Suck It, NC
November 21, 2007 at 1:05 pm 15 comments
I just received word that one of the great travesties regarding the Appalachian Trail is being addressed. Am I talking about invasive species? No. Shelter creep? No. Encroaching development? Wind farms disrupting mountain views? No, No.
I’m talking about THIS:
Appalachian Trail License Plate
What is wrong with that picture? It’s a beautiful, gorgeous Appalachian Trail license plate… but it is only available in North Carolina. North Carolina with its measley 88 miles. What about Virginia and our whopping 550 miles?!?! We home more Appalachain Trail miles than any other state. Where’s our pretty license plate?!?!
Welp, the Appalachian Trail Conference is working on it! It sounds like they will need 349 pre-paid applications for the plate (That’s 350 minus the “I’m-so-there” email I just sent along). Their effort is just getting started. Needlesstosay, I will watch with great interest as it unfolds.
And as I learn more, I’ll post propaganda details here.
Entry filed under: Appalachian Trail, Hiking, License Plate, Virginia.
TGAW 
1.
HokieTT | November 21, 2007 at 1:34 pm
Shelter creep? Is that some pervert that’s always hanging around the shelters?
2.
tgaw | November 21, 2007 at 1:42 pm
Hehe, no. There are those who are concerned the shelters are becoming too prevalent, too crowded and too fancy. In the AT Journey’s magazine, someone proposed a simple solution to the complainers:
“Don’t stay in the shelters”
3.
Anne Sawyer | November 21, 2007 at 3:59 pm
If you move to North Carolina it won’t matter if Virginia has a license plate or not.
4.
tgaw | November 21, 2007 at 9:16 pm
@Anne– It doesn’t matter where I live. It’s the principal, dang it! Virginia has 25% of the total trail– they deserve a cool, totally-rad, kick ass AT license plate just as much as North Carolina. 🙂
5.
geekhiker | November 23, 2007 at 1:56 am
Hmmmm… now I’m wondering why there’s no PCT plate in California… thanks for the idea!
And a Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family too! 🙂
6.
Passionphish | November 23, 2007 at 9:20 am
I am so into an AT license plate. I’ll have to get on that bandwagon!!!
7.
Angel | November 25, 2007 at 12:49 am
Too bad I’m ineligible now that I live in DC. 😛
8.
Katie | November 25, 2007 at 6:27 am
If only I had a car or lived in Virginia…
9.
Aaron | November 28, 2007 at 8:33 am
What?
VA can’t make their own plates?
I’m kinda partial to my GA plate: http://georgiawildlife.dnr.state.ga.us/assets/images/224.jpg
10.
HokieTT | November 29, 2007 at 1:23 am
@Aaron:
You can make your own plate, as long as you don’t mind being pulled over and ticketed every day. Devil’s in the details.
11.
trailwalker71 | December 27, 2007 at 2:18 pm
It’s not about the state! It’s about the trail as a whole! It’s comments like suck it NC that really take away from the beauty and honesty of the beloved appalachian trail.
12.
TGAW | December 27, 2007 at 3:49 pm
@trailwalker71- Thanks for posting! I do want to clarify– my post title and the tone of my post were all in jest. If you check through my blog you will see many, many posts where I share the beauty of other states, including North Carolina.
Virginia just so happens to be my personal favorite. 🙂
Happy Hiking!
13.
NC | March 13, 2009 at 9:37 am
I believe you shouldnt say suck it NC, but rather tell the DMV in your state that they should provide the same plates for you to use on your vehicle to support the AT. You should really re-title your post Suck it Virginia DMV. It doesnt matter how many miles the AT is in any state, you are right though you should have a right to help support it just like we do in the NC.
14.
tgaw | March 13, 2009 at 10:29 am
@NC – I do appreciate you took the time to comment and your support of the AT. And rest assure, my post was in jest– I didn’t really want North Carolina to “Suck It”. You were the second person who thought the tone was serious, so apparently as a writer I missed the mark there.
But the good news is thanks to the hard effort of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and AT enthusiasts, Virginia DOES have an AT plate available in 2009. w00t!
Efforts are on the way to secure a plate for Tennessee and to secure a plate for Georgia.
Thanks again for commenting.
15. Introducing….The Virginia Appalachian Trail License Plate! « TGAW | May 13, 2009 at 1:21 pm
[…] months after I first posted about the efforts to get a Virginia Appalachian Trail License plate, we have it! And it’s […]