Thurs (4/17) 6:30
The Film:
Presented by WVPT’s Living Virginia series on public television in 2011, “Appalachian Trail: The Beaten Path” tells the amazing story of the trail’s creation with rare historical footage of Benton MacKaye and Myron Avery. Meet some of the amazing people who have thru-hiked the trail, including the first person to do it, Earl Shaffer, and blind hiker Bill Irwin.
Stretching through 14 states, from Maine to Georgia, the Appalachian Trail is one of the longest continuously marked footpaths in the world at about 2,180 miles. A tribute to nature that took more than 15 years and countless arguments to complete. In 1921, MacKaye published an article about his idea for a series of camps along the ridge of the Appalachian Mountains… with a trail connecting them. But it would take the ambition of lawyer Avery to make MacKaye’s dream a reality. The two men did not always agree on what the trail should be, and in Appalachian Trail: The Beaten Path, see how MacKaye’s original idea ultimately turned into one of the longest trails in the world.