Standing on an overlook taking in the views, you might find yourself in full conversation with the stranger next to you. “Is this your first time here? How far are you hiking? Is there a big climb ahead for me?” The rules that keep us from speaking to folks we pass on city sidewalks, stand with on subway platforms, and share space with on elevators do not hold for us when we are on the A.T. As much as the Trail brings opportunity for solitude in nature, it also allows us the space to build relationships, however fleeting, with other humans that we otherwise would never know.
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy has supporters in all 50 states and more than 46 countries around the world. From North and South America and most E.U. countries, to China, Israel, South Africa, Palestine, Australia and beyond, people come to the ATC because of their love of the Appalachian Trail. Wherever in the world you find yourself today, you are part of a vast community that shares a common bond.
Recently, ATC staff hosted members of the Shinetsu Trail Club from Japan, sharing information and best practices about trail management and protection (see “From America to Japan”). This summer we also had a visit from staff members of the Bruce Trail Conservancy, which is one of Ontario’s largest land trusts and the steward of Canada’s longest marked footpath. The purpose of the visit was to learn how the A.T. has survived and thrived for these past 100 years — as well as to discuss how our organizations can work together to address the global urgency around land conservation, forest health, and the increasing need for a natural place for people to go to heal and thrive.
As we move further out of the Covid-19 crisis, we are now facing a public health crisis in this country related to loneliness, isolation, and lack of social connection. Eleven-and-a-half percent of youth and half (50 percent) of adults ages 18-24 reported anxiety and depression symptoms in 2023. The U.S. Surgeon General recently reported that lacking human connection can increase the risk for premature death to levels comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. And while overall solutions will require a multidisciplinary and broad collective approach, we need to consider the role the Appalachian Trail — this singular place — can play in helping to alleviate some of these concerns (see “All in the Tramily”).
The Trail is within a day’s drive to close to 40 percent of the American population. The A.T. is a place where someone can walk for an hour, or a day, or weeks on end. When people take a walk on the Trail, they are strengthening their leg and core muscles, increasing cardiovascular health, and lowering their stress and anxiety. In addition, they can spend time with themselves and others that is not in front of a screen, which has proven to increase feelings of loneliness and depression. In short, the experience one gets from walking on the A.T. can heal them both physically and emotionally.
I am going to guess that you are reading this because you already know that hiking the Appalachian Trail can do all these things and more for our well-being. But there are, most likely, people you know who may not yet have had the opportunity to have this experience.
My challenge to you is to seek out someone within your life that you feel could benefit from an hour’s time on the Trail. Invite them for a walk. Bring them to your favorite view. Share with them the value the Trail holds in your life. Demonstrate how a relationship with nature can lead to closer and more rewarding relationships with people from all over the world. Show them that the Appalachian Trail is a place that makes us all better humans — to ourselves and each other.
