When the AT was created, no one thought it would become a trail to be hiked in one walk. It was seen as too long and too difficult. World War II Veteran Earl Shaffer proved the builders wrong by being the first thru hiker on the AT. At age 29, Shaffer was an experienced outdoors man who enjoyed spending time alone in the wilderness. Without the help of expert advice or guidebooks, Shaffer started his walk in April 1948 on Mount Oglethorpe, Georgia, and completed the Trail four months later at Mount Katahdin in Maine. Shaffer kept a diary, and took numerous photographs along the way, as a way to prove that he had really accomplished the long trail.

Earl Shaffer completed his hike without the help from guide books or maps. His only maps were the road maps issued by nearby service stations, which often provided little to no help. The trail itself was often obscured by natural overgrowth and parts of the trail had not been marked or markers were missing. This forced him to bushwhack his way through much of the trail. Perhaps to Earl Shaffer, this feat seemed simple, as compared to his time spent fighting for his life in WWII.