Appalachian Trail

The Appalachian Trail is an American legacy. The trail runs more than 2,100 miles from Springer Mountain, Georgia to Mount Katahdin, Maine. I always wanted to equip a thru-hiker with a GPS and have him/her map every step of the trail. The trail is constantly changing due to land rights and re-routes, and any keen observer looking at U.S. Geological Survey topographical maps quickly realizes “the trail don’t go that way anymore.” It took several attempts to find the right hiker. The first guy made it to North Carolina, quit hiking, and stole the GPS I borrowed him. The second guy never understood the whole technology thing. “Dude, You gotta turn it on for it to work.” The third one was trying to break a speed record, so he never focused on the GPS part nor did he like to carry the extra battery weight. Then came Jeff Chow. Jeff had the mindset that I was looking for: easy-going, goal-driven without being masochistic, and a photographer who happened to understand GPS. Jeff took two seasons to hike the AT, and you can see every step of his trip, including hundreds of photos and points of interest on interactive Google Maps at www.backpacker.com/at. We also published his favorite spots in a recent Appalachian Trail article.

P.S. Jeff is now working on a project to map and photograph trails in Yellowstone National Park.