"A footpath for those who seek fellowship with the wilderness"

The Appalachian Trail is the most recognized long-distance hiking trail in the country, mostly due to its age (founded in 1920), its popularity (3,000 thru-hikers per year in Georgia, plus thousands more weekend warriors), and its proximity to populated East Coast metropolises.

I thru-hiked the AT in the summer of 2002 between my junior and seniors years at Duke, finishing it in 95 days (an average of 22.8 miles per day). It was my first thru-hike, and really my first serious backpacking experience, so the learning curve was steep: I started with 50-pounds of stuff -- including 2-months worth of white gas, a trowel, an 8-lb Mountainsmith pack, 3 short-sleeve shirts, and a bunch of other unnecessary crap.

Interestingly, I faired far worse in the first month than I would if I did it again today with just 5 pounds of gear. That is the difference of being experienced and inexperienced in the backcountry -- thankfully, much due to the AT, I'm the former and no longer the latter.