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The Appalachian Trail: A Biography
MP3 CD Format 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.
- GenresNonfictionNature
1 pages, Audio CD
Published June 9, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 11, 2025
A must read for anyone who has or thinks they may hike the AT, but it took me awhile to connect to the content as someone who does not fit into those categories
September 21, 2024
I’m not outdoorsy and don’t really like to hike, but I really enjoyed this book! It’s a history of the people and personalities who hiked the trail, or parts of it, and worked to make it a permanent fixture, managed by the National Park Service. Interesting and engaging.
May 30, 2024
Very enjoyable book on the AT’s history and a few figures who led to its development and popularization. Learned quite a bit. Also reinforced my view of Bill Bryson.
June 27, 2024
A nice dive into some of the historical personalities that helped.to shape the modern Appalachian trail
March 3, 2026
“The Appalachian Trail: A Biography”
by Philip D’Anieri
The book interested me as a kind of description of the social evolution of an idea that resulted in the creation of a 2100 mile wilderness trail in the US. Arnold Gio first maps and studies the mountains with one foot planted in Christianity.
He admires Darwin’s work, they are both followers of Humboldt, but he struggles with a view of life as the product of a ruthless competition for survival, and believes that there must be an invisible designer.
My favorite part of the book was the chapter focusing on the life and accomplishments of the naturalist, writer, librarian, Horace Kephardt, who was instrumental in the founding of Great Smoky Mountains National Park in NC and TN. I enjoyed reading his seminal work about the history and settlement of Appalachia: “Our Southern Highlanders” , which I read and enjoyed a few short years ago. He was also a major contributor to founding preservation of the AT. I was interested to learn of his studies in Cornell University, where I have a personal connection, and a bit disappointed to learn of his unsteady family life.
James P. Taylor organized the trails in New England through organizing local clubs in Vermont to cross that state and the Green Mountains. He was inspired by a 150 mile trail in Germany through and between various hamlets within the Black Forest🌳.
There is a relationship between the related idea to create a Parkway along the mountain ridges of the east and a development of a ten mile wide corridor through the mountains, but Vermont was in willing to post a bond or generate revenues in support of the project and he became depressed, walked into the forest and was never seen again until his body was found in suspected suicide by drowning. Also suspected “life long bachelor” (repressed homosexual).
Benton MacKaye … inventor of th AT… RAA philosophy of regional planning… indigenous… metropolitan… mightiest in valleys and weakest in highest mountain ridges… Macakaye v Avery… which is conflict between Parkways and Trail… Skyline Drive… TVA and partnership with federal government…
Avery (Bowdoin and Harvard Law) is the practical builder of the AT. He is hard-headed and confrontational. Organizational strength but bullish… Breaks with MacKaye and tries to and fails to have the AT featured in National Geographic, but is rebuffed because the article is too much a technical catalogue of the trail. Avery believed the documenting of the AT was essential to its existence, and that the trail itself was a kind of Index to the work. The trail had to exist on paper. He also became an expert on “Katadyn” and labored to have it made a national park, which did not happen, but probably contributed to it’s becoming the end or beginning if it.
A path through nature requires much in the way of beating back nature… use of CCC labor… Avery was called to active duty in 1942… the war years resulted in neglect of the recently opened trail. After the war 100 miles had to be rerouted to make room for the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Through-hike culture… Earl Schaefer was first to complete the endeavor… and old lady Emma “Grandma” Gatewood… probably missed about 20% of the Southern Appalachian trail and took a car ride which skipped 25 miles, there is a question about he was actually the first, which is ironic in light of his judgment of Emma Gatewood as an interloper, and his strict definition of thru-hike as a single-season, single-directional, contiguous effort. Irony wins again!
Gaylord Nelson was Wisconsin politician who seized post-war cultural affinity in favor of environmentalism and return to nature who procured government protection and funding for the AT in the 60s and is considered the founder of modern-American conservationism and the prim organizer of Earth Day.
