History
Georgia
Appalachian Trail Club (GATC) was organized in 1930 in Dahlonega, GA. It is
an association of volunteers who, because of their love for wilderness
areas, have assumed responsibility for maintenance of the Appalachian Trail
in Georgia.
The Trail, one of the first two National Scenic Trails, is a footpath of over 2,100 miles long through the wilderness, following a skyline route over the Appalachians from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mt. Katahdin in Maine.
To the Native Americans who once inhabited this wild and beautiful region, the word Appalachian meant "endless." So it is that the Appalachian Trail is, for all practical purposes, an endless footpath winding through mountain regions with a great variety of plants and animal life, climate, and geographic features.
Remote for detachment, narrow for chosen company, winding for leisure, lonely for contemplation, it beckons not merely north and south, but upward to the body, mind, and soul of man. ~ Harold Allen.
Remember when . . .
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Dedication of monument atop Oglethorpe
Mountain, 1930, southern terminus of the |
First to hike the entire Georgia AT in 1930, three Boy Scouts: John Newton, Jim Brewer and Byron Mitchell, Jr. |
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| Warner Hall poses for original plaque
on Springer Mountain in 1933, sculpted by Club member George H. Noble. |
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