Appalachian Trail legend Earl Shaffer is the subject of a new biography, "A Grip on the Mane of Life," by thru-hiker David Donaldson and Maurice J. Forrester, a long-time activist in the Pennsylvania hiking community. Shaffer, a native of York, became the first person to hike the entire Appalachian Trail in a single season in 1948.
His feat was featured the following year in a National Geographic article on the Appalachian Trail and led eventually to an upsurge in long-distance backpacking in this country. Shaffer's gear from the 1948 hike, his slides, journal, boots and memorabilia are preserved by the Smithsonian Institution, which featured him in a major exhibit in 2009.
Other artifacts from Shaffer, including a trail shelter he built himself along the Appalachian Trail north of Harrisburg, are featured in the Appalachian Trail Museum at Pine Grove Furnace State Park in Gardners.
Donaldson will give a talk about Shaffer at 2 p.m. Sunday at the museum to mark the publication of the book and the 66th anniversary of Shaffer's first thru-hike.
The book is being published by the Appalachian Trail Museum, which will benefit from the proceeds. The Earl Shaffer Foundation also provided support for the book and was an early supporter of the Appalachian Trail Museum.
The book's authors both have ties to Shaffer. Donaldson finished the 1998 thru-hike with Shaffer and spent years researching the book. Forrester served as president of the Keystone Trails Association and is a board member of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and a founder of the Appalachian Trail Museum. Forrester knew Shaffer for many years and wrote the foreword for his memoir, "Walking with Spring."
After serving four and a half years in the army during World War II — mostly in the South Pacific — and along the way losing his best friend at Iwo Jima, Shaffer came home to Pennsylvania with a large dose of military depression. He decided to act upon a pre-war dream of hiking the entire Appalachian Trail, a decision that was spurred by reading a magazine article stating that such a feat was likely impossible.
After Shaffer achieved his goal, over three decades he wrote a memoir of that hike. "Walking with Spring" became an instant hiking classic.
In mid-career, Shaffer returned to hiking. In 1963 he hiked 500 miles of the Cascade Crest Trail, and in 1965 he again hiked the entire Appalachian Trail — this time in the opposite direction. When not hiking, he spent most of his free time working on the Trail. He built trail, constructed shelters and masterminded a major trail relocation in Pennsylvania.
In 1998, Shaffer decided to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his first Appalachian Trail thru-hike by doing an encore. Just a few weeks shy of his 80th birthday, he climbed yet again to the crest of Maine's mile-high mountain, Katahdin, whereupon the Appalachian Trail icon became a national legend.