Places for filling questionnaires about the AT?

[Kookork]

As a part of a team from Harvard University, my brother is trying to do a research about the Thru hikers of AT.
They need to find at least 5 places alongside the trail where most of the thru hikers end up visiting/staying during their hike. He asked me to ask you AT veterans about the places that for one reason or another attracts the hikers for a visit/stay.

My immediate suggestion was ATC headquarter for example. They need places where they can leave their questionnaires and have somebody responsible for distributing the questionnaires to hikers and collecting them when they are filled. These places need to cover the whole length of the trail.

There will be incentives considered for designated hikers who fill the questionnaires and also for the individuals who help them distributing and collecting them.

They need your help and experience about finding these places.

Thanks in advance for your cooperation.

[Slo-go'en]

So, he wants other people to do all the work, eh?

Get a list of all the hostels and motels from either this web site or the trail guide and contact each of those places, probably by mail, explaining what it is he wants them to do for him and why it is worth their effort.

[Kookork]

So, he wants other people to do all the work, eh?

Get a list of all the hostels and motels from either this web site or the trail guide and contact each of those places, probably by mail, explaining what it is he wants them to do for him and why it is worth their effort.

Sorry , If I conveyed the message wrongly. They have been in this project for a long time especially finding the financial resources. All I want from you is suggesting the places that is the most frequent places for the thru hikers to visit. They will contact the hostels and motels and many other works that is involved . I think there is nothing wrong asking whiteblaze members to help them out with the knowledge of the trail. Actually in their proposal , they have mentioned Whiteblaze as the main source of gathering information for their project. It is not a small project and years of works has been and will be involved and the benefit of it is not for them, it is for human being and specifically hikers.

Trust me, there are tons of works for them to do. You don't need to contact any hostel or motels. You just suggest the places that you think is most frequently visited by thru hikers alongside the trail.

[BaxterBear]

Does he know Ben Edelman? :)

Sorry friend, Yale alumni here. I wish him good luck.

[Slo-go'en]

The places which attract hikers to stay are Hostels and Motels. Like I said, find a list of these and contact them all to see which ones are willing to help. Once you find out which ones say yes, you can whittle it down to the 5 locations needed, which I would assume are spread out along the length of the trail.

Some of the more popular ones would be:

Mountain Crossings (GA)
Kincora (NC)
The Doyle (PA)
The Green Mountain house (VT)
The White Mountain Lodge and Hostel (NH)

Okay, there's your 5.

[MuddyWaters]

As a part of a team from Harvard University, my brother is trying to do a research about the Thru hikers of AT.
They need to find at least 5 places alongside the trail where most of the thru hikers end up visiting/staying during their hike. He asked me to ask you AT veterans about the places that for one reason or another attracts the hikers for a visit/stay.

My immediate suggestion was ATC headquarter for example. They need places where they can leave their questionnaires and have somebody responsible for distributing the questionnaires to hikers and collecting them when they are filled. These places need to cover the whole length of the trail.

There will be incentives considered for designated hikers who fill the questionnaires and also for the individuals who help them distributing and collecting them.

They need your help and experience about finding these places.

Thanks in advance for your cooperation.


I suggest it would be easier, to simply have an online questionairre site that could be accessed by the thru hikers. Online would permit easy tabulation of the raw data. 99% have a smart phone and internet access in towns.
Maybe you direct them to that at the different stages of the hike if that is important to the research. Distributing and collecting requires work on someones part, someone apparently not associated with the project, which is never a good thing when gathering data.

John Ladd did this this year for the JMT hikers, over 700 surveys covering everything from fitness, calories, pack weight, speed , injuries, finances, entry and exit points, completion rates, etc. He is still sorting thru the data.

Yeah, I know its not what you asked. :)

[Slo-go'en]

Muddy Water's idea is a good one. You'd likely get much more participation and make it easier on everyone. You'd have to advertise it though, maybe sending signs to be hung up at various hostels and motels along the way. You'd probably have better luck having them hang up a sign then having to deal with your paper work. (I know it's actually his, not yours)

[rocketsocks]

welcome back Kookork, been awhile.

[Kookork]

I suggest it would be easier, to simply have an online questionairre site that could be accessed by the thru hikers. Online would permit easy tabulation of the raw data. 99% have a smart phone and internet access in towns.
Maybe you direct them to that at the different stages of the hike if that is important to the research. Distributing and collecting requires work on someones part, someone apparently not associated with the project, which is never a good thing when gathering data.

John Ladd did this this year for the JMT hikers, over 700 surveys covering everything from fitness, calories, pack weight, speed , injuries, finances, entry and exit points, completion rates, etc. He is still sorting thru the data.

