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The Appalachian Trail: A Biography
The Appalachian Trail is America's most beloved trek, with millions of hikers setting foot on it every year. Yet few are aware of the fascinating backstory of the dreamers and builders who helped bring it to life over the past century.
The conception and building of the Appalachian Trail is a story of unforgettable characters who explored it, defined it, and captured national attention by hiking it. From Grandma Gatewood--a mother of eleven who thru-hiked in canvas sneakers and a drawstring duffle--to Bill Bryson, author of the best-selling A Walk in the Woods, the AT has seized the American imagination like no other hiking path. The 2,000-mile-long hike from Georgia to Maine is not just a trail through the woods, but a set of ideas about nature etched in the forest floor. This character-driven biography of the trail is a must-read not just for ambitious hikers, but for anyone who wonders about our relationship with the great outdoors and dreams of getting away from urban life for a pilgrimage in the wild.
The conception and building of the Appalachian Trail is a story of unforgettable characters who explored it, defined it, and captured national attention by hiking it. From Grandma Gatewood--a mother of eleven who thru-hiked in canvas sneakers and a drawstring duffle--to Bill Bryson, author of the best-selling A Walk in the Woods, the AT has seized the American imagination like no other hiking path. The 2,000-mile-long hike from Georgia to Maine is not just a trail through the woods, but a set of ideas about nature etched in the forest floor. This character-driven biography of the trail is a must-read not just for ambitious hikers, but for anyone who wonders about our relationship with the great outdoors and dreams of getting away from urban life for a pilgrimage in the wild.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published June 8, 2021
240 people are currently reading
3219 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 196 reviews
June 18, 2021
This is not a book I'd ever read if I weren't married to the author. ;) Histories are not my thing. But I appreciated learning how this legendary trail came to be, and about the people who were attracted to it.
Each chapter profiles, in more or less chronological order, various individuals who played a key role in the Appalachian Trail's formation. Some players were thinkers, whose idea for a trail along a single geologic feature captured the imagination of others who were willing to do the physical bushwhacking required. Others were savvy bureaucrats who were able to champion the idea in Washington. And still others were restless souls looking for some peace, higher meaning, or escape in simply hiking the thing. It was striking how almost every person profiled was odd, singularly focused, and, not surprisingly, most at home on their own among trees. There's a type.
I wish the book had more of what D'Anieri alludes to in places (and elaborates on in person, trust me!), which is the way the trail is a mirror for changing societal notions of "nature" and "wilderness." Early in its history, post-Enlightenment trail visionaries sought to classify and master nature as a demonstration of scientific dominance. By the 70's the "back-to-nature" ethos sent lots of (white) suburbanites into the woods for a connection to everything they missed by commuting to and working in cities.
It's not a long book, so it should work well for anyone who wants a case study in parks creation.
Each chapter profiles, in more or less chronological order, various individuals who played a key role in the Appalachian Trail's formation. Some players were thinkers, whose idea for a trail along a single geologic feature captured the imagination of others who were willing to do the physical bushwhacking required. Others were savvy bureaucrats who were able to champion the idea in Washington. And still others were restless souls looking for some peace, higher meaning, or escape in simply hiking the thing. It was striking how almost every person profiled was odd, singularly focused, and, not surprisingly, most at home on their own among trees. There's a type.
I wish the book had more of what D'Anieri alludes to in places (and elaborates on in person, trust me!), which is the way the trail is a mirror for changing societal notions of "nature" and "wilderness." Early in its history, post-Enlightenment trail visionaries sought to classify and master nature as a demonstration of scientific dominance. By the 70's the "back-to-nature" ethos sent lots of (white) suburbanites into the woods for a connection to everything they missed by commuting to and working in cities.
It's not a long book, so it should work well for anyone who wants a case study in parks creation.
August 31, 2021
D'Anieri gives a clear presentation of the making of the trail, the people involved, and the political choices that were made to make it. The book answers questions I have had about the trail in a prose that is finely wrought but never intrusive. Perhaps I wondered about the chapter on Bill Bryson -- the celebrity chapter that didn't have anything to do with the making or maintaining of the trail -- but I was won over in the description of what the trail has become, the kind of touchstone it is now, and Bryson was a part of that.
I was pleased that he got to some personal experience of the trail at the end, and might have wished for a bit more of that along the way. Still, that might have interrupted the flow of each chapter, always focussed on the historical or political figure who shaped the whole experience.
Was also very pleased that D'Anieri noted a time or two that the trail reflects white American experience of the natural world. How that still seems to determine the kinds of people who make the venture. This does seem as if it is one of the most pressing issues in the environmental movement at this moment in history.
I was pleased that he got to some personal experience of the trail at the end, and might have wished for a bit more of that along the way. Still, that might have interrupted the flow of each chapter, always focussed on the historical or political figure who shaped the whole experience.
Was also very pleased that D'Anieri noted a time or two that the trail reflects white American experience of the natural world. How that still seems to determine the kinds of people who make the venture. This does seem as if it is one of the most pressing issues in the environmental movement at this moment in history.
January 24, 2021
While the premise of the book appears interesting -- the stories of 12 individuals who were instrumental in bringing the vision of a interstate wilderness trail to fruition -- the execution is choppy. Some of the chapters, notably those of Benton Mackaye and Myron Avery (arch rivals) are excellent. However, the story of these two men was told extensively in Jeff Ryan's book, "Blazing Ahead: Benton MacKaye, Myron Avery, and the Rivalry That Built the Appalachian Trail." The initial chapters, prior to that of Mackaye (Chapter 4), were fairly dry, not particularly engaging, and at times I wondered what the significance of the individuals was to the overall story. It was as if D'Anieri hadn't quite decided exactly what he wanted his book to be. This was particularly true in his Introduction where he provides long descriptions of the geological history of the Appalachian mountains.
