William Kemsley, Jr.
Founder, Backpacker magazine
Sangre de Cristo Mountains, New Mexico

8/1/1980 (photo by Rex Halfpenny)

Three Decades of Protecting Our Nation's Trails By William Kemsley, Jr.

2018 Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame Inductees Ceremony Friday, May 4, 2018 Click image for entire article at the atmuseum.org websiteClick for pdf version

From left, Libby Kephart Hargrave, representing George Masa; Bill Kemsley; Ron Rosen, representing Elizabeth Levers; Bob Peoples (photo courtesy Dan Innamorato) (click image for larger version) (click here for 2018 Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame Inductees PDF)

Appalachian Trail Museum Our 8th Annual Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame Banquet is coming in just over a month We're returning to the Allenberry Resort on May 4, 2018, with a reception at 6 pm and dinner at 7 pm. Our Banquet will be jam packed with attractions. We'll induct 4 new members into the Hall of Fame: Bill Kemsley, founder of Backpacker Magazine; Elizabeth Levers, known as the "Mother of the A.T." in New York State; George Masa, a legendary photographer and trail builder in the Smokies; and Bob Peoples, hostel operator and founder of the Hard Core trail crew. We'll also honor Bob Proudman, a key leader on the Trail since 1965. We'll welcome Dale Saunders, a/k/a "Grey Beard" , who became the oldest A.T. thru-hiker last year at 82. Our M.C. will be Karen Lutz, Director of ATC's Mid-Atlantic Region Office. All that, plus a few surprises. Tickets are going fast. To get yours, follow this link: https://2018athalloffamebanquet.eventbrite.com/ or you can go to the Museum, which opens for the 2018 season this Saturday. From The Taos News: A trail man's passion: Taos backpacking guru to be honored for Appalachian Trail work

Photos from "The Event" by Paula Guerrein-Klice (click images for larger versions)
The room was packed, and over 100 showed for the four honorees and A.T. Museum Awards Dinner.
And the leaders and visionaries of all things hiking and backpacking among the many who enjoyed the night with fellow hiking enthusiasts.	Bill and his daughter Katie Kemsley share in the joy of the moment.
	A festival followed the next day and A.T. history was shared from honorees and long time volunteers of the trail. A great interactive session and thru-hikers were invited to the bbq. A.T. volunteers are awesome!	photo link        Festival Poster link
Looking over 1983 thru-hiker exhibit which has Marce and Tish in it.	Gwen Loose A.T. Museum Vice President	Fantastic history shared in A.T. Museum displays.
A.T. museum open for the season!