OK, John J, if you're gonna pin me down like that! 😀 (Honestly, thanks for asking! I'm honored!) I'm going to make this all up as I type it. Some of it is AT related, some deals with other trails, and some is completely unrelated. Start with the AT. I distinctly remember when I first stepped foot on it. Back in the early '60's, when my family took our first trip to the Smokeys. Mom and Dad, my younger sister and brother, and me. Camped in a 26 foot Shasta (think Airstream, just cheaper), pulled behind the family sedan. We stopped at Newfound Gap, which is where I first saw the trail. I think the same sign is still there (or maybe a reasonable facsimile of it). Georgia, hundreds of miles that way. Maine, more hundreds of miles the other way. One continuous footpath. Wow! I was pretty amazed, and mentioned how wonderful it might be to hike the whole thing. "Look over here", said Dad, and took my picture. "Now you've hiked the Appalachian Trail!". *sigh* Dad isn't as funny as he thinks he is. Yeah, present tense. I'm 66. and Dad's still with us. So is Mom. 96 and 89, respectively. I'm amazingly blessed. They both give me great hope! So, how have things changed? Ever been to Gatlinburg? Seriously crowded, isn't it? During that trip, we parked on Main Street, car, trailer and everything. No issues finding a place. There's a pancake house there on Main, to this day. We parked right in front of that, where we had breakfast! Equipment has changed a lot. Not AT related, but when we hiked in to camp (that was backpacking way back then), it was borrowed WWII vintage sleeping bags (one with real feathers for insulation!), loaned by the next door neighbors. Borrowed heavy cotton canvas tarp for a tent. Cooking kit was assembled from a few No. 10 cans the school cafeteria thoughtfully gave me. Stove? Another No. 10 can, a hobo stove. Campfire for the rest. Weighed a ton, but we had a great time. Eventually, my patents got me a bunch of good Boy Scout camping stuff; the old cook kit, which I still have and sometimes use out of nostalgia, real packs instead of tying everything together with the tarp ridge line and hoisting it up on our backs. Real tents, instead of the huge canvas tarp. Dad always has believed "the bigger, the better". We sometimes had eight or ten kids under that thing! Had to have that many to get all our junk to the camp site. Back to the AT. Did my first hike on it back in the late 80's. Had an industrial accident that did a lot of damage to my right hand. Of course, I'm right handed. After 18 months of surgery and therapy, I determined I would prove myself fully recovered, and planned a hike on the AT (for some reason). Solo. I'd make it on my own, or not at all. Had a great two day hike, from the southern terminus to Woody Gap. My wife wasn't quite as thrilled as I was about it. And yes, fully recovered! 😊 Didn't get back on the Trail for another ten years, and did so at the insistence of, once again, my darling wife. Georgia is only about six hours or so from where we currently live, and she arranged a number of solo hikes for me, where I could drive up, park and start walking until we could meet at an agreed-upon road crossing a few days later. My equipment went from old and heavy to new and much, much lighter. Pack weight went from 45 or so pounds to my current 18 (dry) pounds. I could go lighter, but I do like my comforts. The trail has also changed a lot, as mentioned several times above. Less road walking, which I really like. Switchbacks instead of straight up and down the mountains. The scars from those old sections are going to take decades to heal, and in some cases may never be fully erased in our lifetimes. It's longer, in some ways easier to hike, and resupply is almost never a problem now. Sadly, we can't get on it for the time being, and I do wonder what it's going to be like when we can once again safely access it. The great volunteers that keep up the trail can't get on it, either. so it's going to be overgrown, with blowdowns. It'll be a tougher trail for a while. I recall reading Earl Shaffer's book, "Hiking With Spring". During WWII, the trail got little, if any, maintenance, and Mr. Shaffer had some issues hiking it. Hopefully it won't be that bad for us! We'll see. Hope to see you all out there soon! Hikes in Rain
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