For me, the book became more interesting beginning with Chapter 6 and the story of Earl Shaffer, the first acknowledged thru hiker of the AT (1948) and the following year, Emma Gatewood. It was interesting, as well, to read about the various strong opinions the hikers held as to what exactly counted as a "thru-hike."
Chapter 7 is the story of Senator Gaylord Nelson, who introduced legislation in 1964 to provide federal protection for the AT. Nelson, neither outdoorsman nor hiker, was emblematic of a new environmentalism that was taking root in American politics. He worked to preserve the wilderness nature of the trail and prevent further encroachment of postwar development. In addition to his efforts to protect the AT, Nelson is also remembered for having organized the first Earth Day in April 1970. Chapter 8 is similarly involved with telling more of the history of the AT and federal legislation as well as its interface with the National Park Service.
Chapter 9 tells the story of Bill Bryson -- but to truly appreciate Bill Bryson one must read Bryson's own account as related in "A Walk in the Woods." Bryson is hilariously, laugh-out-loud funny.
Chapter 10 seems to be a discourse on the author's opinions concerning the purpose of the trail. Is it for short-distance hikes? Long-distance hiking? At one point in the chapter, the author comments on three young men with Mountain Dew and cigarettes getting ready to hike, "They provided a sharp and, to my eyes, welcome contrast to the typical REI-adorned denizens of the trail." This is the same author, who, in the Introduction, sets off on a 5-6 hour up and back hike up a smallish mountain on a Georgia portion of the trail with no water. Seriously? What kind of idiot does that??? No wonder he takes a liking to the cigarette smoking "hikers." In fact, the author goes on to argue, in Chapter 10, in favor of a accessible trail noting that a more remote experience requires specialized gear, knowledge of what you're doing, etc. He decries the predominant "whiteness" of the Skyline Drive in Virginia. Again, is he writing a book about the history of the AT or a book about race and the great outdoors? He needs to make up his mind.
The last several pages of the book provide the author's take on the effect of the internet on the AT. Again, this could be a complete book all to itself. The author speaks of the ability to move knowledge quickly from reliable maps to informing others of one's progress on the trail. The second relates to those on the trail broadcasting back to civilization, producing a public performance so to speak. And the third is the blurring of the line between wilderness and civilization.
All in all, there were enjoyable parts of the book. But it didn't hang together as a whole book with a discernable beginning through to a cogent end. Although the book does seem to fill a void, in that most books about the AT tend to tell the story of the hiking experience, it could have been better done.
For me, the book became more interesting beginning with Chapter 6 and the story of Earl Shaffer, the first acknowledged thru hiker of the AT (1948) and the following year, Emma Gatewood. It was interesting, as well, to read about the various strong opinions the hikers held as to what exactly counted as a "thru-hike."
Chapter 7 is the story of Senator Gaylord Nelson, who introduced legislation in 1964 to provide federal protection for the AT. Nelson, neither outdoorsman nor hiker, was emblematic of a new environmentalism that was taking root in American politics. He worked to preserve the wilderness nature of the trail and prevent further encroachment of postwar development. In addition to his efforts to protect the AT, Nelson is also remembered for having organized the first Earth Day in April 1970. Chapter 8 is similarly involved with telling more of the history of the AT and federal legislation as well as its interface with the National Park Service.
Chapter 9 tells the story of Bill Bryson -- but to truly appreciate Bill Bryson one must read Bryson's own account as related in "A Walk in the Woods." Bryson is hilariously, laugh-out-loud funny.
Chapter 10 seems to be a discourse on the author's opinions concerning the purpose of the trail. Is it for short-distance hikes? Long-distance hiking? At one point in the chapter, the author comments on three young men with Mountain Dew and cigarettes getting ready to hike, "They provided a sharp and, to my eyes, welcome contrast to the typical REI-adorned denizens of the trail." This is the same author, who, in the Introduction, sets off on a 5-6 hour up and back hike up a smallish mountain on a Georgia portion of the trail with no water. Seriously? What kind of idiot does that??? No wonder he takes a liking to the cigarette smoking "hikers." In fact, the author goes on to argue, in Chapter 10, in favor of a accessible trail noting that a more remote experience requires specialized gear, knowledge of what you're doing, etc. He decries the predominant "whiteness" of the Skyline Drive in Virginia. Again, is he writing a book about the history of the AT or a book about race and the great outdoors? He needs to make up his mind.
The last several pages of the book provide the author's take on the effect of the internet on the AT. Again, this could be a complete book all to itself. The author speaks of the ability to move knowledge quickly from reliable maps to informing others of one's progress on the trail. The second relates to those on the trail broadcasting back to civilization, producing a public performance so to speak. And the third is the blurring of the line between wilderness and civilization.
All in all, there were enjoyable parts of the book. But it didn't hang together as a whole book with a discernable beginning through to a cogent end. Although the book does seem to fill a void, in that most books about the AT tend to tell the story of the hiking experience, it could have been better done.
July 15, 2021
Lots of interesting research and reconsideration of popular myths about 'the outdoors,' with some real down and dirty politics, too. The conceit is to tell the life stories of several individuals whose lives were intertwined with the Appalachian Trail, and also to make the reader think about how our whole idea of nature and open space and recreation are constructed ideas. Also, that specific political and rhetorical decisions are responsible for institutions like the AT to exist in the form that they do. (The biggest, "Oh duh" for me was that the whole concept of national parks and 'the great outdoors' in their 20th century form depended on highways and the automobile -- a blessing and a curse if there ever was one).
March 4, 2022
Philip D'Anieri's book is just as the title suggests. It's not a biography of the Appalachian Trail, rather, it's a series of mini-biographies of many of the people who had a hand in its founding, construction, maintenance, and legacy (some more than others).
