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Hikers Prepare to Walk the Appalachian Trail |
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Monday, 03 March 2008 |
Georgia's hikers see the mild weekend weather as an opportunity to prepare for their outdoor adventures. Over the past weekend, we visited Neel Gap at Blood Mountain and found a large number of folks making preparations to hike the 2000 plus miles of the Appalachian Trail. Springer mountain marks the southern end of the trail but there are many locations along the trail in Georgia to start this adventure.
 Since the year 2000, more than 4,094 hikers have taken this challenge and walked the trail north traveling through the eastern states to Canada. This weekend, we ran into three hikers preparing to walk the trail in Georgia. The entire trip can take several months and an early start at this time means that as they move northwards, the cool temperatures make the trip enjoyable. When the Summer comes, the higher temperatures can take their toll on a hiker's resources.
Up until the 1960s, it was rare to find many that had covered the entire trip on foot with only 37 people walking the trail that decade. In the 1970s there were more than 700 listed as making the trip and those numbers are still going up each year. Many Georgia's cover at least the Southern states during the year. It is not unusual to pass dozens of hikers a day along the trail. Many only walk during the weekends or during a week of vacation. Long the way, there are many places to refreash supplies or reach a parked car to return home to wait for another weekend of hiking.
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