Plans to extend US Appalachian Trail: and walk all the way from Georgia to Africa
Mount Katahdin is the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail
The idea is to link the mountain range throughout the ancient Pangaea continent connecting the Appalachians with the Atlas mountains
The Appalachian Trail was opened in 1937, running from the southern US state of Georgia to Maine in the north. In future, could it be extended to Europe and even Africa?
The forces that threw up the Appalachian chain 350 million years ago also formed mountains across North Africa, back when there was no Atlantic Ocean, when the continents were all one – the Pangaea supercontinent – and they were linked together.
So why not link them up again, by extending the walking trail and persuade people with strong thighs and a very great deal of time on their hands to stroll all the way from Georgia to the Atlas Mountains, north of the Sahara?
The idea, mind-bogglingly mad though it sounds, appears to be catching on.
Greenland has said it will cut a short trail across its ice-free southern tip. Iceland too, and the Faroe Islands.
There has been a communication from the people who administer the West Highland Way in Scotland to say they will probably get on board, agreeing to mark their trail with the little green AT triangles that are so familiar in the US, and painting white or blue markers, known as blazes, on trees (the origin of the phrase "blazing a trail").
The Isle of Man walking community appear to want a piece of the action. In Ireland, walkers are full of enthusiasm.
In western France, and in Galicia – where the famous Camino de Santiago draws tens of thousands of pilgrims – there is interest.
And from there it is just a short hop across to Africa, and the hills of Morocco. The Berbers have been very accommodating, say the people in Maine, and especially the geologists in Casablanca.
But there is a small problem…but what about the sea?"
Valere Tjolle
Source: BBC
Valere Tjolle is editor of the Sustainable Tourism Report Suite, special offer at: www.travelmole.com/stories/1142003.php
Valere
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