Backcountry Notes

The Appalachian Mountains stretch from northeastern Alabama to southern New York. An "extension" called the "Northern Appalachians" runs from southern New York, through New England and into New Brunswick; the New England range is not however characterized by the geology of the ancient Appalachian Basin, which is composed of many layers of sedimentary rocks - - sandstone, shale, and limestone. So the New England range is the Fake Appalachians. Strictly speaking, Appalachia consists of two geological provinces, the Ridge and Valley Province and the Appalachian Highlands or Appalachian Plateau (see map at right).

All of Appalachia was encompassed within the Backcountry of colonial and early American times. The point where my abode is located sits on the hinge line between the Ridge and Valley Province and the Appalachian Highlands. The Ridge and Valley Province is the result of the Alleghenian Orogeny, a period of mountain-building which occurred some 300 to 350 million years ago when Africa and North America "collided." The collision had various interesting results - - part of South Carolina is a chunk of Africa which broke off during that period and remains attached to North America; a piece of the North Carolina Piedmont was thrust into what is now Virginia, where it forms the valley of the Smith River; and the eastern edge of the Appalachian Basin was folded, accordion-like, into upthrusted mountains. Geologists estimate that the upthrust caused mountain ridges to rise a total of 25,000 feet above sea level; the rigors of 300 million years of winters and ice ages have eroded almost all of that material away, leaving a series of long ridge-mountains and limestone valleys. The ridge-mountains are formed by the upthrusted layers of sandstone, which erode slowly, with flatirons and narrow valleys being formed by shale layers (medium erosion) and wide, rolling valleys and coves resulting from the soluble limestone formations.

During colonial times, Europeans named the southern mountains after the Apalchen or Apalachen tribe of natives (see map detail at left). For about two centuries, a competing name, Allegheny, from the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania, was applied to the range; Allegheny being a native American term meaning, roughly, "fine river." By the late 19th century, the name "Appalachian Mountains" had been adopted for the full range, with the name "Allegheny" being used for two sub-provinces, the Allegheny Mountains and the Allegheny Plateau (see map below). Allegheny is also spelled "Alleghany" (both pronounced Al-eh-GAY-knee) and perhaps that pronunciation and variant spelling gave rise to the two pronunciations of "Appalachia."

In the South, all of the a's in "Appalachia" are pronounced alike, as they should be. The word is pronounced like "Apple-at-cha." Easy to remember - - "Skeedaddle out'n m' orchard, or I'll throw an apple atcha!" North of the Mason-Dixon, the name is pronounced "Apple-AY-chuh." The precise reason for the difference is unclear, but I speculate that folks in the North were used to calling their mountains by the name Allegheny or Alleghany, and the "ay" sound was carried over when the name Appalachia became predominant. Because our dictionaries were compiled by Northerners, the Northern pronunciation was adopted as the preferred version by such authorities as Merriam-Webster; but they're just flat wrong. Be aware also that the version pronounced "Apple-AY-shah," substituting the soft "sh" for the hard "ch," is an affectation popularized by the Appalachian Trail Club.

So now you know. And don't be coming around here with any Yankee-fied, flatlander mis-pronunciations of the name of our mountains, lest someone throw an apple atcha.