweight tent, tent hammock or tarp. The trail has more than 250 shelters and campsites available for hikers. The shelters, sometimes called lean-tos (in Maine, Massachusetts, and Connecticut), huts (in Shenandoah National Park), or Adirondack shelters, are generally open, three-walled structures with

5148-424: The trail from development, thanks to efforts of politicians and officials. Wisconsin senator Gaylord Nelson offered legislation to protect the route. The National Trails System Act of 1968 designated the Pacific Crest Trail and Appalachian Trail as the first national scenic trails and paved the way for a series of such trails within the national park and national forest systems. Trail volunteers worked with

5226-478: The trail generally starts in mid-to-late spring, when conditions are much more favorable in the South. However, this time may also be characterized by extreme heat, sometimes in excess of 100 °F (38 °C). Farther north and at higher elevations, the weather can be characterized by low temperatures, strong winds, hail or snow storms and reduced visibility. Prolonged rain, though not typically life-threatening, can undermine stamina and ruin supplies. In March 2015,

5304-416: The trail in 1937: Roan Mountain , North Carolina and Tennessee; the Mount Rogers high country, including Grayson Highlands , Virginia; the Pochuck Creek swamp, New Jersey; Nuclear Lake, New York; Thundering Falls, Vermont; and Saddleback Mountain , Maine. Except for places where the Civilian Conservation Corps was brought in (mostly in Shenandoah National Park , the Great Smoky Mountains , and Maine),

5382-429: The trail in Shenandoah National Park. The primary suspect was later discovered harassing a female cyclist in the vicinity, but charges against him were dropped and the case remained unsolved until 2024. In May 2019, Oklahoman Ronald S. Sanchez Jr., 43 years old, was murdered at a campsite near Mount Rogers National Recreation Area in western Virginia Jefferson National Forest. A female hiker who has not been identified

5460-417: The trail through Pennsylvania are so rocky that hikers call the region "Rocksylvania". These small rocks, which are the result of erosion that has worn away the dirt along the trails, can be tough to walk on for extended periods of time without proper hard-soled shoes. In Maine , the trail extends into even harsher environments, and subalpine and alpine growth descends to lower elevations. Alpine growth in

5538-418: The trail, making him the oldest person to claim a completed thru-hike. The first woman to walk the trail in a single season was Peace Pilgrim in 1952, while the first solo woman to complete the hike was 67-year-old Emma Gatewood , who did it northbound in 1955, taking 146 days. She repeated the achievement two years later, and again in 1963, at age 75. In the 1960s, the ATC made progress toward protecting

5616-445: The trail. Many animals live around the trail, with bears, snakes, and wild boars posing the greatest threat to human safety. Several rodent- and bug-borne illnesses are also a potential hazard. In scattered instances, foxes, raccoons , and other small animals may bite hikers, posing risk of rabies and other diseases. There has been one reported case (in 1993) of hantavirus (HPS), a rare but dangerous rodent-borne disease affecting

5694-409: The trail. Near the northern terminus, there are even some tamarack (larch), a coniferous, pine-needled deciduous tree, which provides displays of yellow in the late fall after the birches and maples have gone bare. The hemlocks in Maine are also notable, as the woolly adelgid , which has ravaged populations further south, has not come into the state yet, and may be unable to make it so far north due to

5772-424: The warm weather as it moves north. These "north-bounders" are also called NOBO (NOrthBOund) or GAME (Georgia(GA)-to-Maine(ME)), while those heading in the opposite direction are termed "south-bounders" (also SOBO or MEGA). A thru-hike generally requires five to seven months, although some have done it in three months, and several trail runners have completed the trail in less time. Trail runners typically tackle

5850-531: Was able to bring other states on board. Upon taking over the ATC, Avery adopted the goal to build a simple hiking trail. He and MacKaye clashed over the ATC's response to the construction of a road that overlapped part within Shenandoah National Park; MacKaye left the organization, while Avery was willing to reroute the trail. Avery served as Chair of the ATC from 1932 to 1952, the year he died. He

5928-469: Was also injured by an assailant there. James L. Jordan, 30, of West Yarmouth, Massachusetts was found not guilty of the crimes by reason of insanity. Human error can lead to casualties as well. In July 2013, 66-year-old lone hiker Geraldine Largay disappeared on the trail in Maine. Largay became lost and survived 26 days before dying. Her remains were found two years later in October 2015. In October 2015,

6006-647: Was the first person to thruhike the entire Eastern Continental Trail. The Newfoundland and Labrador extension to the IAT was proposed in 2003 and is still under construction. When completed, it will add an additional 1,200 km of trail. The official opening of the first trail section of the IAT Newfoundland was September 23, 2006. In 2009, IAT officials met with the British Geological Survey in Scotland to discuss whether to extend

6084-547: Was the first to walk the trail end-to-end, though not as a thru-hike, in 1936. In August 1937, the trail was completed to Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine, and the ATC shifted its focus toward protecting the trail lands and mapping the trail for hikers. In 1977, the Appalachian Trail Conference honored Paul M. Fink as "the guiding influence" in establishing the Trail in Tennessee and North Carolina in

#888111