![]() ![]() Upon arriving in Pearisburg, it is immediately evident what drove these donations. The ATC also received a $40,000 donation from Columbia Gas to help speed up trail completion. Celanese eventually donated lands, so the money was used elsewhere on the trail. ![]() After considering several trail corridors, a single route was chosen in the early 2000's, and Congress appropriated funds in 2009 for the aquisition. The original route passed through private land owned by Celanese LLC and was "open only at their discretion." Research on a new route reportedly dates back to the 1970's. Remembering a hike once taken where it got very dark ( Link), I ditched the sunglasses and grabbed my most powerful headlamp, hoping to get as far as possible before darkness set in. Unfortunately, work obligations kept me from leaving as early as I would have liked, so I could not get on the trail until 5:15 PM, after a 2 hour and 40 minute commute from Charlottesville. ![]() I planned to check out the new section Wednesday upon arrival in Pearisburg. When my son's high school then scheduled its open house for Thursday night, I had to get down there on Wednesday. I had made plans to join a group from the RATC to hike south of the New River on Thursday several weeks back, and it is just too far to go as a day hike. News accounts of the reroute contained only vague descriptions of where the trail would go - I wanted specifics! I hiked the previous section earlier this year with my Boy Scout Troop ( Link) and was left with the impression that this contained the ugliest mile of A.T. still over private hands into public easements. Earlier this year, the Appalachian Trail was rerouted over several miles from just north of the New River to the summit of Peters Mountain, reportedly bringing the single longest section of the A.T. ![]()
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