Naturalist, Author, explorer: Rufus Morgan was one of the early pioneers in the founding and development of the Appalachian Trail. Raised in the far western mountains of North Carolina he was well acquainted with the various peaks and valleys of the area. Following the proposal for a national trail to follow the spine of the Appalachian Trail he was a natural to develop the trail route from the Georgia Border to The Great Smokey Mountains National Park. He was the original author of the Appalachian Trail Guide for this part of the path. Over the years he introduced thousands of people to the Appalachian Trail, the Nantahala Gorge, and the National Park. He was blind for much of his later years of life. During this time he continued to lead trail hikes up to Wayah Bald or LeConte Lodge. Though blind he was so familiar with the trail he would stop and turn to a nearby tree and point out a blooming wild flower at the base of the tree. He was a founder of the Nantahala Hiking Club. Dr. Morgan was a graduate of the University of North Carolina, The General Theological Seminary in New York City and Columbia University. After serving a Church in New York City he returned to his native North Carolina where he took on a mission to the rural mountain areas. He would serve churches in North and South Carolina. While working Mitchell County in the 1920's he assisted his sister, Lucy Morgan, in the establishment of the Penland School of Crafts in the shadow of Mt. Mitchell. The original purpose of the school was to train local unemployed women in forgotten traditional crafts. Today the Penland School serves an international body of people in the training of traditional mountain crafts ranging from weaving and wood crafting to Blacksmithing and pottery. As a botanist he cataloged, discovered, recorded and named a number of wild flowers in the North Carolina Mountains. These have been restored in The Bishop's Garden at St. John's Cartoogechaye Episcopal Church in Macon County. In the early 1940 Dr. Morgan retired to his native Macon County. As a project he rebuilt the historic St. John's Episcopal Church in the Cartoogechaye Valley of Macon County. The foundation of this church was built using abandoned grave stones from the cemetery. For many years Dr. Morgan held the record for climbing Mt. LeConte in the Great Smokey' Mountains National Park. For both his 88th and 89th birthday's after hiking up Mt. LeConte he stayed at LeConte Lodge on the Top of the Mountain. He would climb the mountain more than 172 times. The Appalachian Trail foundation has recognized his contribution to the Trail by erecting "The Rufus Morgan Shelter" in the Nantahala Gorge. Along the Wayah Valley the Rufus Morgan Trail leads to the Rufus Morgan Falls on the Rough Fork creek. In 2014 he was inducted into the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame.