Appalachian Trail Celebration & Backpacking Clinic

The staff and Friends of Amicalola Falls State Park hosted the Appalachian Trail Celebration & Backpacking Clinic on Saturday & Sunday, March 7-8, 2009. The event was attended by almost 200 visitors to celebrate the great outdoors, learn about the Appalachian Trail, listen to AT hikers share their experiences, and discover what it takes to make the 5-million step journey across 14 states.

Speakers and topics included:
• Jim Burson, 1959 thru-hiker – History, Characters & A Photographic Hike of The AT;
• Frank Wright, 2000 thru-hiker – Maintaining the Georgia Section of the AT;
• Cathleen Close, ATC Ridgerunner & 2006 thru-hiker – A New Beginning;
• Gene Espy, 1951 thru-hiker & second oldest living thru-hiker – The Trail of My Life;
• Nancy Gowler, thru-hiker in 1999 and again in 2007 - The AT & Many Other Trails;
• Stephen Smith, 2004 thru-hiker - Planning For Long-Distance Hiking; and,
• Clark Sexton from Leave No Trace.

Several equipment specialists were on hand to display, demonstrate, and speak about specific outdoor equipment such as shelters, cooking gear & food, backpacks, sleeping bags & pads, backpacks, and clothing.

Over the weekend, fourteen members of the Georgia Appalachian Trail Club Completed two projects on the AT Approach Trail. They installed a ditch along side of the Approach Trail between a forest service road and the bridge over Amicalola Creek to allow water to drain from the road to the creek without flooding and eroding the trail at that point. And the group cleaned out the culvert under the Approach/Hike Inn Trails where they cross Lodge Road.