To celebrate hiking legend Margaret Stevenson, 68 hikers gathered at LeConte Lodge on July 16 for what would have been her 102nd birthday.
The hikers used five different trails to hike to Mt. LeConte, with the goal of arriving at noon. Danny Bernstein, the leader of Friends of the Classic Hikes of the Smokies, wrote about the day on her blog.
Margaret hiked to Mt. LeConte 718 times and was the first woman to hike all 900 miles of trails in the Smokies.
Her Wednesday hiking group, based in Maryville, turned into the Margaret Stevenson hiking club and continues to hike on Wednesdays. (That’s why the hike in Margaret’s memory was on Wednesday, July 16, and not July 17, her birthday.)
Margaret is one of three Friends of the Smokies Pathfinders, whose hiking legacy continues through contributions to the Trails Forever program.