I personally gravitated toward the sociological and anthropological parts of this book (I found stories of the first thru-hikers particularly engaging), but there is history, politics, policy, and reflection galore in this small but mighty work. I won't criticize the parts that weren't engaging to me because they very well could be the highlight for someone else. The standout chapter for me was the final one, which is more of an essay about D'Anieri's own experience on the trail and its relationship to race, class, and modern society at large.
My favorite takeaway was realizing that the AT that we know today is one of our country's great public-private partnerships which, when you think about it, is quite the feat given that it traverses through 14 states. Not without its complexities and questions, you can't help but be grateful for this feat of commitment and perseverance and the opportunities it provides for escape.
I personally gravitated toward the sociological and anthropological parts of this book (I found stories of the first thru-hikers particularly engaging), but there is history, politics, policy, and reflection galore in this small but mighty work. I won't criticize the parts that weren't engaging to me because they very well could be the highlight for someone else. The standout chapter for me was the final one, which is more of an essay about D'Anieri's own experience on the trail and its relationship to race, class, and modern society at large.
My favorite takeaway was realizing that the AT that we know today is one of our country's great public-private partnerships which, when you think about it, is quite the feat given that it traverses through 14 states. Not without its complexities and questions, you can't help but be grateful for this feat of commitment and perseverance and the opportunities it provides for escape.
March 4, 2022
This book is organized in chapters dedicated to people who made an important impact on the creation and popularity of the trail in roughly chronological order. As semi-regular reader of trail lit, I was slightly previously acquainted with many, but not all these people and D'Anieri managed to find new things to share about even those I was most familiar with. There are some really inspiring sections and others that are more meh, but it is an interesting story overall.
June 15, 2025
Although this is a short book, it felt long, which dragged the reading experience down.
August 11, 2023
Interesting take to write about the Appalachian Trail as if writing a biography of a person. Each chapter features a person who played a part in the development of the trail.
November 21, 2020
*This book was received as an Advanced Reader's Copy from NetGalley.
One day I want to hike the AT, until then, I satisfy myself by reading books about it and the people who have traveled it, namely thru-hikes. This book is a bit different though, it's not about any one persons thru-hike, but more about the people who helped to build the AT in the first place, and their contributions to its preservation.
Starting with the man who mapped the mountains (Guyot), heading through the earliest hiking clubs and start of other trails(Taylor), to the people building the actual trail (Avery) and securing its protection (Nelson); there are a lot of people in the development of the trail itself. To be honest, I had never really thought about how the trail was built or when it was built or how much time it took. And those are questions I should have asked because the answers are interesting. While some thru-hikers are mentioned; notably the first (Shaffer) and the first woman a few years after (Gatewood), Bill Bryson and his best-seller also make the list because of impact.
The book was very approachable to read. Sometimes history, even on something as interesting as the AT, can get dry, and I appreciated that this book flowed smoothly the whole way through and provided narratives of the individuals lives in addition to what they were doing for the trail itself. The amount of work that's gone into the trail both to design and protect it is impressive. The author also speaks to environmental impact and demographics of the trail, which I thought were good callouts as well.
If you like reading thru-hiking accounts, give this book a try. It will make you appreciate the AT all the more.
Review by M. Reynard 2020
One day I want to hike the AT, until then, I satisfy myself by reading books about it and the people who have traveled it, namely thru-hikes. This book is a bit different though, it's not about any one persons thru-hike, but more about the people who helped to build the AT in the first place, and their contributions to its preservation.
Starting with the man who mapped the mountains (Guyot), heading through the earliest hiking clubs and start of other trails(Taylor), to the people building the actual trail (Avery) and securing its protection (Nelson); there are a lot of people in the development of the trail itself. To be honest, I had never really thought about how the trail was built or when it was built or how much time it took. And those are questions I should have asked because the answers are interesting. While some thru-hikers are mentioned; notably the first (Shaffer) and the first woman a few years after (Gatewood), Bill Bryson and his best-seller also make the list because of impact.
The book was very approachable to read. Sometimes history, even on something as interesting as the AT, can get dry, and I appreciated that this book flowed smoothly the whole way through and provided narratives of the individuals lives in addition to what they were doing for the trail itself. The amount of work that's gone into the trail both to design and protect it is impressive. The author also speaks to environmental impact and demographics of the trail, which I thought were good callouts as well.
If you like reading thru-hiking accounts, give this book a try. It will make you appreciate the AT all the more.
Review by M. Reynard 2020
April 18, 2021
This book has twelve chapters with each devoted to an individual who had some impact on the development of the Appalachian Trail. Some of the chapters were well done and engaging while others were borderline boring making this a very uneven read. It is informative for those who have an interest in the Appalachian Trail, but have not read much about it.
I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook page.
I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook page.
June 19, 2021
4.5 if that were an option - what I appreciated (as a mostly dispassionate reader) was the strong writing and the appreciation of the paradox of the trail throughout its history and the changes in the idea, ideals and reality of the trail: that to enjoy nature, you have to beat back nature enough to get to something like an AT; that in one place at least, the trail is routed alongside an interstate - a metaphor for its sometimes uneasy relationship with the people who use it and the people around it.
November 13, 2021
The author was not attempting to be comprehensive about the Appalachian Trail, instead the focus is on some of the people that made the trail what it is; from the early conception to development, then the first hikers, particularly thru-hikers. One of the last chapters focused on Bill Bryson since his book (A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail) made a huge impact for the trail. It was a bestseller and many more people came out to hike the trail for themselves. The very last chapter dealt with the author's own experience hiking along the trail, although not a completion thru-hike.
My only experience with this trail is through Bill Bryson, as I live closer to the Pacific Crest Trail, actually have hiked a very small part of that one. And part of this book is missing some of the physical details of the trail. There are a few, but not many and it didn’t make me actually see the trail. Perhaps there are other books that provide more detail.
At times I felt like there was too much backstory to the person’s biography for the chapter, but this is what the author was attempting, biographies for a few of the important people associated with this trail.
