The Trail

Each spring about 1,500 hikers set out to conquer the Appalachian Trail (AT), the 2,175-mi granddaddy of all hikes. Most hike north from Springer Mountain, Georgia, to Mt. Katahdin, Maine. By the time they get to the Great Smokies, where the AT reaches its highest elevation (6,625 feet) near Clingman's Dome, 160 mi from the trailhead in Georgia, about one-half of the hikers will already have dropped out. Typically, only about 400 hikers per year complete the entire AT.