GRAMEne Espy, the second person to overcome the Sender of the Apalaches, died on August 22 at the age of 97. His trip in 1951, completed for 123 days, helped to pave the way for the innumerable hikers who have followed their steps.
Travel of the Trail of the Apalaches of Gene
Espy learned for the first time on the path of his seventh grade teacher in his hometown of Cordele, Georgia. Years later, after graduating from the Georgia Institute of Technology, he left Mount Oglethorpe, Georgia, the southern terminal at that time, on May 31, 1951, with a friend. After the first day, his friend abandoned, leaving Espy to complete the rest of the 2,025 miles journey alone.
The member of the GATC Board, John Turner, visits Gene in the Amicallala Falls State Park in front of the exhibition recounting its historic 1951 walk. Photo: GEORGIA APPALACHIAN TRAIL CLUB
On his trip, Espy frequently was a whole week without seeing another person. The path, completed only a few years before, was still a large extent a lonely desert. Espy traveled Luz, sending supplies by mail and living with a simple and without cooking diet of sandwiches and dehydrated foods. He arrived at Mount Katahdin on September 30, 1951.
A continuous legacy
In 2011, Espy was included in the Hall of Fame of the Trail of the Apalaches as a founding member. As a member of the life of the Georgia Appalachian Trail Club, he remained a generous defender throughout his life. Many hikers will remember to have known him in the Amicallala Falls State Park, where he would share stories and show the original hiking team of his historic walk.
Espy’s legacy lives in each person who inspired to establish the path he loved so much.
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