The first photo shows what I imagined the entire Appalachian Trail to look like. Not quite the manicured “Hiking Course” I saw in Japan, but something you might see in a park, at the far margins.

There are bits of the AT like that but the second photo shows what is more typical around here, in the Berkshires: narrow, rocky, and usually going steeply up or steeply down. I’ve grown to like the really rocky sections, even if precipitous, because they are solid. Walking on loose rocks is harder.

This post is a test of our new slideshow tool so I’ve added photos of three different AT markers, the manufactured trailhead sign, the initials carved in a log, and the now-beloved white AT blaze, in this case on a rock in the path because there were no trees for a long stretch near the summit of Mount Everett.