Saturday 11 July 1974, the old AT

 Virginia's AT was in constant flux.  Trail RELOS were common and many times you really didn't know your location.  That was important for camps, water and even tops of mountains. For example, Mt Rogers, the tallest mountain in Virginia is no longer on the AT.

But on this date we (Don, Ralph and me) hiked something like 20 miles to get to Walker Mtn LT (built in 1960) arriving at 530 PM. This was day four after leaving Damascus, VA. At 9pm, we moved to sleep in the nearby fire tower.  The first pic is from Ralph.

Here is the USGS map from the Seventies showing the trail route.

Today, the AT doesn't even reach the ridge.

First a quote from my book. 

On the 11th of July, I wrote a letter to my parents reporting a 20.2 mile day and a total of 492.4 miles.  That night we slept in the Walker Mountain Fire Tower (3,900 feet).  We could have stayed in the LT, but a once in a lifetime chance to sleep in a tower was something not to miss.  Also had a chance to pee off the Tower to see a long continuous stream of pee, a dream of every young boy.  The water source at the LT was a boxed cistern, often used in the south to collect rainwater off the roof of the shelter and store in a vault. The trail has since be RELOed away from this scenic spot to the west; shame since the mountain was the trail route from 1955-1980.

Details from my Journal.

11 July Thursday

20.2 miles

Cruising except for the last 8 miles.  Arrive @ LT 530 (not bad) and @ 9:00 decided to sleep in the fire tower.  Never have done it before.  It may turn out to be a cool thing.  A couple of times I hauled ass on the trail or as Ralph puts it "Bristow Overdrive."  On Rt. 11 there was an Exxon Gas Station & we bought ice cream and junk.  It helped me get up Walker Mtn, (in the rain of course).  I couldn't find Dad's Church because of a trail relocation.  But I wasn't going to walk any more than I have to.

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From Google Streetview, this might be the gas station on Rt 11 where I bought the snacks.

Here is the trail map and ATC Guide.  Like south, I combined several guidebooks to just have northbound hiking and cover the entire 504.8 miles+/-.

Much better map, eh?  The trail has since moved away from Walker Mountain to the west to cross the Hoston River Valley.  This was a massive RELO.

It took us 7 days to hike from Damascus to Pearisburg (my next maildrop) on the AT.

AT RELO in Washington, MA (16th October 1974)

 Hiking south on the 16th of October I awoke to rain.  "Shit, I said, hoping it would stop before I got up.  Well it didn't, so I hike to this LT losing the relocation around Washington Town Hall.  I followed the old AT,  I arrived at the October MT LT before noon, changed my wet clothes & made pancakes for lunch , cause I didn't have any break."

A seven mile day. See the old and new maps of the trail below.

On a later trip I hiked the new section of trail and took these pics.

Notice this stone wall.

I found a few stone walls along the new trail and the LiDAR image with the historic map gives me a clue about who lived there.

Of course you would know this if you used the 1939 trail guide.

Berkshire Hills Conference. 1939. “The Berkshire Hills, Members of the Federal Writers'

Project of the Works Progress Administration for Massachusetts”. Funk & Wagnalls Co: NY.

The next day, I left the trail.

South of Greylock (14 October 1974)

 I left Williams College on the 14th of October, climbed over Mt. Greylock, the tallest peak in Massachusetts.  I camped at Kitchen Brook LT, that I believe has been torn down and replaced with Mark Noepel Shelter.  The LT was about four miles south of the summit so should be on this map somewhere.

The trail has since been relocated to the east as shown in the newer USGS map and the State Park map here.

If you were hiking the trail in 1939, you could have used this trail map.

Berkshire Hills Conference. 1939. “The Berkshire Hills, Members of the Federal Writers'

Project of the Works Progress Administration for Massachusetts”. Funk & Wagnalls Co: NY.

Get your free copy from Archive.org.

The next day I continued south, passing through Cheshire and Dalton to camp out.

8 June 1975 and a 20 miler on the AT

 Tired all day but at night "Happy content peaceful"

Camped at Pine Knoll LT with Tom and Karen (from Connecticut). They told me about Pero, an instant cereal beverage from Germany.

Also met a 86 year old man named Ernie who was hiking from Rockfish Gap to Maine.  "Very Nice."

Hiking along the Housatonic River was very pretty.

Local Hikes Abound

A couple of great sites for local hiking can be found at The Trustees of Reservations  and the Audubon Society.

On each site, you will find trail maps nearby.  Take a hike this weekend.

A video of one of the trails is found here.

Westfield River Trail Guide

For your hiking pleasure, check out the

Lower Westfield River
Trails User Guide


Prepared for the
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management
with funding from
The Massachusetts Watershed Initiative