Just as I finished this book I noticed in the news an announcement for the oldest person to hike the trail, M.J. Eberhart, an 83-year-old man. A nice coincidence with the timing.
P.S. another aspect I thought was missing was some info or biographies on the trail angels, those people who help out the thru-hikers. No, this was not a complete book.
Thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/Mariner Books and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.
My only experience with this trail is through Bill Bryson, as I live closer to the Pacific Crest Trail, actually have hiked a very small part of that one. And part of this book is missing some of the physical details of the trail. There are a few, but not many and it didn’t make me actually see the trail. Perhaps there are other books that provide more detail.
At times I felt like there was too much backstory to the person’s biography for the chapter, but this is what the author was attempting, biographies for a few of the important people associated with this trail.
Just as I finished this book I noticed in the news an announcement for the oldest person to hike the trail, M.J. Eberhart, an 83-year-old man. A nice coincidence with the timing.
P.S. another aspect I thought was missing was some info or biographies on the trail angels, those people who help out the thru-hikers. No, this was not a complete book.
Thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/Mariner Books and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.
June 21, 2021
As an AT and Florida Trail thru-hiker I was quite excited to read this book based on the premise of it being an overarching biography of the Appalachian Trail. And it very nearly does that but with my kindle saying I had 75% of the book read, the book just ends! The remaining 25% is bibliography and resources, which are greatly appreciated, but the last chapter acted as if it was tacked on randomly to create a vision of a tidy ending. There's a huge 20+ years of trail history missing after Bill Bryson. The author attempts to summarize that with his sporadic section hiking and glossing over the recent technology access to the trail but he leaves out a huge section of other folks, primarily the hikers themselves, from the story. Where are the FKTers of the last 20 years, what of Trail Angels and Trail Maintainers of significance, book authors, and even discussion about podcasters and more in depth information about technology on the trail and hiking celebrities? What even of the natural history of the trail? For this, the book fell hugely short. I really appreciated the middle sections of the book, particularly about the evolving protection of the AT during that time period.
I wanted to love it but I ended up merely liking it for the sudden ending of the book.
As a touted Biography, this book falls drastically short.
*I received and ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my review*
I wanted to love it but I ended up merely liking it for the sudden ending of the book.
As a touted Biography, this book falls drastically short.
*I received and ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my review*
January 11, 2023
I was browsing through biographies, and this book came up because the author calls a biography of the trail rather than a history. Whatever.
I enjoyed it, learned a lot. a lot of the interest in hiking for recreation came from German immigrants with their Black Forest experience, in which trail clubs maintained sections of trails.
The author chronicles the history of the trails from conception to today, how it started with efforts to combine existing trails in the eastern part of the US into the AT as it’s known. It became a huge project to unite those clubs and to secure additional land from private and government ownership under the AT vision, to protect the trail from encroaching development while at the same time recognizing the needs of modern society, plus to continually maintain and upgrade the trail. Lots of men and women who worked hard to make it a reality. One chapter is dedicated to the Bill Bryson book titled A Walk in the Woods, the most widely read book about the AT and which greatly increased interest in thru-hiking, which is hiking the entire 2200 miles in one season.
Good book!
I enjoyed it, learned a lot. a lot of the interest in hiking for recreation came from German immigrants with their Black Forest experience, in which trail clubs maintained sections of trails.
The author chronicles the history of the trails from conception to today, how it started with efforts to combine existing trails in the eastern part of the US into the AT as it’s known. It became a huge project to unite those clubs and to secure additional land from private and government ownership under the AT vision, to protect the trail from encroaching development while at the same time recognizing the needs of modern society, plus to continually maintain and upgrade the trail. Lots of men and women who worked hard to make it a reality. One chapter is dedicated to the Bill Bryson book titled A Walk in the Woods, the most widely read book about the AT and which greatly increased interest in thru-hiking, which is hiking the entire 2200 miles in one season.
Good book!
June 28, 2024
another reading slump dnf :/ i was so drawn to the idea of viewing a trail through the lens of the people who made it real (cultural poetics!!) but the weak writing couldn’t keep my interest. d’anieri wrote in a plain, biographical form about the white men (read: colonizers) that formed the trail system. i am at least grateful that he acknowledged this issue in the prologue, but (of the parts i read) i did not see a single mention of the indigenous groups native to the regions that the trail cuts through. while i appreciate the different perspectives and stories this book wrote about, i wish d’anieri could have included some more diverse voices. also, i would have loved to read more about the everyday people who make the trail what it is: trail angels, trail workers, the thru-hikers themselves! this book had great potential, i just wish the focus had been on different people.
October 23, 2021
This isn't a trail guide or a log of a hiker's travels along the AT. This is about the people who envisioned the trail and helped make it a reality. Philip writes about a few of the early through hikers on the trail such as Earl Shaffer and Emma Gatewood. He also writes about Bill Bryson and his journey on the trail which later became a best selling book. (A Walk in the Wild) He tells how these people helped popularize the trail.
This book isn't about the "small" people who actually built the trail as much as it is about the "big" names which led the fight for it.
He also tells how the popularity of the trail has changed it. Trail erosion from all the people traveling over a narrow section of land to name one thing. He also mentioned how technology is infringing on the trail. It isn't an uncommon sight to see the glow of a smart phone in tents and shelters or to hear streaming music while you are hiking in the woods. When originally envisioned, the trail would be a way to leave civilization behind and to return to nature. Now days, civilization is coming along for the hike.
The book was good, I enjoyed reading about what was behind the making of the trail. I liked the history. I have to say though, I tended to skim over a lot of the political battles he wrote about.
This book isn't about the "small" people who actually built the trail as much as it is about the "big" names which led the fight for it.
