PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 5, 2020
Aug. 5, 1948: World War II Army veteran Earl Schaffer, who later says he was trying to “walk the war out of my system,” climbs to the peak of Maine’s Mount Katahdin, which is the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. He becomes the first person to lay claim to having hiked the entire 2,200 miles of the trail from Georgia, and he supplies a diary – now in the Smithsonian Institution archives – and photographs as proof. The diary page that wraps up the hike says, “In morn climbed Katahdin in leisurely fashion, reached summit of Baxter peak about 1:30. Had pic taken by sign. Talked a while with several fellas come on down to campground. finis.”