Somewhere along this drive, the most famous footpath in America crosses your road — or crosses the connector roads right beside it. The Appalachian Trail runs through this high country, and it's worth a thought as you drive in an hour what a hiker out there is spending a hard day to cross on foot.
The AT runs about two thousand two hundred miles, all the way from Georgia to Maine, along the crest of these mountains — and the folks attempting the whole thing, the thru-hikers, are out here right now, walking north through spring and summer, carrying their lives on their backs, chasing the season up the spine of the eastern United States. It takes most of them five or six months. By the time they pass through this stretch of North Carolina, they're a few hundred miles in, their legs are iron, their gear is dialed, and they've long since traded their old names for trail names. They call the endless leafy woods 'the long green tunnel.'
There's a whole quiet culture out there in these hills — hiker hostels, 'trail magic' left by kind strangers, a rhythm of walk and eat and sleep and walk. So as you enjoy this country from a comfortable seat with the radio on, tip your hat to the ridgeline. Somebody's up there, right now, walking from Georgia to Maine, one ridge at a time. These mountains are their whole world for half a year.
Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY 3.0
