Tahoe Rim Trail 'Linked' to the A.T.

The Appalachian Trail served as a sort of parent to the Tahoe Rim Trail in California according to the article "Notes from the Tahoe Rim Trail — first steps; How the trail started, and how I’m starting on the trail" by Greyson Howard in the 29 July 2007 issue of the Sierra Sun newspaper.

According to the article,

"The trail started as an idea of a Forest Service Recreation Officer named Glenn Hampton in 1978, said Erin Casey, associate director of the Tahoe Rim Trail Association. ... She said Hampton’s idea matured as he wrote a master’s thesis about the trail, using the venerable Appalachian Trail, which stretches over 2,000 miles from Georgia to Maine, as a model."

There you go. (Anybody have a citation for that master's thesis?)