Elizabeth Watkins - AT Movie

This movie about the journey of the Appalachain Trail was very interesting. There was a lot of information in the movie that surprised me. One thing I thought was pretty cool was the history of the Appalachain Trail. Apparently, a man by the name of Earl Chafer was the first to complete the trail. What shocked me was the year that he accomplished this: 1948! I would not have thought that many people were interested in hiking in that decade. Also interesting was the average miles a person travels in one day for the first couple weeks that they hike the trail. According to the movie, the average person walks six to twelve miles during those first weeks. That seems like such a small amount when you think that to complete the trail you must go from Georgia to Maine. Crazy! That makes me wonder what motivates a person to go to such great efforts just to complete the Appalachain Trail. I found my answer, however, in the testimonial of one lady. She said that the experience was "an emotional, spiritual, mental cleansing". That, to me, is what makes it all worth it.