He also tells how the popularity of the trail has changed it. Trail erosion from all the people traveling over a narrow section of land to name one thing. He also mentioned how technology is infringing on the trail. It isn't an uncommon sight to see the glow of a smart phone in tents and shelters or to hear streaming music while you are hiking in the woods. When originally envisioned, the trail would be a way to leave civilization behind and to return to nature. Now days, civilization is coming along for the hike.
The book was good, I enjoyed reading about what was behind the making of the trail. I liked the history. I have to say though, I tended to skim over a lot of the political battles he wrote about.
January 24, 2025
It was a good book, obvs not my favorite but I dont think thats what this book was written for, so in terms of its objectives I would say this was quite an excellent book. Serves well as a written guidebook to the people behind the making of the AT (however I am uneducated on the subject so perhaps it isn't). And an overall addition to how tf do you rate a book? I was curious about the appalachian trail and this fulfilled that curiosity quite well, so 4 stars!
Took me all too long to read this, mainly because I started reading Pachinko in the middle of this book (literally in the middle of the last 20 pages) and then that took over my time and I only now finished the last 20 pages.
Took me all too long to read this, mainly because I started reading Pachinko in the middle of this book (literally in the middle of the last 20 pages) and then that took over my time and I only now finished the last 20 pages.
October 23, 2021
A conventional biography about an unconventional subject- the Appalachian Trail! In 9 chapters, the authors looks at 12 people who influenced the concept, the development, the maintenance, and the popularity of the trail. These profiles include a wilderness idealist, a focused trail builder, several noteworthy Federal government employees, a U.S. Senator, and the Anglo-American satirist Bill Bryson (whose book A Walk in the Woods significantly increased the popularity of the AT).
August 26, 2021
Filled with info about how it was constructed and some of the most famous people to go for a walk (cough cough Grandma Gatewood), this book is a must if you want to know the nitty gritty about the AT. I especially loved the chapter on Bryson and Gatewood. I learned a lot and I can’t wait to give it a stroll someday!
March 21, 2022
Quite the story how this legendary trail came to be. If you have ever wondered what goes into this kind of project this is a book for you. It should make you really appreciate every trail you hike! It is one thing to have the idea and another to pull it all together and make it happen.
November 21, 2022
This book is fascinating and so well done. A biography/history of the trail through the lens of 12 people. If you’ve ever pondered over the vastness of labor involved in creating highways, byways and hiking trails, this is a detailed look at how one of the most iconic trails in the US came to be. It tells the story of the literal trailblazers. I loved it and I noted at least three particular spots I want to go hike someday.
October 8, 2023
Solid 4. Minus one star for lack of info on trail crime but added one star back because Bill Bryson had an entire chapter and I love him. I don't make the rules.
January 31, 2025
Engaging and interesting historical perspective of the AT.
July 29, 2021
notes...not a review:
The Appalachian Trail: A Biography
By Philip D’Anieri
Mt Greylock VT … he didn’t bring water.
2,100 mile at conceived 1861, completed 1937
Appalachian trail story told through various individuals who made it happen and popularized and protected it.
Crossing the threshold into nature is a refreshing alternative to society, to nature as a dangerous and heartless master.
Arnold Guyot. Swiss scientist revered and fascinated by the mountain geology. The ecological worldview, new.
Alexander von Humboldt leading scientist. (reflects worldview white privilege). Early 1800s journey encyclopedic accounts of all that he encountered plants, animals, mountains, weather.
Essential concepts that we now take for granted— changes in elevation yield predictable changes in plant novel life, ocean currents and land features influence weather patterns Dash first articulated by Humboldt.
Dynamic forces impacting a static world that God created. Saw the interactions between weather, water, topography over time. Drama.oogy student, natural world every other minute. Before universities etc paid for scientific inquiries.
Unlock secrets of long-ago glacial activity.
What was terra incognita.
Elevation. Theology. The Earth and Man bestseller. Organization and dynamism of nature.
Entourage, expedition. Neuchatel taught.
Guyot could find the deity as easily in the boulders of the mountains as in the stones of a cathedral.
The places we choose, on the way away then develop management, tell us a lot about what we are asking for nature, what exactly we think we’re traveling toward and escaping from, where I want to strike a balance between maddening civilization on one hand, and heartless nature on the other.
AT individuals crafted an environment around us.
Mt. Katahdin Maine north terminus in a park, not approach by canoe and portage.
Trail builders, donors, citizen-scientists, organizer volunteers.
Colossal vs wasteland.
Climbing to the highest point in New England without paths, maps.
Bear trails on ridgelines, if the traveler consents to travel on hands and feet. Rhodo shrubs thick in Carolinas 1859. Mt Mitchell NC is named for the scientist who fell to his death trying to measure its elevation.
Guyot map is a fine-grained complex of individual summits, ridges and valleys. It suggests the ordered irregularity of a leaf’s edge, or a forest’s treetops.
Made mountains fascinating and knowable vs. vague and mysterious.
Guyot: like a buffet created for mankind.
Darwin held a competing world view, not mesh with man’s needs. But the vulgar reality - an ongoing competition for survival.
1880 Appalachian Mountain Club, right when Guyot died.
Horace Kephart Librarian urban drunk, American hiker dean. Great Smoky Mountains. Restless, seeking.
As a librarian, called himself a gatekeeper of trivia rather than an organizer of world knowledge.
Mountain named for him in Smokies, first eastern np 1940.
James Taylor in Vermont 1908. Educator. Made going into the mountains such as the green mountains of Vermont part of the curriculum. And alternative to team sports. The national character and personal character. Part of the homeland, as in Germany. At the same time, there are two different views of calling into nature.Keep it pristine and wild for the few who could tough it out. Or create lands that can be popular getaways.
1910-1917 Green Mountain club, building Long Trail with exceptional scenic spots, a dazzling succession of rock our crops, Mossey glaze, secluded hollows, airy ledges, arching her back, hold her hips and chaos with mysterious openings leading to unfastened recesses, or expose rock slabs commanding sweeping views of rugged mountainsides.
