Tag: Appalachian Trail

Each spring, people from around the country descend on Springer Mountain, one hour north of metro Atlanta, to start a very long walk. About 3,000 hikers a year attempt the Appalachian Trail—the 2,198-mile footpath from Georgia to Maine—but only a quarter complete the entire stretch, which takes an average of six months. Northbound hikers begin at Amicalola Falls State Park to reach Springer Mountain, the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. On a sunny Saturday in March, Atlanta met a few of them at the start of their journey.

I am lost in the wilderness. Not “lost” in the desperate sense. My phone still shows 5G in case I need to drop a pin, and two bars if I want to make a call. (Does this thing have a compass, too?) And I know where I am: somewhere on a wooded ridgeline in the Cherokee National Forest near Shady Valley, Tennessee, not far from the North Carolina and Virginia borders.

I had a hard time snapping a selfie because I was crying with joy. I was on the Appalachian Trail, standing next to a sign nailed to a walnut tree on the border of Georgia and North Carolina. My 78-mile northbound walk—section by section, from Springer Mountain to that tree—had taken six months.

Expert trail designer Morgan Sommerville weighs in on the best spots to hike in the Southern Appalachians.

Even if—like most folks—you’re not inclined to hike the AT all the way to Maine, you can still get a taste of the glory at the trail’s southern terminus at the top of Georgia’s Springer Mountain.