The Appalachian Trail stretches from Georgia in the south to Maine in the north.  It is one of the longest trails in North America, and extremely difficult to complete.  The trail has a length of about 2100 miles, much of it over mountains and steep hills.

          Many summits are reached, one of them being the infamous Mount Washington.  This peak has the most severe weather of anywhere on the Earth's surface.  Winds of 231 mph have been recorded at the very top, and each year it receives an average of twenty feet of snow.  All together, over 150 people have lost their lives to the mountain and its foul weather.

          All in all, the trail passes through a total of thirteen states, eight national forests, six national parks and many local and state parks.  Almost the entire trail is located on public lands, therefore no fee is charged to travel on the Appalachian Trail.  However, some of the overnight shelters and huts do charge a fee, mostly to cover maintenance.

          Millions of people travel on the trail every year, but only about 2500 try to complete its entire length in one attempt.  Lots of people spend years section-hiking, that is to day hike certain parts of the trail, spending the nights in motels or otherwise.

          The Appalachian Trail was completed on August 14, 1937.  A man named Benton MacKaye succeeded in planning the route and obtaining the necessary permits for the trail to be built, but with himein charge, the enormous project never really got underway.  Another man, Myron Avery, took over in the early thirties.  Even though he was not well-liked, he got the job done using thousands of volunteers, and oversaw the completion of MacKaye's dream.