Harold & Maude in the news

[TJ aka Teej]

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/...8_sports.shtml

These "locals hike the A.T." newspaper stories are always fun

[MisterSweetie]

Great article!

[Brushy Sage]

Such a wonderful article! Hiking the AT can be a life-changing experience at any age.

[tlbj6142]

This is from the bottom of the above article...

The A.T. was first hiked, in sections, by Myron Avery in 1936. Five others did it between 1939 and 1946. Since 1936, nearly 7,500 people have reported hike completions of the A.T.

Earl V. Shaffer became the first to report a thru-hike in 1948, when he walked from Georgia to Maine.

OK. If Avery did the entire trail in 1936, isn't that a thru-hike? Even today folks leave for a week or two, do flip-flops, etc. and we still call them "thru-hikers". Any one know the details? Or is this one of those "we found out about Avery well after we made the plaques for Shaffer, so we better come up with a justification" sort of things?

[Kerosene]

Thanks for posting this, TJ. I offered to shuttle Harold & Maude into Hanover when I ran across them at the Smarts Mountain cabin in early July when I was finishing up a 16-mile gap in that area one day. They had only hiked a dozen miles in the previous three days and were obviously a little depressed. We covered the 6 miles to my car at Dartmouth Skiway very quickly, motivated by an approaching thunderstorm that started just as they slung their packs into my trunk. I dropped them off in a downpour in downtown Hanover, made sure they were okay for money, and wished them well.

I did the Roanoke section of the Trail in late October and saw from shelter registers that they were about 10 days ahead of me and having a good time. It's nice to know that they finished.

[bearbag hanger]

This is from the bottom of the above article...OK. If Avery did the entire trail in 1936, isn't that a thru-hike? Even today folks leave for a week or two, do flip-flops, etc. and we still call them "thru-hikers". Any one know the details? Or is this one of those "we found out about Avery well after we made the plaques for Shaffer, so we better come up with a justification" sort of things?

My recollection is Myron Avery took five years to do the hike. Not sure about the number of years, but I'm sure it was more than two. Earl Shaffer was the first to do it in one year, which at the time was thought to be impossible and a few people thought he wasn't being totally honest.

[Peaks]

This is from the bottom of the above article...OK. If Avery did the entire trail in 1936, isn't that a thru-hike? Even today folks leave for a week or two, do flip-flops, etc. and we still call them "thru-hikers". Any one know the details? Or is this one of those "we found out about Avery well after we made the plaques for Shaffer, so we better come up with a justification" sort of things?

Myron Avery was the major force in getting the trail built. Benton MacKay was a dreamer. Myron Avery was a doer. Also responsible for getting the northern terminus changed to Katahdin. Avery Peak in the Bigelows is named in his honor.

Myron was a section hiker. As posted, he did the trail over several years. So, not a thru-hiker but certainly a 2000 miler.

[TJ aka Teej]

Or is this one of those "we found out about Avery well after we made the plaques for Shaffer, so we better come up with a justification" sort of things?

Benton Mackaye made the first formal proposal for a long trail in the Appalachians. His was a 'dreamy' vision, much in line with the smoking jacket and parlor philosopher crowd to which he belonged. Myron Avery was the man from Maine who built the A.T., a right bastard when he needed to be, who wore his callouses and muddy boots with pride. He was the first to hike the entire distance, pushing a measuring wheel the entire way. The Trail was never meant to be through-hiked in one season, in fact the notion never occured to most of the early trail builders. Earl Shaffer's hike, in a way his attempt to deal with loss after serving in WW2, was considered just a stunt by the ATC at first.
In the 75th Anniversary issue the ATN ran 'Trail Profiles' of MacKaye, Avery, Judge Perkins, etc. Authored by Robert Rubin, Larry Anderson and others.
There's a link on the ATC page (History) A good very read.
http://www.appalachiantrail.org/about/pdfs/TYprofiles.pdf

[Smooth03]

Looks like I was only two days ahead of Maude when I finished on November 17th. I had heard they were behind me and since I only knew one other girl SOBO, Ashley, I had hoped I would met them. Oh well.

Article about my trip.

http://www.pal-item.com/news/stories...day/81099.html

[A-Train]

tbljb42, I wouldn't debate too much over that. These small town papers seem to often get information wrong and they often give misleading general info on the Trail and how many people finish each year and the Trails history etc.
For example the article said that they were the only SOBO girls on the Trail which wasn;t true at all. I was astonished by the number of women heading south and I know of close to ten who finished. I'm sure Miss Janet or Neals Gap would have a more accurate read on that. But anyhow, don't believe everything you read.

[TJ aka Teej]

For example the article said that they were the only SOBO girls on the Trail which wasn;t true at all. I was astonished by the number of women heading south and I know of close to ten who finished. I'm sure Miss Janet or Neals Gap would have a more accurate read on that. But anyhow, don't believe everything you read.

Yup, Snail hiked sobo with Harold and Maude for a while too. Injured, she had to get off the trail so near the finish it hurt.
In October at Katahdin two of the GAMErs who were finishing had planned to "punk" their hometown paper with inventive tales. I wish I'd seen that newspaper story!

[Smooth03]

Ashley and Morning Moose also finished SOBOing.