Appalachian Trail Thru-hikers' Companion - 2001

The Appalachian Trail was conceived 79 years ago as a way for individuals, by their own unaided efforts, to explore the nature of the major mountain environments of the East and retreat for a while from daily industrialized life. The Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association's Apalachian Trail Thru-hikers' Companion represents a collaboration between the Appalachian Trail Conference, responsible for overseeing management of what is now a national scenic trail, and volunteers from the only organized user's group-hundreds of men and women who have hiked not only the Appalachian Trail in a single season but also many other U.S. long-distance trails. All that combined, up-to-the-minute knowledge of "the A.T."- from Trail-maintainers and current hikers-goes into the Companion each winter, when it is updated by scores of volunteers. The Companion provides enough basic information on hiker-oriented services near the trail to enable the adventure of walking on the A.T. to be your adventure, not someone else's hike-by-the-numbers.