Taylor was an early clean water advocate, recognizing the farm ways and treated city sewage was ruining waterways.
Suicide drowning when boating in lake.
Visionary of the Appalachian Trail Benton MacKaye. His musings run closer to half-baked philosophy than actionable policy.
Forester who proselytized for a better world.
Clearcutting for us a rise to a conservation movement. Water washing down the mountain side affected interstate commerce, enabling intervention by the federal government. Excesses of the exploitive American economy.
Recreational instead of commercial use of land.
He conceived of garden cities as a solution to urban sprawl, such as Greenbelt Maryland. Regional planning.
Advocated conserving wilderness made in the 1930s. Deserves credit for inspiring regional trails across the country. Your post drive such a Skyline Drive that would bring automobiles into the heart of wilderness
****Trivia vs Wisdom
Kinds of people drawn to hike in wilderness and motivations and rewards.
Frederick Jackson Turner historian: America based on the meeting of savagery and civilization.
Back to Nature movement 1890s. Escape the regimen of city life. Self-reliance, simplicity.
Trail clubs cleared miles. Guidebook. Not just philosophy.
Myron Avery got the AT built. Trails blazed, shelters built, two ends connected.
Trail markers
Problems like: ridgeline from Mt Washington in NH to Katahdin in Maine ran nowhere near even small cities.
Myron Avery\NPS built Skyone Drive through Shenandoah National Park, bringing motorists to the same peaks and along the same route that the AT had only recently opened up to hikers. Hear traffic.
In 1940s NPS announced an extension of the Skyline Drive - Blue Ridge Parkway would reach more than 450 miles from Shenandoah NP to the Smokies, requiring a realignment of 100 miles of AT.
Earl Shaffer 1948 first thru-hike. Georgia to Maine.
Bushwacking instead of backtracking.
Emma Gatewood 1954 66 years old: Freedom to walk. Abused life. Started Katahdin first. Next year from GA. Relied on her grit and wits.. 70s twice more, and Hocking Hills hike.
Travelers drawn to immersive transformative experiences.
Outdoor customs.
Gaylord Nelson senator 1964 Wisco. Provide fed protection for the AT.
Conservation movement. Picked up on the burgeoning sentiment. Pollution and escape from suburban development. Middle class, spearheaded outdoor recreation agenda in Michigan. Save natural resources.
1962 Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. Toxic effects of DDT. People killing their own world. Bill bn on phosphates in detergents.
Nelson was a fierce advocate. Act now or people are not going to have clean water to drink, clean air to breathe, decent soil in which to grow their food, and a green outdoors to live a few decades from now. Speech landmark.
Movement to mainstream.
Frustrations of modernity.
LBJ The Wilderness Act created a category of federal land off-limits to roads and buildings. And established the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Wild and Scenic Rivers Act declared some sections off-limits to dams and other major developments.
Protect AT and PCT and future tails. Already development along the Oregon Trail.
April 22, 1970 Earth Day teach-ins.
Between 1969 and 1974 5-fold increase in the number of thru-hikers ATC membership increase 10 times over.
AT overrun with popularity. Crowds lacked the sense of stewardship that the trail’s earlier users had had.
Edmund Muskie Maine came along to negotiate complex environmental statutes. Me;spm ,pved tp advocating more radical solutions than were politically practicable.
Nostalgia for simpler times and resentment toward big government grew into a potent ideology embodied in the sunny disposition and arch conservatism of California governor Ronald Reagan.
Nelson was voted out in 1980. Reagan wobn 44 states.
Boundless optimism.
Bureaucrats, academics, politicians, outdoors people.
McAfee knob southwestern Virginia ships proud of a slab of rock jutting from Catawba Mountain. Originally on private land, so the trail Had been rerouted after acquisition.
Securing the corridor.
Tug of war between ATC and local clubs. And NPS.
Congress committed to protecting the AT in 1978.
Saddleback Mountain skiing in Maine. A condition of his donation was to continue access for skiing. Battle political.
Bill Bryson a walk in the woods. 1998. The seller brought attention. The trail was a backdrop for his human foolishness.
Freelancing is a constant hustle to Find topics within the writer's reach and simultaneously of interest editors will pay for the work. Wrote an essay about oddball statistics that scientists turn out every day like toilet paper production measure in terms of an imaginary rolling around the equator.
In a style that was by turns acerbic and poignant, Bryson conveyed a world where in us that, while it could come across as contempt… As well as captured a heartfelt reckoning with a perplexing world. Sarcastic. Became a brand-name.
Next to write about his waddlesome sloth Fending for himself in the wilderness. Recruited drunk companion Angerer.
Georgia’s Springer Mountain. A buddy comedy. The boo was a hit, with Bryson described as a satirist with Chaucerian brio.
Trail enthusiast s were appalled…demeaning caricatures of Southerners, disinterest in the trail's larger ideals, father for pop-culture, like the uninvited guest who turned the music up till 11, invited all his friends over.
He exemplified typical quitter rationalization, “i didn’t quit; my goals changed.”
In the first year of the book's release, the ATC estimated to 45% increase in starting thru-hikers. Wear and tear on the trail.
His follow-up was a short history of nearly everything, explaining how the world worked in a humorous 600 pages.
Philip likens his own short hikes to thru hikes as a stroll around the block compares to marathon
Parked to start at Springer within the Chattahoochee National Forest. Countless footfalls wore down trail.
Most of the trail is wooded.m, but not particularly scenic.
McAfee 6 miles off the interstate, parking lot trailhead, Two hour hike to the famous overlook.
Pennsylvania’s Cumberland Valley is surrounded by human habitation rather than expenses for us,
the AT crosses through here like a shy person cross a crowded bar.
Town parks, housing developments, farmland, roads.
