Tin Man
04-21-2006, 23:01
Article from citizen-times.com (http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060421/NEWS01/60420089/1019/SPORTS03)
HOT SPRINGS — Walking down the main street of downtown Hot Springs, you can recognize an Appalachian Trail through-hiker in an instant.
In a town of only 639, the some 2,000 through-hikers who trudge through the picturesque downtown each year are as visible as the white trail blazes on the trail itself — a 2,175-mile route from Springer Mountain, Ga., to Mount Katahdin, Maine.
With long strides and a hiker’s lope, the weary through-hikers (backpackers who attempt the AT in its entirety) make their way down Bridge Street, about 270 miles into the popular trail.
And this weekend, Hot Springs — the first and only trail town in North Carolina on the northbound route — will host Trailfest to celebrate their arrival and the trail that helps serves as the river of life for the small community.
The 11th annual event takes place downtown and will start today with a river cleanup. The free festival will have live music all day Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. and includes artists such as Eliza Lynn, Preacher and the Polecats, Takoma Ted, Butter Holler String Band and more.
“The slogan is ‘Take off your boots and stay awhile,’” said Julie Judkins of the
Appalachian Trail Conservancy, the nonprofit group based in Harpers Ferry, W.Va., dedicated to conservation of the trail.
Hot Springs is the first town that hikers come to after three to four weeks of hiking and is known as a place to stop, rest, resupply and rejoice in simple pleasures such as showers and all-you-can-eat dinners.
“(The AT) brings in a lot of hikers and through-hikers going to Maine, as well as local hikers,” said Pete Nagle of the Hot Springs Tourism Association.
“People like to be outside and in a pretty little mountain town,” he said. “The trail is not the sole reason we’re on the map, but it’s one of the reasons.”
Between 2,000 and 2,500 hikers make their way through the small town each year, Nagle said.
“It’s a neat energy,” he said. “And it adds a flavor to the town.”
With each hiker spending an average of about $100 per trail town, the AT and the festival have proved a boon for Hot Springs’ economy, said Jack Dalton, an organizer of the festival and an AT through-hiker.
“It’s good for business,” he said. “It helps everybody.”
And he should know, since he had never heard of the small town in Madison County until he and his wife Maxine made their way through it in the early 1990s while hiking the AT. They’ve lived in Hot Springs ever since.
“Hot Springs is a hiking mecca, not just for AT hikers, but for anybody who likes to get out and hike,” Dalton said. “It’s just a unique little town.”
HOT SPRINGS — Walking down the main street of downtown Hot Springs, you can recognize an Appalachian Trail through-hiker in an instant.
In a town of only 639, the some 2,000 through-hikers who trudge through the picturesque downtown each year are as visible as the white trail blazes on the trail itself — a 2,175-mile route from Springer Mountain, Ga., to Mount Katahdin, Maine.
With long strides and a hiker’s lope, the weary through-hikers (backpackers who attempt the AT in its entirety) make their way down Bridge Street, about 270 miles into the popular trail.
And this weekend, Hot Springs — the first and only trail town in North Carolina on the northbound route — will host Trailfest to celebrate their arrival and the trail that helps serves as the river of life for the small community.
The 11th annual event takes place downtown and will start today with a river cleanup. The free festival will have live music all day Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. and includes artists such as Eliza Lynn, Preacher and the Polecats, Takoma Ted, Butter Holler String Band and more.
“The slogan is ‘Take off your boots and stay awhile,’” said Julie Judkins of the
Appalachian Trail Conservancy, the nonprofit group based in Harpers Ferry, W.Va., dedicated to conservation of the trail.
Hot Springs is the first town that hikers come to after three to four weeks of hiking and is known as a place to stop, rest, resupply and rejoice in simple pleasures such as showers and all-you-can-eat dinners.
“(The AT) brings in a lot of hikers and through-hikers going to Maine, as well as local hikers,” said Pete Nagle of the Hot Springs Tourism Association.
“People like to be outside and in a pretty little mountain town,” he said. “The trail is not the sole reason we’re on the map, but it’s one of the reasons.”
Between 2,000 and 2,500 hikers make their way through the small town each year, Nagle said.
“It’s a neat energy,” he said. “And it adds a flavor to the town.”
With each hiker spending an average of about $100 per trail town, the AT and the festival have proved a boon for Hot Springs’ economy, said Jack Dalton, an organizer of the festival and an AT through-hiker.
“It’s good for business,” he said. “It helps everybody.”
And he should know, since he had never heard of the small town in Madison County until he and his wife Maxine made their way through it in the early 1990s while hiking the AT. They’ve lived in Hot Springs ever since.
“Hot Springs is a hiking mecca, not just for AT hikers, but for anybody who likes to get out and hike,” Dalton said. “It’s just a unique little town.”