There are two opportunities available to share your experiences and stories from the Appalachian Trail.
Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History recently opened an exhibition, “Earl Shaffer and the Appalachian Trail,” about Earl Shaffer and his first thru-hike of the A.T. An online version of the exhibition is available at http://tr.im/ ATWeb.
Part of the online exhibition involves an interactive map of several of Shaffer's diary entries and photos. A goal of the map is to include not just one person's memories of the trail but to show the depth and range of experiences people have had hiking the region throughout history.
The museum invites hikers of all interest levels to contribute their geotagged photos and stories from the trail to a Flickr group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/appalachiantrail/ Images that are contributed to this Flickr group are displayed in a map on the Museum’s exhibition Web site: http://americanhistory.si.edu/documentsgallery/exhibitions/appalachian_trail_7.html. Through contributions from the hiking community, the Smithsonian hopes to connect a wide audience—one that may have little or no connection to the A.T. when they encounter the exhibition—with the memorable experiences available to those who set foot on the trail.
The exhibition is on view in the Documents Gallery until October 11, 2009; the online exhibition will remain active on the Web in perpetuity. We look forward to working with you, and others like you, who have experienced life on the trail and would like to share memories and images of those experiences with others.
USA Today Seeks Stories on National Parks
The six-part documentary series The National Parks: America's Best Idea, directed by Ken Burns, starts Sept. 27 on PBS.
Do you have a special memory about visiting the Appalachian National Scenic Trail?
Send your brief story, along with your name and contact information, to
Travel Editor Chris Gray Faust at cegray@usatoday.com.
The best may be published in a future issue of USA TODAY. Deadline is Sept. 4.
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2009-08-21-national-park-stories_N.htm
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