Introduction

We had not walked any part of the Appalachian Trail, with its nearly 50 mountains spanning 14 states and 8 national forests, for more than several years. Though we had never walked its entire 2160-mile length, from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Katahdin, Maine, at once, over the course of several years a long time ago we had in piecemeal fashion covered most of it, and hiked many of the several hundred trails that parallel and join it as well. But we had moved out of easy reach of the Trail, and for years had only our memories of it.