A Hiker’s History of the Appalachian Trail - Presentation by Mills Kelly
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A Hiker's History of the Appalachian Trail - A Presentation by Mills Kelly
HIKERS SAVE THE DATE FOR THIS EVENT…!!! This is going to be a great night, please save the date and join your hiking friends for an informative and fun evening!!!
Generally, history of the Appalachian Trail tells the story from the top down, focusing on who proposed the trail, who built it, who maintains it, along with a look at a few of the more famous hikers. Mills' new book, A Hiker's History of the Appalachian Trail, tells the trail's history from the ground up, or more accurately, from the boots up. Several million hikers each year set foot on the trail for a few hours, a few days, or perhaps a few weeks. The trail was created for hikers just like us, and yet our role in its history has been largely ignored.
To make sense of the experiences of AT hikers over the past 100 years, Mills has dug through hundreds of trail shelter registers, hiker accounts submitted to trail clubs, newspaper and magazine stories about the experiences of casual hikers, photographs, old films, and many other sources. Mills' time in the archives of various trail clubs and organizations will be evident when he joins us to tell the story of what it was like to hike the trail from the later 1920s right up to present. What did those hikers eat 50 or 100 years ago? What kind of gear did they carry? Why did they go hiking in the first place? What was their relationship to the natural world they found along the trail? What was it like to hike as a woman, as a person of color, as someone with disability? And how have all these things changed over the past 100 years of trail's history?
Spanning the entire history of the Appalachian Trail, historian and lifelong hiker Mills Kelly tells their stories—why they went to the trail, what they carried, what they ate, where they slept and how their time on the trail offered healing and grace.
Fun facts: Mills is an active PATC member and maintains an AT Shelter. He also host a Podcast called The Green Tunnel, covering all things Appalachian Trail.
Please join your hiking friends for a fun and interesting evening. The event is free—food and beverages will be provided by Great Outdoor, AND books will be available for purchase.
Come early, as seating is limited.
6:00 p.m.—frosty beverages, food/snacks and meet & greet
6:30 to 8:00 p.m.—presentation followed by questions and signing
About Mills,
Mills is a historian, a hiker and backpacker, a photographer, an author, and an award-winning professor at George Mason University. He maintains one of the most historic shelters on the Appalachian Trail and is an archivist for the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC).
Mills a UVA grad, now divides his time living in both Manassas and Linden, Virginia. For more on his many professional accomplishments and interest see the link below. It certainly will be our pleasure to welcome Mills back to Charlottesville!