Mists shroud a hilltop in Tennessee. Photo by Cynthia Viola / www.cynthiaviola.com

Perhaps for some of you, the fall is a season of endings. As the days shorten, the leaves fall, and last months of the year fly by, it’s natural to feel like everything is coming to a close. But for me, the fall has always been a season of beginnings. That may still be a holdover from childhood of the school year starting anew every fall — a rhythm that gets established so early in life that it never seems to lose its grip on us.

Whatever the reason, I look forward every year to the first flash of red sugar maples dotting an otherwise green hillside. Or the first chilly breeze that chases me back inside to grab an extra layer before spending time outside. Or the crunch of leaf litter under my boots as I walk along a familiar stretch of Trail.

I’ve also been thinking about beginnings because I recently had the opportunity to visit the birthplace of the A.T. The Trail’s founder and visionary, Benton MacKaye, was staying with friends at a farm in northern New Jersey when he wrote down his vision for a trail through the Appalachian Mountains from Maine to Georgia (see “Where It All Began”). I got to visit the grounds of the estate, which is now a private club that hosts a five-mile hike twice a year to benefit local community nonprofits. I contemplated why certain places inspire us and how we act on that inspiration. And I thought about the hard work that happens after inspiration strikes — the work that goes into making a vision a reality.

Today, the ATC is still hard at work ensuring that the Trail envisioned a century ago remains an accessible, enjoyable, and challenging recreational experience for you. Increasingly, our work to protect that experience means not only maintaining the footpath itself but also conserving the natural landscape that surrounds it, including the plants and animals that call it home. It may not occur to you that the health of the streams and rivers in that landscape affects your enjoyment of the Trail. But as you’ll read in “Vital Pathways”, enabling the endangered Atlantic salmon to return to its freshwater spawning ground improves the ecological connectivity of the landscape and the many benefits it provides to us all.

The Trail and its many natural resources truly never fail to amaze me with their power to transform, to heal, and to lead anyone who walks on the A.T. to growth and self-discovery. As the organization that is responsible for this sacred place, the ATC remains committed to our mission to protect, manage, and advocate for the Trail — a mission that becomes only more critical with every new year.

I hope that 2024 will be a year of new beginnings for you — and that you will find even more time to spend on the Trail you love.

Sandra Marra / President & CEO