In 1948 Earl Shaffer, a United States veteran, became the first person to reportedly thru-hike the entire Appalachian Trail. Thru-hiking is the act of hiking an entire trail in a single attempt. When the Appalachian Trail was first built the idea of thru-hiking 2,000 miles seemed absurd and unlikely. However, in 1948, one man changed this idea and started what would become a popular activity in the outdoors. 

Thru-hiking started out as something only a few people would do each year. Not too many people would undertake such a hard task for some years. Starting in the 1970s though people started to see a couple hundred people a year attempt this feat. In 1973 a whopping 236 people registered as thru-hikers on the Appalachian Trail. Every year since this number has continued to grow as thru-hiking made its way into everyday society.

The correlation between the popularity of thru-hiking and tattoos is no mistake. As tattoos became more popular in society and thru-hiking became normalized people who hiked the trail would get a tattoo to commemorate the event. From the logo to a particular scene a person who hiked on the Appalachian Trail would start to tattoo themselves in some way. Today it is almost as easy to find a person who has hiked the trail as it is to see a person with tattoos. The inspiration people felt on the trail helped tattoos become popular in both the outdoor community and everyday society.