Having your photo taken at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) headquarters in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, has become a standard ritual for those hikers intending on walking the entire A.T. One of the functions of the ATC, as the lead organization in managing and protecting the A.T., is to maintain the official 2,000-miler registry of all those who have completed the A.T. Therefore, having a photo taken here makes many hikers feel as though their hikes have gained official recognition.

Thanks to a generous grant from the Quimby Family Foundation and the work of dedicated volunteers of the A.T. Museum under the leadership of Terry Harley Wilson, both scanned versions of the earlier Polaroid photos and the more recent digital photos can now be viewed on-line from anywhere in the world. When the A.T. Museum opened in Pennsylvania's Pine Grove Furnace State Park in 2010, digital versions of the photos became available there too. (read expanded text)