SavageLlama
08-11-2004, 09:44
Better equipment helps thru-hikers reach goal
The Knoxville News-Sentinel (http://javascript<b></b>:NewWindow(%20'FIISrcDetails','?from=article&ids=kxvl');void(0);)
August 8, 2004
The Appalachian Trail Conference estimates that 1,535 people set out from Springer Mountain, Ga., this year to hike the entire Appalachian Trial.
That's a 14 percent drop over the northbound thru-hikers in 2003, and roughly equivalent to the number of starters in 1996.
The Appalachian Trail Conference bases its annual thru-hiker estimates on anecdotal information from sources along the Georgia section of the trail as well as signatures at trail registers.
The peak year was 2000, when 2,900 thru-hikers set out from Georgia to hike the trail's entire 2,167-mile length to Maine.
This year, for the first time, the conference changed its assumed drop-out rate along the trail's first 30-mile stretch between Amicalola Falls/Springer Mountain and Neels Gap from 20 to 15 percent.
Laurie Potteiger, information services coordinator for the Appalachian Trail Conference, said more northbound thru-hikers are completing the A.T. thanks to advances in lightweight gear, better access to trail information, and the use of trekking poles that may reduce knee injuries.
"This year in particular, applying the old formula of an assumed 20 percent drop-out rate resulted in figures that did not mesh with the Fontana Dam and Harpers Ferry numbers," Potteiger said.
Bob Miller, spokesman for Great Smoky Mountains National Park, said his research shows that in 2003, about 22 percent of those who set out from Georgia to complete the A.T. were successful, but that almost half of those who quit did so before reaching the Smokies.
TRAIL REPORTS
* Winton Porter, owner of Mountain Crossings: Season-end count of 1,305 thru-hikers from Neels Gap
* At Fontana Dam: Thru-hikers this year numbered 864 for March 1- May 31 -- down 16 percent from last year
* Shenandoah National Park: 11 percent decrease in northbound A.T. hikers (thru-hikers and section hikers combined) this year
* Harpers Ferry: As of July 7, 562 northbound thru-hikers had reached that point -- 83 fewer than at same date last year
The Knoxville News-Sentinel (http://javascript<b></b>:NewWindow(%20'FIISrcDetails','?from=article&ids=kxvl');void(0);)
August 8, 2004
The Appalachian Trail Conference estimates that 1,535 people set out from Springer Mountain, Ga., this year to hike the entire Appalachian Trial.
That's a 14 percent drop over the northbound thru-hikers in 2003, and roughly equivalent to the number of starters in 1996.
The Appalachian Trail Conference bases its annual thru-hiker estimates on anecdotal information from sources along the Georgia section of the trail as well as signatures at trail registers.
The peak year was 2000, when 2,900 thru-hikers set out from Georgia to hike the trail's entire 2,167-mile length to Maine.
This year, for the first time, the conference changed its assumed drop-out rate along the trail's first 30-mile stretch between Amicalola Falls/Springer Mountain and Neels Gap from 20 to 15 percent.
Laurie Potteiger, information services coordinator for the Appalachian Trail Conference, said more northbound thru-hikers are completing the A.T. thanks to advances in lightweight gear, better access to trail information, and the use of trekking poles that may reduce knee injuries.
"This year in particular, applying the old formula of an assumed 20 percent drop-out rate resulted in figures that did not mesh with the Fontana Dam and Harpers Ferry numbers," Potteiger said.
Bob Miller, spokesman for Great Smoky Mountains National Park, said his research shows that in 2003, about 22 percent of those who set out from Georgia to complete the A.T. were successful, but that almost half of those who quit did so before reaching the Smokies.
TRAIL REPORTS
* Winton Porter, owner of Mountain Crossings: Season-end count of 1,305 thru-hikers from Neels Gap
* At Fontana Dam: Thru-hikers this year numbered 864 for March 1- May 31 -- down 16 percent from last year
* Shenandoah National Park: 11 percent decrease in northbound A.T. hikers (thru-hikers and section hikers combined) this year
* Harpers Ferry: As of July 7, 562 northbound thru-hikers had reached that point -- 83 fewer than at same date last year