And illusion of wilderness, since much of the trail can’t be isolated from the developed landscape.
But there is a seemingly unbroken stretch of wilderness looking east toward New York from New Jersey Kittatinny Ridge. But then again, there’s a place for the 80 is a sidewalk on an interstate toll bridge, with a waist-high concrete barrier separating hikers from I-80 traffic hurtling towards New York City about 60 miles away.
The wild interrupted by a hiker streaming music on his phone. Different ways to enjoy nature.
In New Hampshire, the White Mountains has a tenting site area and it contains the crush of hikers each summer.
Today’s hiker is far less alone and has the support of technology, resources, and communication.
He hiked Saddleback Mountain in Maine, which juts above the shorter mountains. Ridgeline trail goes through the clouds and offers.
Landscapes majestic and ordinary along the trail help us see a bigger picture.
The Appalachian Trail: A Biography
By Philip D’Anieri
Mt Greylock VT … he didn’t bring water.
2,100 mile at conceived 1861, completed 1937
Appalachian trail story told through various individuals who made it happen and popularized and protected it.
Crossing the threshold into nature is a refreshing alternative to society, to nature as a dangerous and heartless master.
Arnold Guyot. Swiss scientist revered and fascinated by the mountain geology. The ecological worldview, new.
Alexander von Humboldt leading scientist. (reflects worldview white privilege). Early 1800s journey encyclopedic accounts of all that he encountered plants, animals, mountains, weather.
Essential concepts that we now take for granted— changes in elevation yield predictable changes in plant novel life, ocean currents and land features influence weather patterns Dash first articulated by Humboldt.
Dynamic forces impacting a static world that God created. Saw the interactions between weather, water, topography over time. Drama.oogy student, natural world every other minute. Before universities etc paid for scientific inquiries.
Unlock secrets of long-ago glacial activity.
What was terra incognita.
Elevation. Theology. The Earth and Man bestseller. Organization and dynamism of nature.
Entourage, expedition. Neuchatel taught.
Guyot could find the deity as easily in the boulders of the mountains as in the stones of a cathedral.
The places we choose, on the way away then develop management, tell us a lot about what we are asking for nature, what exactly we think we’re traveling toward and escaping from, where I want to strike a balance between maddening civilization on one hand, and heartless nature on the other.
AT individuals crafted an environment around us.
Mt. Katahdin Maine north terminus in a park, not approach by canoe and portage.
Trail builders, donors, citizen-scientists, organizer volunteers.
Colossal vs wasteland.
Climbing to the highest point in New England without paths, maps.
Bear trails on ridgelines, if the traveler consents to travel on hands and feet. Rhodo shrubs thick in Carolinas 1859. Mt Mitchell NC is named for the scientist who fell to his death trying to measure its elevation.
Guyot map is a fine-grained complex of individual summits, ridges and valleys. It suggests the ordered irregularity of a leaf’s edge, or a forest’s treetops.
Made mountains fascinating and knowable vs. vague and mysterious.
Guyot: like a buffet created for mankind.
Darwin held a competing world view, not mesh with man’s needs. But the vulgar reality - an ongoing competition for survival.
1880 Appalachian Mountain Club, right when Guyot died.
Horace Kephart Librarian urban drunk, American hiker dean. Great Smoky Mountains. Restless, seeking.
As a librarian, called himself a gatekeeper of trivia rather than an organizer of world knowledge.
Mountain named for him in Smokies, first eastern np 1940.
James Taylor in Vermont 1908. Educator. Made going into the mountains such as the green mountains of Vermont part of the curriculum. And alternative to team sports. The national character and personal character. Part of the homeland, as in Germany. At the same time, there are two different views of calling into nature.Keep it pristine and wild for the few who could tough it out. Or create lands that can be popular getaways.
1910-1917 Green Mountain club, building Long Trail with exceptional scenic spots, a dazzling succession of rock our crops, Mossey glaze, secluded hollows, airy ledges, arching her back, hold her hips and chaos with mysterious openings leading to unfastened recesses, or expose rock slabs commanding sweeping views of rugged mountainsides.
Taylor was an early clean water advocate, recognizing the farm ways and treated city sewage was ruining waterways.
Suicide drowning when boating in lake.
Visionary of the Appalachian Trail Benton MacKaye. His musings run closer to half-baked philosophy than actionable policy.
Forester who proselytized for a better world.
Clearcutting for us a rise to a conservation movement. Water washing down the mountain side affected interstate commerce, enabling intervention by the federal government. Excesses of the exploitive American economy.
Recreational instead of commercial use of land.
He conceived of garden cities as a solution to urban sprawl, such as Greenbelt Maryland. Regional planning.
Advocated conserving wilderness made in the 1930s. Deserves credit for inspiring regional trails across the country. Your post drive such a Skyline Drive that would bring automobiles into the heart of wilderness
****Trivia vs Wisdom
Kinds of people drawn to hike in wilderness and motivations and rewards.
Frederick Jackson Turner historian: America based on the meeting of savagery and civilization.
Back to Nature movement 1890s. Escape the regimen of city life. Self-reliance, simplicity.
Trail clubs cleared miles. Guidebook. Not just philosophy.
Myron Avery got the AT built. Trails blazed, shelters built, two ends connected.
Trail markers
Problems like: ridgeline from Mt Washington in NH to Katahdin in Maine ran nowhere near even small cities.
Myron Avery\NPS built Skyone Drive through Shenandoah National Park, bringing motorists to the same peaks and along the same route that the AT had only recently opened up to hikers. Hear traffic.
In 1940s NPS announced an extension of the Skyline Drive - Blue Ridge Parkway would reach more than 450 miles from Shenandoah NP to the Smokies, requiring a realignment of 100 miles of AT.
Earl Shaffer 1948 first thru-hike. Georgia to Maine.
Bushwacking instead of backtracking.
