Evening star., 1935-06-16
Appalachian
Trail Is Ideal
For Hikers
Local Club Provides
Shelters and Maps
for Outings.

-HE opening of the Skyline
Drive mas given to thousands
world o. beauty that pre-
i viouSly had been reserved for
a comparative handful. Here
and there along the drive between
Thornton Gap and Swift Run Gap
motorists may catch glimpses Of q
path paralleling the highway. 1t Is
the Appalachian Trail. a path which
extends in an unbroken line along the
crest of the mountains from Maine to
Southern Georgia.
In the section of the trail following
the Skyline Drive, and throughout the
Shenandoah Park area, the pathway
has been 'duded" up by the c. c. c.,
working under ,he National Parks
Service. As result, it is some
feet wide and as smooth as a sidewalk,
with the additional advantage over
city pavements Of Icing constructed of
clay and gravel, an all-weather, easily
travelled surface. In this section all
the rough CLIMBS have been eased
down and underprush and other OBJ
stacies removed. Similar work has
been or is being done where TIE trail
traverses Virginiac State parks.
For those who prefer their noun
taineering in the form of quiet, pleas
ant walking and magnificent scenery,
the main trail through the parks pro-
vides many miles of perfection. The
section in the region o. the completed
part of the Skyline Drive, for in
stance, offers the pedestrian scores of
mountain top viSCas which are denied
TO the driver of the automobile and
the section north of Thornton Gap,
where for miles the crest line mead
ows are more abundant, has broader,
though less precipitous, views.
PUT the Appalachian Trail Is only
small part OF the trails system
that is being developed throughout
the mountains of nearby States
through the efforts Of members OF the
Potomac Appalachian Trails Club, the
local unit of the national orga nization
which is carrying on this work for
mixers.
There are hundreds Of walkers,
amateur botanists, biologists, animal
and bird lovers, campers and wood
cTafters who prefer greater solitude
end wilder surroundings than the
principal trail offers. These can all
be accommodated, for the club mem
bers have marked hundreds of miles
of side trails. some leading to no.
where, others taking in historical
spots, interesting hollowS, unusual
mountain climbs and other points of
outstanding interest.
These, in turn, are supplemented by
scores of other trails which are not
marked, but which have been sur
veyed and included in the maps pre-
pared by the Trails Club. These side
trails consist of paths. old timber
roads or mere blazes on trees and
rocks and lead one through the Wild
est and most beautiful parts Of the
hills and hollows.
THE foot traveller can map . vaca-
ton of a few days or several
weeks and furnish himself with any
kind Of accommodation he pleaSes.
The maps Of the club, which are in
cluded in its carefully compiled guide
book. show every trail, every road,
each spring, camping ground. all
houses, barns or stables, and hotels.
The book tells which of the people
living on the farms will furnish meals
or lodging. In addition the club it
self maintains four cabins and con-
templates several more In the local
groups area. Thus a hiker can plan
his route to avoid all towns and
farms, or he may plan so he can Sc
cure meals without doing his own
cooking and find a nights lodging at
the end Of each days walk.
The cabins are adequate shelter for
a night or in bad weather. There are
three in Virginia and one in PennSyl-
vania at present. One, the Range
View Shelter, is some 8 miles
north of the Lee Highway at Pano-
rama. Another, Meadow Spring, Is q
mile south of Marys Rock, and the
third, Sexton, Is a few yards of Sky
line Drive, miles from Thornton
Gap, adjacent to Skyland. Range
View and Sexton shelters are one
room stone structures, and the Meadow
Spring shelter is a tiny log cabin in
a wild woodland setting. The Penn
sylvania shelter is a two-story log
house located near Pine Grove Fur
mace in the Michaux State Forest.
All these cabins are kept stocked
with bedding and blankets and such
food supplies as parties using them
may leave behind. Usually there Is
a sufficient amount of such staples as
coffee, canned beans, sugar, flour, salt
and the like for a number Of persons.
In addition, there are lanterns, axes,
cooking and table ware, snake bite and
RESORTS.