The Appalachian Trail, often called the A.T., is a footpath that runs for 2,167 miles (3,488 km) along the crests and through the valleys of the Appalachian Mountains.
The trail’s northern end is Katandin, Maine.
From there it passes through New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina, with the southern end of the trail at Springer Mountain in northern Georgia.
Several thousand people each year try to hike the entire route, but only about 3 of every 20 people succeed.
Between the time it opened in 1937 and early 2001, nearly 6,000 people reported that they had hiked the entire trail. This number includes section hikers, those who hike a section at a time over a period of years, and through hikers, those who hike the entire trail in one season.
The youngest through-hiker was a 6 year old boy who accompanied his parents in 1980; it took them 8 months. The oldest through-hiker was 79 years old when he reached his goal in 1998.
If you want to climb to the peak, you’ll have to try in June because of bad weather conditions the rest of the year.
Most climbers take 3 weeks to make the 13,000-foot (4,000-m) ascent to the top from the base camp at 7,300 feet (2,225 m).
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