| Click to go to: | Appalachian Trail (AT) FactsThe AT is 2,167 miles long. There are minor changes to this mileage through the
years due to trail relocations, storm damage, etc.
The AT goes from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Katahdin in Maine. It passes through a total of 14 states: Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. The following is the number of AT miles of each state. Maine 281 * The trail in North Carolina and Tennessee runs along the border of the two states, the 371 miles is actually the mileage of the two states combined. The AT is marked by white blazes. These are painted on trees, rocks, and cairns (cairns are rock piles that are used to mark trails above treeline). A blue blazed trail is a side trail off the AT usually leading to a point of interest, campground, town, etc. There are many shelters along the AT where you can spend the night if you do not have a tent. They are usually 3 sided wooden structures. There are usually campsites near shelters as well. Camping is permitted along most of the AT, though there are restrictions in some of the parks and above treeline. Many people hike the AT each year. A thru-hiker is a person who is attempting to hike the entire 2,167 mile length in one season. A section hiker is a person who hikes sections of the AT each year, with the goal of eventually covering the entire AT (this could take anywhere from 2 years to 30!). The first person to thru-hike the AT was Earl Shaffer in 1948. The AT runs directly through many towns along its’ length. These towns are where thru-hikers can pick up packages, get a restaurant meal, get cleaned up, call home, etc. There are also many towns along the way that are a short walk off the trail to accomplish these tasks. The highest point of the AT is Clingman’s Dome (6643 ft.), in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Mount Washington, in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, is a close second at 6288 ft. Facts about our AT Hike We are starting our hike on Springer Mountain on or about March 27. We expect to finish on Katahdin towards the end of September. Katahdin usually is closed after October 15 (due to weather conditions), so we will definitely be done by then!We are carrying a tent, and will be relying on shelters as little as possible. We will not be carrying a GPS, cell phone, beeper, gun, etc. We will be stopping in a town every 5-7 days to resupply, call home, clean up, etc. This is when we will be calling our webmaster, Al, and updating our location for the website. We plan on hiking 10-15 miles per day. We will start out at a slower pace (approx. 8 miles a day) to allow our bodies to get accustomed to backpacking. We are getting most of our food via maildrops. My mom will be sending prepared maildrops to town post offices along the way. I am preparing most of our food. We will also be picking up fresh food at stores along the way. We will not get eaten by a bear during our thru-hike. There are black bears along some parts of the AT. The only threat they pose is to our food! A properly hung food bag is our best defense. Black bears eat small woodland animals, nuts, and berries. We are not prey of black bears, so as long as we are careful not to get between a cub and its’ mother, we will not have problems. |