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The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, generally known as the Appalachian Trail or simply the A.T., is a marked hiking trail in the eastern United States extending between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine.〔Gailey, Chris (2006). ("Appalachian Trail FAQs" ) Outdoors.org (accessed September 14, 2006)〕 The trail is approximately 2,200 miles (3,500 km) long, though the precise length changes over time as parts are modified or rerouted. The trail passes through the states of Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. The path is maintained by 31 trail clubs and multiple partnerships,〔(A.T. Essentials" ) AppalachianTrail.org (accessed September 12, 2006)〕 and managed by the National Park Service, United States Forest Service, and the nonprofit Appalachian Trail Conservancy.〔(January 1985), "A Fork in the Trail". ''Audubon''. 87 (1):140–141〕〔 The majority of the trail is in forest or wild lands, although some portions traverse towns, roads and farms. The trail conservancy claims that the Appalachian Trail is the longest hiking-only trail in the world.〔http://www.appalachiantrail.org/〕 The Appalachian Trail is famous for its many hikers, some of whom, called thru-hikers, attempt to hike it in its entirety in a single season. Others have managed to perform a "round-trip" of the trail where they thru-hike from one end to the other and then turn around to thru-hike the trail the other way, otherwise known as a "yo-yo". Many books, memoirs, web sites and fan organizations are dedicated to these pursuits. An extension known as the International Appalachian Trail continues northeast, crossing Maine, New Brunswick and southern Quebec. Branches cross Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island before resuming in Newfoundland. Sections then continue in Greenland, Europe and Morocco. Other separate extensions continue the southern end of the Appalachian range in Alabama and continue south into Florida, creating what is known as the Eastern Continental Trail. The Appalachian Trail, the Continental Divide Trail, and the Pacific Crest Trail form what is known as the Triple Crown of long–distance hiking in the United States. ==History== The trail was conceived by Benton MacKaye, a forester who wrote his original plan shortly after the death of his wife in 1921. MacKaye's idea detailed a grand trail that would connect a series of farms and wilderness work/study camps for city-dwellers. In 1922, at the suggestion of Major William A. Welch, director of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, his idea was publicized by Raymond H. Torrey with a story in the ''New York Evening Post'' under a full-page banner headline reading "A Great Trail from Maine to Georgia!" The idea was quickly adopted by the new Palisades Interstate Park Trail Conference as their main project. On October 7, 1923, the first section of the trail, from Bear Mountain west through Harriman State Park to Arden, New York, was opened. MacKaye then called for a two-day Appalachian Trail conference to be held in March 1925 in Washington, D.C. This resulted in the formation of the Appalachian Trail Conference (now called the Appalachian Trail Conservancy).〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Appalachian Trail Conservancy - History )〕 A retired judge named Arthur Perkins and his younger associate Myron Avery took up the cause. In 1929, Perkins, who was also a member of the Connecticut Forest and Park Association and its Blue Blazed Trails committee, found Ned Anderson, a farmer in Sherman, Connecticut, who took on the task of mapping and blazing the Connecticut leg of the trail (1929–1933). It ran from Dog Tail Corners in Webatuck, New York, which borders Kent, Connecticut, at Ashley Falls, through the northwest corner of the state, up to Bear Mountain at the Massachusetts border.〔(Tomaselli, Doris. 2009. pp. 47–61 ''Ned Anderson: Connecticut’s Appalachian Trailblazer – Small Town Renaissance Man''. Sherman Historical Society. Sherman, CT. ISBN 978-0-615-28611-2. )〕 (A portion of the Connecticut trail has since been rerouted (1979–1983) to be more scenic, adhering less to highways and more to wilderness, and includes a Ned K. Anderson Memorial Bridge.)〔(Tomaselli, Doris. 2009. pp. 67–75 ''Ned Anderson: Connecticut’s Appalachian Trailblazer – Small Town Renaissance Man''. Sherman Historical Society. Sherman, CT. ISBN 978-0-615-28611-2. )〕 Anderson's efforts helped spark renewed interest in the trail, and Avery (leading the charge since Perkins’ death in 1932) was able to bring other states on board. Upon taking over the ATC, Avery adopted the more practical goal of building a simple hiking trail. He and MacKaye clashed over the ATC's response to a major commercial development along the trail's path; MacKaye left the organization, while Avery was willing to simply reroute the trail. Avery reigned as Chairman of the ATC from 1932 to 1952 (he died that same year). Avery became the first to walk the trail end-to-end, though not as a thru-hike, in 1936. In August 1937, the trail was completed to Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine, and the ATC shifted its focus toward protecting the trail lands and mapping the trail for hikers. In 1948, Earl Shaffer of York, Pennsylvania, brought a great deal of attention to the project by completing the first documented thru-hike.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=Smithsonian exhibit on Shaffer's 1948 hike )〕 Later Shaffer also completed the first north-to-south thru-hike, making him the first to do so in each direction. In 1998 Mr. Shaffer, nearly 80 years old, again hiked the entirety of the trail, making him the oldest person ever to complete a thru-hike.〔(October 26, 1998), "Etceteras". ''Christian Science Monitor''. 90 (232):2〕 In 1994, a story appeared in the ''Appalachian Trailway News'' describing a 121-day Maine to Georgia thru-hike in 1936 by six Boy Scouts from the Bronx.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=() ATN article, 1936 Scout Hike )〕 Although the story has been accepted by some members of ALDHA, a great deal of doubt has also been expressed and this earlier thru-hike has never been verified. Shaffer's 1948 journey is still generally recognized as the first A.T. thru-hike. In the 1960s, the ATC made progress toward protecting the trail from development, thanks to efforts of politicians and officials. The National Trails System Act of 1968 designated the Pacific Crest Trail and Appalachian Trail as the first national scenic trails and paved the way for a series of National Scenic Trails within the National Park and National Forest systems.〔Seaborg, Eric (July/August 1984), "The Road Less Traveled". ''National Parks''. 58 (7/8) :34–35〕 Trail volunteers worked with the National Park Service to map a permanent route for the trail, and by 1971 a permanent route had been marked (though minor changes continue to this day). By the close of the 20th century, the Park Service had completed the purchase of all but a few miles of the trail's span. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Appalachian Trail」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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