Happy (2,144-mile) Returns

When never my mother is staying at the Hanover Inn, as she was on a Saturday in early June, she likes to sit in a rocking chair on the porch which is what she was doing on this afternoon. She watches the world go by: the dogs, the frisbee players, the students glumly heading toward their final finals. The whole grand procession.

On this Saturday, June 5, the parade seemed to include more than a few hikers, elegantly arrayed in their Gore-Tex, their polypro, their floppy hats, their backpacks, their three-day beards, their ponytail braids, their plaid, their forthright, forward-momentum manner. This day, Mom noticed, the hikers broke stride at the Inn which seemed like an unhikerly thing to do. Ah, but there was a reason as she reported: "It seems there was some anniversary for the Appalachian Trail, and the Inn was having some celebration about this. Everyone was stopping for soft drinks, snacks, and free trail mix."

It was indeed some kind of anniversary: the trail's 25th. In 1968, to provide federal assistance to the already cut Appalachian Trail and to establish a national network of trails, the U.S. Congress passed the National Trail Systems Act; the Appalachian and Pacific Crest trails became the first designees. In celebration of its 40th reunion and the trail's 25th birthday, the class of '54 donated, on this June 5 afternoon, a plaque that is now set in die sidewalk before the Inn and informs all passersby: "Hanover, New Hampshire on the Appalachian Trail, 2,144 miles. Katahdin, Maine 431 miles.

Springer Mt., Georgia 1,713 miles." Matt Marshall, manager of the Inn, said in accepting the plaque: "The trail only touches 13 towns on its journey along the Eastern Seacoast, and Hanover is the only one in New Hampshire. It's a thrill for us to have a plaque right outside our door that honors the world's first linear park."

Mom thought the sentiments were fine; and, she added, the trail mix was the best she ever had.

HANOVER. NEW HAMPSHIRE ON THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL 2.144 MILES KATAHDIN, MAINE 431 MILES SPRINGER MT., GEORGIA 1,713 MILES THIS PLAQUE PROVIDED BY: THE CLASS OF 1934-DARTMOUTH COLLEGE '54 plaqued the world's first linear park.