Nearly 700 volunteers, including some from as far away as Japan, descended on the Appalachian Trail in the past year in an unprecedented effort to recover a landscape forever scarred by Hurricane Helene.

The storm in September 2024 shut down 431 miles of the AT. Trees were snapped in half, piled in what looked like a bizarre game of pickup sticks. Landslides and flooding tore away trails and treadway. Bridges and crossovers were gone.

It was — and still is — a disaster of historic proportions. But it’s also a story of resiliency of the land and the people who are stewards of it.

This week the Traveler’s Jan Childs talks with two of the famous trail’s stewards: Joe Morris, project coordinator for Tennessee Eastman Hiking and Canoeing Club, and Franklin Tate, regional director for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, which by the way is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.