Appalachian Trail


I first set foot on the Appalachian Trail (AT) in the late 1980s or early 1990s. It was a brief stroll - just a few hundred feet in eastern Pennsylvania - but it planted a seed that took a good long while to germinate.

I took my first extended hike on the AT in 2007, walking about fifty miles beyond Springer Mountain, the modest peak in northern Georgia that serves as the southern terminus of the trail. Every year or two since, I've headed back to the trail for about a week, each time picking up where I'd left off before.

The northern terminus of the AT is atop Mount Katahdin, in central Maine. In between are nearly 2,200 miles of trail, very little of it flat. At my present pace, I should finish at age 83. Links below point, once I write them, to accounts of my AT hikes to date.

2007
Springer Mountain to Unicoi Gap
52.9 Mile Segment (N↑); 52.9 Total

2009
Unicoi Gap to Nantahala Outdoor Center
84.4 Mile Segment (N↑); 137.3 Total

2011
Newfound Gap to Nantahala Outdoor Center
70.0 Mile Segment (S↓); 207.3 Total

2012
Newfound Gap to Log Cabin Dr
83.4 Mile Segment (N↑); 290.7 Total

2013
Log Cabin Dr to US 19E (Elk Park NC)
103.1 Mile Segment (N↑); 393.8 Total

2015
US 19E (Elk Park NC) to Damascus VA
75.5 Mile Segment (N↑); 469.3 Total

2016
Damascus VA to Atkins VA
73.4 Mile Segment (S↓); 542.7 Total