Recreation Geography

12 June 2026

Fifty One Years ago today

It was on this date that I completed the 2,000 Mile Appalachian Trail at US Route 20 in Massachusetts.

Unfortunately, it was not on Katahdin, since the previous summer I started my trek on Springer in early June, too late to make it to Baxter State Park before the snow closed the mountain. So, my hike became a "Both Ends to the Middle," now called a flip-flop. It ended to be Both ends toward the middle, since I actually finished the middle on a couple trips in the spring of 1975.

It was a great trip. Unlike Bill Bryson, I could actually say "I had hiked the Appalachian Trail."

Here is the finished photo.

Notice the rain cover on my Trailwise Backpack. It was raining, of course, so I couldn't get a ride hitchhiking into Lee Massachusetts. I got my bus ticket at the local drug store, and the clerk, noticing my dirt, suggested I go across the street to the police station where I changed clothes to be a bit more presentable.

Here is the USGS topo map of the era (notice the road walking south of Goose Pond). I did not visit the cabin since it was on a side trail and US 20 was my goal.

Get Maps | topoView

Since 1975, I had returned several times to the area doing corridor monitoring, and swimming in the pond.

Wanna' read about the 2,000 mile backpack? Go to the Appalachian Trail Museum and get my book. All the money goes to the Museum.

11 June 2026

Fifty one years ago today

On this date in 1975, I was hiking north on the Appalachian Trail in Massachusetts. I did 24 miles from Jug End Spring.

(photo taken 5 years ago, the Commonwealth had since dismantled the spring for public health reasons.)

I cruised along at 2.5 mph since a good portion of the trail followed roads. Here is a present day shot of Brace Road that I followed as I descended into Tyringham.

and the topo from 1973.

Plus an air photo from 1975.

At 5 pm I arrived in Tyringham, where I camped at the town park just north of the Post Office with Les (from New Jersey).

(Streetview of Post Office from 2019, the Pavillion has since be removed).

In the early 1990s, I became a AT Corridor Monitor and my first assignment was the area around Tyringham Cobble. The trail was now off the roads. I became very familiar with the AT in Tyringham over the next 3 decades.

03 June 2026

Random Pics of the Appalachian Trail in Virginia

Here are pictures from the seventies along the Appalachian Trail in Virginia. Much of the trail is no longer there due to relocations in the 1980s and 90s to protect the trail corridor.

The photos are not in any order.

TN/VA Line.