Emma Gatewood 1954 66 years old: Freedom to walk. Abused life. Started Katahdin first. Next year from GA. Relied on her grit and wits.. 70s twice more, and Hocking Hills hike.
Travelers drawn to immersive transformative experiences.
Outdoor customs.
Gaylord Nelson senator 1964 Wisco. Provide fed protection for the AT.
Conservation movement. Picked up on the burgeoning sentiment. Pollution and escape from suburban development. Middle class, spearheaded outdoor recreation agenda in Michigan. Save natural resources.
1962 Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. Toxic effects of DDT. People killing their own world. Bill bn on phosphates in detergents.
Nelson was a fierce advocate. Act now or people are not going to have clean water to drink, clean air to breathe, decent soil in which to grow their food, and a green outdoors to live a few decades from now. Speech landmark.
Movement to mainstream.
Frustrations of modernity.
LBJ The Wilderness Act created a category of federal land off-limits to roads and buildings. And established the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Wild and Scenic Rivers Act declared some sections off-limits to dams and other major developments.
Protect AT and PCT and future tails. Already development along the Oregon Trail.
April 22, 1970 Earth Day teach-ins.
Between 1969 and 1974 5-fold increase in the number of thru-hikers ATC membership increase 10 times over.
AT overrun with popularity. Crowds lacked the sense of stewardship that the trail’s earlier users had had.
Edmund Muskie Maine came along to negotiate complex environmental statutes. Me;spm ,pved tp advocating more radical solutions than were politically practicable.
Nostalgia for simpler times and resentment toward big government grew into a potent ideology embodied in the sunny disposition and arch conservatism of California governor Ronald Reagan.
Nelson was voted out in 1980. Reagan wobn 44 states.
Boundless optimism.
Bureaucrats, academics, politicians, outdoors people.
McAfee knob southwestern Virginia ships proud of a slab of rock jutting from Catawba Mountain. Originally on private land, so the trail Had been rerouted after acquisition.
Securing the corridor.
Tug of war between ATC and local clubs. And NPS.
Congress committed to protecting the AT in 1978.
Saddleback Mountain skiing in Maine. A condition of his donation was to continue access for skiing. Battle political.
Bill Bryson a walk in the woods. 1998. The seller brought attention. The trail was a backdrop for his human foolishness.
Freelancing is a constant hustle to Find topics within the writer's reach and simultaneously of interest editors will pay for the work. Wrote an essay about oddball statistics that scientists turn out every day like toilet paper production measure in terms of an imaginary rolling around the equator.
In a style that was by turns acerbic and poignant, Bryson conveyed a world where in us that, while it could come across as contempt… As well as captured a heartfelt reckoning with a perplexing world. Sarcastic. Became a brand-name.
Next to write about his waddlesome sloth Fending for himself in the wilderness. Recruited drunk companion Angerer.
Georgia’s Springer Mountain. A buddy comedy. The boo was a hit, with Bryson described as a satirist with Chaucerian brio.
Trail enthusiast s were appalled…demeaning caricatures of Southerners, disinterest in the trail's larger ideals, father for pop-culture, like the uninvited guest who turned the music up till 11, invited all his friends over.
He exemplified typical quitter rationalization, “i didn’t quit; my goals changed.”
In the first year of the book's release, the ATC estimated to 45% increase in starting thru-hikers. Wear and tear on the trail.
His follow-up was a short history of nearly everything, explaining how the world worked in a humorous 600 pages.
Philip likens his own short hikes to thru hikes as a stroll around the block compares to marathon
Parked to start at Springer within the Chattahoochee National Forest. Countless footfalls wore down trail.
Most of the trail is wooded.m, but not particularly scenic.
McAfee 6 miles off the interstate, parking lot trailhead, Two hour hike to the famous overlook.
Pennsylvania’s Cumberland Valley is surrounded by human habitation rather than expenses for us,
the AT crosses through here like a shy person cross a crowded bar.
Town parks, housing developments, farmland, roads.
And illusion of wilderness, since much of the trail can’t be isolated from the developed landscape.
But there is a seemingly unbroken stretch of wilderness looking east toward New York from New Jersey Kittatinny Ridge. But then again, there’s a place for the 80 is a sidewalk on an interstate toll bridge, with a waist-high concrete barrier separating hikers from I-80 traffic hurtling towards New York City about 60 miles away.
The wild interrupted by a hiker streaming music on his phone. Different ways to enjoy nature.
In New Hampshire, the White Mountains has a tenting site area and it contains the crush of hikers each summer.
Today’s hiker is far less alone and has the support of technology, resources, and communication.
He hiked Saddleback Mountain in Maine, which juts above the shorter mountains. Ridgeline trail goes through the clouds and offers.
Landscapes majestic and ordinary along the trail help us see a bigger picture.
December 30, 2021
Excellent history of our development of the love of hiking and the history of developing nationwide trails including the Appalachian Trail. Have hiked many parts of the trail but never knew the history of how it was conceived and finally developed and maintained.
January 29, 2022
Very interesting and diverse history of my favorite place to be!!
May 13, 2024
Solid history of the Appalachian trail for those interested. It also acknowledges how white and male the history is, and makes a good effort to counter it with other stories when possible.
December 28, 2022
Not a biography of the trail, per se, but several essays about the people who made the trail happen. Very interesting.
February 16, 2023
A nice story about key individuals who envisioned and then built the AT. Sadly near the end the author veers into the modern woke culture as he notes the trail was built by white men and that even modern usage does not meet HIS definition of diversity. My own experience hiking portions of the AT in 6 states is that hikers are fairly diverse, increasingly female, with growing numbers of Asians, Hispanics, and African Americans. His statement that the trail was designed by white males without considering the needs of minorities is ridiculous. Hiking is hiking.
March 8, 2023
i wanna hike the Appalachian trail now!
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