The Appalachian Trail began in New England and New York, and the first officially-designated section of the AT was the Ramapo-Dunderberg section in southwest New York in 1922. But the plans for a specific route for Benton MacKaye’s proposed trail stopped at Delaware Water Gap, the boundary between New Jersey and Pennsylvania. How it came to Pennsylvania is a remarkable story.
Hiking in the Quaker State began very early, and we have records of trail clubs prior to World War I. Hiking came naturally to Pennsylvanians. The state’s mountains resemble a rug kicked into folds, running from northeast to southwest, and the ridges attracted generations of hikers. The ridges were very old in geologic terms, and in many places were worn down to the underlying rocks. Hikers complain about the rocks in Pennsylvania.
But that seemed not to deter native Pennsylvanians, who are perhaps a sturdier lot than the rest of us. The first trail club of which we have records is the Blue Mountain Eagle Climbing Club, founded by one Dr. Harry Rentschler.
Hiking in the Quaker State began very early, and we have records of trail clubs prior to World War I. Hiking came naturally to Pennsylvanians. The state’s mountains resemble a rug kicked into folds, running from northeast to southwest, and the ridges attracted generations of hikers. The ridges were very old in geologic terms, and in many places were worn down to the underlying rocks. Hikers complain about the rocks in Pennsylvania.
But that seemed not to deter native Pennsylvanians, who are perhaps a sturdier lot than the rest of us. The first trail club of which we have records is the Blue Mountain Eagle Climbing Club, founded by one Dr. Harry Rentschler.
Left to right: Harry Rentschler, Raymond Torrey, William Shanaman and Arthur Perkins
This classic photo is of Rentschler with three of the founders of hiking in the East: Raymond Torrey, who headed construction of the AT in New York and New Jersey; William Shanaman president of BMECC (curiously, Rentscher was never the president of the club he founded); and Arthur Perkins, about whom we will learn a great deal more later on.
Supposedly Rentschlder had found an eagle’s nest on Blue Mountain near Shartlesville (a small town northwest of Reading), and the Fussgangers (German for walkers), a local hiking group led by a former mayor of Reading, decided to climb to the spot where Rentschler had seen the eagle’s nest. When they arrived, on June 15, 1916, there were no eagles. (Some say the nest was still there, but even that is uncertain.) In October of the same year, they returned, and formed the Blue Mountain Eagle Climbing Club (BMECC). It was a local trail club, dedicated to building a hiking trail atop Blue Mountain. (Hiking clubs hike - trail clubs also build trails.) Benton MacKaye had not yet proposed the AT (his proposal came out in 1921), and BMECC had no sense that it might be a part of something much larger.
The other early club was the Pennsylvania Alpine Club, established a year later, in 1917, as the first state-wide hiking club. The founder was a rich and eccentric New Yorker named Henry Shoemaker. Shoemaker moved to McElhatten, PA, where he published newspapers. His club grew to over 2,500 advocates across the state, and the Harrisburg Chapter built the Darlington Trail, which was to become the first designated section of the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania.[1] The club, dominant in the early years, disbanded in the late 1930s.
The Pennsylvania Alpine Club was long on promises, but short on accomplishments. Arthur Perkins once wrote to Myron Avery that:
"I am a good deal amused by the report of the meeting of the Pennsylvania Alpine Club. You know I was out there a year ago when they had a meeting…As perhaps you can imagine, a mountain club which requires a Grand Chaplain, a Chief Guide, and a Chorister and a Poetess, is not exactly the kind of a club that we are used to….Add to this the fact that all the members of the Alpine Club are members of the Pennsylvania Folklore Society, and you won’t be surprised that they do a good deal more talking than climbing."
So, when Benton MacKaye published his proposal for a new trail the length of the Appalachian Chain, the Pennsylvanians were already out there, building a section of trail that would become the AT.
[1] One of the best accounts of early hiking in Pennsylvania, and of the Pennsylvania Alpine Club, can be found in Silas Chamberlain’s MA thesis. Pennsylvania History, “’To ensure Permanency’: Expanding and Protecting Hiking Opportunities in Twentieth-Century Pennsylvania.” Pennsylvania History, Vol 77, No. 2, 2010. Shoemaker’s biography was found in Wikipedia.
Next: The Skyline Trail in Pennsylvania
Supposedly Rentschlder had found an eagle’s nest on Blue Mountain near Shartlesville (a small town northwest of Reading), and the Fussgangers (German for walkers), a local hiking group led by a former mayor of Reading, decided to climb to the spot where Rentschler had seen the eagle’s nest. When they arrived, on June 15, 1916, there were no eagles. (Some say the nest was still there, but even that is uncertain.) In October of the same year, they returned, and formed the Blue Mountain Eagle Climbing Club (BMECC). It was a local trail club, dedicated to building a hiking trail atop Blue Mountain. (Hiking clubs hike - trail clubs also build trails.) Benton MacKaye had not yet proposed the AT (his proposal came out in 1921), and BMECC had no sense that it might be a part of something much larger.
The other early club was the Pennsylvania Alpine Club, established a year later, in 1917, as the first state-wide hiking club. The founder was a rich and eccentric New Yorker named Henry Shoemaker. Shoemaker moved to McElhatten, PA, where he published newspapers. His club grew to over 2,500 advocates across the state, and the Harrisburg Chapter built the Darlington Trail, which was to become the first designated section of the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania.[1] The club, dominant in the early years, disbanded in the late 1930s.
The Pennsylvania Alpine Club was long on promises, but short on accomplishments. Arthur Perkins once wrote to Myron Avery that:
"I am a good deal amused by the report of the meeting of the Pennsylvania Alpine Club. You know I was out there a year ago when they had a meeting…As perhaps you can imagine, a mountain club which requires a Grand Chaplain, a Chief Guide, and a Chorister and a Poetess, is not exactly the kind of a club that we are used to….Add to this the fact that all the members of the Alpine Club are members of the Pennsylvania Folklore Society, and you won’t be surprised that they do a good deal more talking than climbing."
So, when Benton MacKaye published his proposal for a new trail the length of the Appalachian Chain, the Pennsylvanians were already out there, building a section of trail that would become the AT.
[1] One of the best accounts of early hiking in Pennsylvania, and of the Pennsylvania Alpine Club, can be found in Silas Chamberlain’s MA thesis. Pennsylvania History, “’To ensure Permanency’: Expanding and Protecting Hiking Opportunities in Twentieth-Century Pennsylvania.” Pennsylvania History, Vol 77, No. 2, 2010. Shoemaker’s biography was found in Wikipedia.
Next: The Skyline Trail in Pennsylvania