Chester Dziengielewski, a machinist from Naugatuck, Connecticut, was the first person to successfully

thru-hike Thru-hiking, or through-hiking, is the act of hiking an established long-distance trail end-to-end continuously. The term is most frequently used regarding trails in the United States, such as the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), the Appalachian Trail ( ...

the

Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail, also called the A.T., is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian Tra ...

from Maine to Georgia in 1951. Dziengielewski had attempted a southbound thru-hike the previous year, but gave up the attempt at the

Delaware Water Gap The Delaware Water Gap is a water gap on the border of the U.S. states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania where the Delaware River cuts through a large ridge of the Appalachian Mountains. The gap makes up the southern portion of the Delaware Wa ...

. He completed his hike on October 10, 1951, thereby becoming the third person to thru-hike the Trail in any direction, after

Earl Shaffer Earl V. Shaffer (November 8, 1918 – May 5, 2002), was an American outdoorsman and author known from 1948 as The Crazy One (and eventually as The Original Crazy One) for attempting what became the first publicized claimed hiking trip in a single ...

(1948) and Gene Espy (1951), who both hiked from Georgia to Maine. During his hike, Dziengielewski met Espy, who was traveling north that same year, at the Smith Gap Shelter in Pennsylvania, where they had dinner together and discussed their experiences on the Trail. Dziengielewski hiked the final two weeks of his trek with Bill Hall, who was also hiking southbound that year, but who had skipped forward 300 miles in order to catch up with Dziengielewski. When he reached the then southern terminus of the Trail at

Mount Oglethorpe Mount Oglethorpe is a mountain located in Pickens County, Georgia, United States. The southernmost peak in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the mountain has an elevation of , making it the highest point in Pickens County. Mount Oglethorpe served as the ...

, Dziengielewski wrote in the register, "Success. Thank God. It's a long trail." Dziengielewski died in 2002.

References

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