The Forests & the Trees: A Brief History of Our National Forests
The story of the creation of America’s system of national forests is fascinating from a number of perspectives. At various times, cultural, geographic, economic, and political winds either blew strongly against the idea or put just the slightest breeze behind the effort to place some forest land under federal protection. Yet, even after some forest […]
New Podcast Explores History of the Appalachian Trail
Professor Mills Kelly of George Mason University and his team have put together a wonderful podcast series about the history of the Appalachian Trail. If you’ve ever wondered how the trail came into being or what went on behind the scenes to get it built, this is a great place to start. I look forward […]
The 100-year trail — AT Celebrates 100th birthday
This year the Appalachian Trail marks its first century in existence. Holly Kays wrote a wonderful piece contrasting the story of the iconic trail’s origin and life on the trail today in the Smoky Mountain News.
How do we set out to do what’s never been done before?
“We’re putting a human on top of a missile and shooting him into space and it’s never been done before. I need a mathematician that can look beyond the numbers, at math that doesn’t exist.” — Al Harrison (played by Kevin Costner) from the movie Hidden Figures How do we set out to do what’s […]
The Surprising Story of Antonin Dvorak, The Chicago World’s Fair and the Appalachian Trail
“In September 1893, a 15-year-old boy from Massachusetts spent the day touring the Chicago World’s Fair. He had traveled there by train with two of his older brothers to visit their father, who had spent the previous year onsite, preparing for the event. The family patriarch, Steele MacKaye (pronounced Mack-eye), had arrived in Chicago in […]
The Appalachian Trail just turned 80 years old!
“On August 14, 1937, a CCC crew completed the final 2 miles of trail in Maine: a section on the north slope of Spaulding Mountain. What they likely didn’t know at the time was they had just closed the last remaining gap in the Appalachian Trail, which was now a continuous path from Mount Oglethorpe, in Georgia, to Katahdin, […]
The Appalachian Trail was a Start-up
The revolutionary idea to create a multi-state long-distance hiking trail was an uncertain prospect from the beginning.
My February newsletter is out!
Click on the image, or here for a list of February appearances and an update on my latest book.