Blazing Ahead: Benton MacKaye, Myron Avery, and the Rivalry That Built the Appalachian Trail

“High and dry above the stupendous detail of our job we should hold the reason for it all. This is not to cut a path and then say—‘Ain't it beautiful?' Our job is to open a realm.” –Benton MacKaye

The Appalachian Trail is one of America's most revered resources, a project of near-mythic proportions combining rugged natural beauty and human determination. But few know the story behind the creation of the world's longest hiking-only trail. The proposal could have died in the pages of a journal...