Yeah, I know its not what you asked. :)

Thank you so much for your input.

Your suggestion is part of their plan. They will communicate with the hikers in a regular basis via their cellphones and emails. The first year is a pilot study and is not about filling as much questionnaire as they can. They will choose around 20 hikers ( so called designated thru hikers) and will follow only these limited hikers along the way. The part that needs at least 5 locations, is about some basic medical measurements (nothing complicated ) and then filling the data in the spreadsheet.

[Kookork]

welcome back Kookork, been awhile.

Thank you rocketsocks. It is a good feeling to know that members still remember me.:)

[Just Bill]

Map Man's articles are probably the closest you'll get to a real answer- ATC is a good place also, Damascus and Gorham seem to be decent bets- from there if it's some sort of body study sounds like Hot Springs and Monson would space your brother's study group pretty evenly as far as mileage covered. If the study is related to bodily changes- I would think he might want to include a higher count or a few extra stops early on to study "trail legs". Maybe try to get a 2, 4, 6, 8 week then go monthly from there to help identify some stats on "trail legs". That would be neat info, especially if it covered dietary info.

Maybe Map Man could chime in too-

Here is his table of zero days by % of hikers using them. There may not be as many true zero's in HF- but most stop at ATC even if they don't stay and you can't get much closer to halfway than that really.

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/content.php/697
Here is a list of the most popular locations for SOBOs to take zero days. I mention just the places where at least 15% of SOBOs zeroed and list the towns in north to south order (with the percentages for NOBOs listed in parentheses).

Monson ME -- 67% (32%)
Stratton ME -- 28% (15%)
Andover ME -- 36% (15%)
Gorham NH -- 46% (44%)
Franconia Notch NH -- 26% (15%)
Hanover NH -- 41% (28%)
Rutland VT -- 15% (19%)
Manchester Center VT -- 23% (23%)
Dalton MA -- 21% (20%)
Salisbury CT -- 15% (6%)
Delaware Water Gap PA -- 23% (35%)
Duncannon PA -- 28% (27%)
Harpers Ferry WV -- 33% (50%)
Waynesboro VA -- 26% (50%)
Daleville VA -- 31% (38%)
Pearisburg VA -- 26% (51%)
Damascus VA -- 51% (84%)
Erwin TN -- 15% (40%)
Hot Springs NC -- 33% (61%)
Gatlinburg TN -- 26% (22%)
Fontana NC -- 21% (38%)

[Kookork]

Map Man's articles are probably the closest you'll get to a real answer- ATC is a good place also, Damascus and Gorham seem to be decent bets- from there if it's some sort of body study sounds like Hot Springs and Monson would space your brother's study group pretty evenly as far as mileage covered. If the study is related to bodily changes- I would think he might want to include a higher count or a few extra stops early on to study "trail legs". Maybe try to get a 2, 4, 6, 8 week then go monthly from there to help identify some stats on "trail legs". That would be neat info, especially if it covered dietary info.

Maybe Map Man could chime in too-

Here is his table of zero days by % of hikers using them. There may not be as many true zero's in HF- but most stop at ATC even if they don't stay and you can't get much closer to halfway than that really.

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/content.php/697
Here is a list of the most popular locations for SOBOs to take zero days. I mention just the places where at least 15% of SOBOs zeroed and list the towns in north to south order (with the percentages for NOBOs listed in parentheses).

Monson ME -- 67% (32%)
Stratton ME -- 28% (15%)
Andover ME -- 36% (15%)
Gorham NH -- 46% (44%)
Franconia Notch NH -- 26% (15%)
Hanover NH -- 41% (28%)
Rutland VT -- 15% (19%)
Manchester Center VT -- 23% (23%)
Dalton MA -- 21% (20%)
Salisbury CT -- 15% (6%)
Delaware Water Gap PA -- 23% (35%)
Duncannon PA -- 28% (27%)
Harpers Ferry WV -- 33% (50%)
Waynesboro VA -- 26% (50%)
Daleville VA -- 31% (38%)
Pearisburg VA -- 26% (51%)
Damascus VA -- 51% (84%)
Erwin TN -- 15% (40%)
Hot Springs NC -- 33% (61%)
Gatlinburg TN -- 26% (22%)
Fontana NC -- 21% (38%)


Thank you brother. great information

[oldwetherman]

Three places that I'd for sure recommend:Hot Springs NC. at the Smokey Mountain Diner, the Dollar General store or the laundromat.
Damascus Va. I'm not sure at exactly what locations there since it's a larger town.
Harper's Ferry WV at the ATC headquarters.
These are three towns tha the trail goes directly through.
The percentages in your last post support these three places. They are all relatively small and hikers look forward to nero's or zero's there.