The Appalachian Trail is the continuing product of thousands of women and men; people who built, rebuild, and maintain the Trail. The first section of the Trail was cobbled together by the Palisades Interstate Park Trail Conference, predecessor to the current New York-New Jersy Trail Conference, in 1923. Still, the existence of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail is the result of two crusty New Englanders, one whose dream was born in 1921 and the other who drove himself and others to build the footpath.

Myron Avery was, by all accounts, not made for a desk. He was a mover, a motivator, and a shaker—and not in the 19^_th century religious sense, either. People either loved or hated him; there were few who knew him who did not have a strong opinion about him. While it’s probably true that without Benton Mackaye the concept of the Appalachian Trail might not have been born, it’s a fact that, without Myron Avery, there wouldn’t be an Appalachian Trail for feet to trod.