First Tuesday Historical Society Lecture Series

 History of the Appalachian Trail
by Wigbert Kunze

 HIKING THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL AT AGE 60+
by Bert Kunze
 
In the year 2000, at age 62, Bert (trail name: "Bert the Bavarian") through-hiked the entire 2,200 mile long Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. Then, in 2005 at age 67, he through-hiked California's 240-mile long John Muir Trail, considered the highest altitude trail in the contiguous US. With his slides, Bert will share the tribulations and joy during his Appalachian Trail journey.
 
Bert Kunze was born in 1938 and grew up in Stamberg (Bavaria) on the foothills of the Alps. For many years he organized mountaineering, skiing, climbing, and hiking trips into the Bavarian, Swiss, Austrian, Italian, Yugoslavian, and French Alps. He also was a year round weekend volunteer with the Bavarian Mountain Rescue team. In 1961 he graduated from the Polytechnical Academy of the University of Munich and started working for Siemens in Munich. Siemens transferred him to the U.S. in 1979. He retired to Hiawassee in 1993 where he built his own home. He has been Hike Master for the local Mountain High Hikers and was honored twice by the U.S. Forest Service with Lifetime Achievement Awards for his work as a trail volunteer. He is also a certified Wilderness First Responder.