Carter era legislation provided funding to acquire land to permit a 500 foot berth in either direction of the trail to secure and ensure there would be no inconsistent uses along the length of the trail. “Body of the AT is the land it traverses, but the soul is the stewardship of the communities who maintain it.” State, federal, and private property. Volunteer ethic. Dave Richie was inspiration for idea that a culture of stewardship would be fostered… McAfee Knob acquisition… Cumberland Valley in PA… Saddleback Mountain
Somewhat critical of the book “A Walk in the Woods” by Bill Bryson, which seemed to present cause for reaction among AT purists.
by Philip D’Anieri
The book interested me as a kind of description of the social evolution of an idea that resulted in the creation of a 2100 mile wilderness trail in the US. Arnold Gio first maps and studies the mountains with one foot planted in Christianity.
He admires Darwin’s work, they are both followers of Humboldt, but he struggles with a view of life as the product of a ruthless competition for survival, and believes that there must be an invisible designer.
My favorite part of the book was the chapter focusing on the life and accomplishments of the naturalist, writer, librarian, Horace Kephardt, who was instrumental in the founding of Great Smoky Mountains National Park in NC and TN. I enjoyed reading his seminal work about the history and settlement of Appalachia: “Our Southern Highlanders” , which I read and enjoyed a few short years ago. He was also a major contributor to founding preservation of the AT. I was interested to learn of his studies in Cornell University, where I have a personal connection, and a bit disappointed to learn of his unsteady family life.
James P. Taylor organized the trails in New England through organizing local clubs in Vermont to cross that state and the Green Mountains. He was inspired by a 150 mile trail in Germany through and between various hamlets within the Black Forest🌳.
There is a relationship between the related idea to create a Parkway along the mountain ridges of the east and a development of a ten mile wide corridor through the mountains, but Vermont was in willing to post a bond or generate revenues in support of the project and he became depressed, walked into the forest and was never seen again until his body was found in suspected suicide by drowning. Also suspected “life long bachelor” (repressed homosexual).
Benton MacKaye … inventor of th AT… RAA philosophy of regional planning… indigenous… metropolitan… mightiest in valleys and weakest in highest mountain ridges… Macakaye v Avery… which is conflict between Parkways and Trail… Skyline Drive… TVA and partnership with federal government…
Avery (Bowdoin and Harvard Law) is the practical builder of the AT. He is hard-headed and confrontational. Organizational strength but bullish… Breaks with MacKaye and tries to and fails to have the AT featured in National Geographic, but is rebuffed because the article is too much a technical catalogue of the trail. Avery believed the documenting of the AT was essential to its existence, and that the trail itself was a kind of Index to the work. The trail had to exist on paper. He also became an expert on “Katadyn” and labored to have it made a national park, which did not happen, but probably contributed to it’s becoming the end or beginning if it.
A path through nature requires much in the way of beating back nature… use of CCC labor… Avery was called to active duty in 1942… the war years resulted in neglect of the recently opened trail. After the war 100 miles had to be rerouted to make room for the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Through-hike culture… Earl Schaefer was first to complete the endeavor… and old lady Emma “Grandma” Gatewood… probably missed about 20% of the Southern Appalachian trail and took a car ride which skipped 25 miles, there is a question about he was actually the first, which is ironic in light of his judgment of Emma Gatewood as an interloper, and his strict definition of thru-hike as a single-season, single-directional, contiguous effort. Irony wins again!
Gaylord Nelson was Wisconsin politician who seized post-war cultural affinity in favor of environmentalism and return to nature who procured government protection and funding for the AT in the 60s and is considered the founder of modern-American conservationism and the prim organizer of Earth Day.
Carter era legislation provided funding to acquire land to permit a 500 foot berth in either direction of the trail to secure and ensure there would be no inconsistent uses along the length of the trail. “Body of the AT is the land it traverses, but the soul is the stewardship of the communities who maintain it.” State, federal, and private property. Volunteer ethic. Dave Richie was inspiration for idea that a culture of stewardship would be fostered… McAfee Knob acquisition… Cumberland Valley in PA… Saddleback Mountain
Somewhat critical of the book “A Walk in the Woods” by Bill Bryson, which seemed to present cause for reaction among AT purists.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews