This Monday, October 2, those who opened the home page of the Google search engine found an illustration honoring the Appalachian Trail. This, in turn, covers a path of 2,190 miles – approximately 3,520 kilometers – spanning 14 states of the United States.
Thanks to its impressive length, the Appalachian Trail is known as “the longest hiking trail in the world.” Over the past few decades, it has served as an important haven for thousands of tourists and outdoor enthusiasts. It should be noted that it crosses a series of landscapes, including forests, rivers and mountain peaks.
The reason for the tribute on October 2nd, in turn, is due to the fact that on the same date, in 1968, the Appalachian Trail was officially designated as one of the first National Scenic Trails in the United States, giving it a federal grant. protection, according to Google Discovery.
The middle of the road
The idea of establishing what is now known as the Appalachian Trail as a natural hiking route was first proposed in 1921 by an American forester, planner and conservationist. Benton MacKaye.
In the original plan “An Appalachian Trail: A Regional Planning Project”, it called for self-sustaining camps to be arranged along the trail.
The cause quickly caught the attention of others, and the Appalachian Trail Conference was soon formed. Years later, in 1937, the route was linked and extended from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine. It was only in 2014 that the last significant part of the land was absorbed by the channel, making it what it is today.
In the 1940s, the American adventurer Earl Shaffer was the first person to complete a full hike on the Appalachian Trail, and since then, there has been a great interest in others. Today, it is estimated that more than 14 thousand people have completed the route.
+ The woman who spent 26 days missing in Appalachia
Today, many services in North America help maintain and preserve the historic Appalachian Trail, and thousands of people begin the hike each year.
