THE AMERICAN CHESTNUT FOUNDATION

Appalachian Trail Walk

The Appalachian Trail (A.T.) has long been a source of beauty, challenges and enjoyment for the thousands of folks, who hike some or, all of it each year. From Georgia, all the way through to Maine, the AT inspires families, friends and neighbors to take a break and see some of the best the eastern half of the United States has to offer. Abundant wildlife, trees and flowers draw the young and old, rich and poor, strong and some not so strong (yours truly, included) not only to test themselves but also to be part of something bigger than themselves. As an ancient Chinese philosopher once said, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step."

So lace up those hiking shoes because TACF's 25 th anniversary year begins with a seven-month hike along the Appalachian Trail, all 2,174 miles of it, for both TACF members and the general public, including Boy Scouts, Girl Scout, local trail groups and even your next door neighbor, with the goal of identifying surviving American chestnut trees along the trail. Print A Tree Identification Sheet

Since the TACF's A.T. journey won't be hiked in a "linear" fashion, folks can start at any point on the trail. Hikers can count their miles by noting mile marker start and end points or by using an Appalachian Trail hiker's guide which outlines the various mile points along the trail. Once you've hiked your miles, you can then enter them on TACF's website. By completing as much of the Appalachian Trail as possible before October's annual meeting, we will bring focused attention to the importance of restoring this mighty giant, the American chestnut, to its native forests as well as to the ongoing work of TACF, its state chapters and its volunteer community.

In addition to hiking the A.T. TACF will play a prominent role at each of the six events planned for this year and the first opportunity for hikers to start counting those miles will begin the weekend of March 1-2 at Amicalola Falls State Park in Georgia when the A.T. officially opens for 2008. The end of the "chestnut journey" will take place in Chattanooga, Tennessee at TACF's 25 th annual meeting October 24-26 with the completion (hopefully!) of all 2,174 miles.
For more about the hike and events click here

Instructions for adding miles hiked:
If you don't have mile markers you can add total miles, click and choose a state, then put the total miles walked for that state in the "Total" box (if you walked multiple states you can add at least 3 states at a time). Then put in your event password and hit "Submit". It's that easy! If you walked as a team, you can take each individual's miles, times the total number of people on the team that walked, enter this amount in the "Total" box, add event password and hit "Submit", or each person can put in their own miles individually.

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