via: Historia Obscurum
·
In February of 1945, Earl Shaffer's best friend was killed on Iwo Jima.
Earl Shaffer (pictured) and Walter Winemiller had been hiking buddies back home in Pennsylvania before the war, and together had dreamed of doing the impossible...
The more than 2,100-mile-long Appalachian Trail had been finished not long before the outbreak of the Second World War, and no one believed it was possible to hike its entire length.
Shaffer and Winemiller decided that they wanted to be the first, but the war interrupted their plans.
Earl entered the U.S. Army in 1941, and worked on radar systems throughout the Pacific Theater. He survived, but his friend did not, dying on Iwo Jima in 1945.
After his discharge, Earl felt aimless and restless, and in 1948 decided to make good on his and Walter's dream.
Starting in Georgia, Earl began walking north along the trail. He took very few supplies with him, and even hiked without socks sometimes.
Earl wrote that he took to the trail to "walk the war out of my system", and as the miles wore on, he began to find the peace that had eluded him since the war's end.
As he closed in on the northern terminus of the trail in Maine, he paused and wrote in his journal, "In very good spirits. Thinking of Walter."
It took Earl Shaffer 124 days to complete the entire Appalachian Trail, but, still believing it to be impossible, few people believed he'd actually done it.
It was only after a fierce grilling from officials of the Appalachian Trail Conference that his accomplishment was recognized officially, and Earl became famous as the first person ever to walk the complete length of the Appalachian Trail.
In 1965, Earl hit the trail again, this time hiking north to south from Maine to Georgia in 99 days.
Then in 1998, fifty years after his initial thru-hike, Earl completed the full trail again at the age of 79.
Earl Shaffer died of cancer in 2002, but his personal odyssey continues to inspire countless Veterans who, like him, turn in greater and greater numbers each year to America's wild trails, forests, and mountains to find peace and purpose, and to walk off their own wars.
·
In February of 1945, Earl Shaffer's best friend was killed on Iwo Jima.
Earl Shaffer (pictured) and Walter Winemiller had been hiking buddies back home in Pennsylvania before the war, and together had dreamed of doing the impossible...
The more than 2,100-mile-long Appalachian Trail had been finished not long before the outbreak of the Second World War, and no one believed it was possible to hike its entire length.
Shaffer and Winemiller decided that they wanted to be the first, but the war interrupted their plans.
Earl entered the U.S. Army in 1941, and worked on radar systems throughout the Pacific Theater. He survived, but his friend did not, dying on Iwo Jima in 1945.
After his discharge, Earl felt aimless and restless, and in 1948 decided to make good on his and Walter's dream.
Starting in Georgia, Earl began walking north along the trail. He took very few supplies with him, and even hiked without socks sometimes.
Earl wrote that he took to the trail to "walk the war out of my system", and as the miles wore on, he began to find the peace that had eluded him since the war's end.
As he closed in on the northern terminus of the trail in Maine, he paused and wrote in his journal, "In very good spirits. Thinking of Walter."
It took Earl Shaffer 124 days to complete the entire Appalachian Trail, but, still believing it to be impossible, few people believed he'd actually done it.
It was only after a fierce grilling from officials of the Appalachian Trail Conference that his accomplishment was recognized officially, and Earl became famous as the first person ever to walk the complete length of the Appalachian Trail.
In 1965, Earl hit the trail again, this time hiking north to south from Maine to Georgia in 99 days.
Then in 1998, fifty years after his initial thru-hike, Earl completed the full trail again at the age of 79.
Earl Shaffer died of cancer in 2002, but his personal odyssey continues to inspire countless Veterans who, like him, turn in greater and greater numbers each year to America's wild trails, forests, and mountains to find peace and purpose, and to walk off their own wars.
via: Historia Obscurum
·
In February of 1945, Earl Shaffer's best friend was killed on Iwo Jima.
Earl Shaffer (pictured) and Walter Winemiller had been hiking buddies back home in Pennsylvania before the war, and together had dreamed of doing the impossible...
The more than 2,100-mile-long Appalachian Trail had been finished not long before the outbreak of the Second World War, and no one believed it was possible to hike its entire length.
Shaffer and Winemiller decided that they wanted to be the first, but the war interrupted their plans.
Earl entered the U.S. Army in 1941, and worked on radar systems throughout the Pacific Theater. He survived, but his friend did not, dying on Iwo Jima in 1945.
After his discharge, Earl felt aimless and restless, and in 1948 decided to make good on his and Walter's dream.
Starting in Georgia, Earl began walking north along the trail. He took very few supplies with him, and even hiked without socks sometimes.
Earl wrote that he took to the trail to "walk the war out of my system", and as the miles wore on, he began to find the peace that had eluded him since the war's end.
As he closed in on the northern terminus of the trail in Maine, he paused and wrote in his journal, "In very good spirits. Thinking of Walter."
It took Earl Shaffer 124 days to complete the entire Appalachian Trail, but, still believing it to be impossible, few people believed he'd actually done it.
It was only after a fierce grilling from officials of the Appalachian Trail Conference that his accomplishment was recognized officially, and Earl became famous as the first person ever to walk the complete length of the Appalachian Trail.
In 1965, Earl hit the trail again, this time hiking north to south from Maine to Georgia in 99 days.
Then in 1998, fifty years after his initial thru-hike, Earl completed the full trail again at the age of 79.
Earl Shaffer died of cancer in 2002, but his personal odyssey continues to inspire countless Veterans who, like him, turn in greater and greater numbers each year to America's wild trails, forests, and mountains to find peace and purpose, and to walk off their own wars.
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