Crowded Trail?

[Lemni Skate]

Nothing seems stranger to me than the claim that the trail is crowded. I know it's not the same as bushwhacking through some virtually unexplored part of Western Canada, but I never think it's crowded.

I just spend a week hiking SW Virginia and even on the weekend I might have run across 1 group of hikers per hour (if even that). I actually welcome seeing people once in a while just to know that a whole Appalachian Trail Club doesn't exist just to make sure I alone have a nice walk.

Food Lion on a Saturday morning, now that's crowded. The AT through Grayson Highlands on a summer holiday weekend. Still pretty much alone.

[Toolshed]

Try Maryland on a weekend......

[sbhikes]

One group per hour? That is crowded. Hiking the PCT last year I could go days without seeing anyone. I wouldn't even notice that I hadn't seen anyone until I saw someone and then I'd think how strange to see someone and I'd realize it had been a couple of days since I saw anyone else.

[Cookerhiker]

Most of my AT hiking was off-season so I rarely felt "crowded" especially when I hiked in the winter and saw hardly anyone. But I did hike from Springer to Wallace Gap starting Feb. 29 and at times, felt a bit hemmed in. One night in particular at Low Gap Shelter (http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=55512) was crowded. Still, there were some nights on that 2004 hike sharing campsites or shelters with only 3-4 people, quite remarkable given the season. Similarly hiking in Maine mid-Augut to mid-September in the midst of lots of thruhikers wasn't super crowded at all - I spent a few nights by myself.

So I hiked the Smokies southbound in the Fall and one time in particular was pointedly crowded. Where? Stepping into Newfound Gap and being greeted by hordes of tourists. 5 minutes later into the woods, I only saw one more person until reaching at Mt. Collins that night.

Anyway, you can usually avoid crowds on the AT - just pick your time and place.

[fiddlehead]

Depends what you compare it to.

Hiking the GA portion of the AT in 1994, one day it rained and we hiked past 3 shelters that were standing room only inside.

On the CDT in '98, I hiked all of Montana and saw 2 other hikers in the 600 miles.

Pyrenees '99. Saw day hikers everyday but never after 4 PM as they all go down into the villages or gites and we had the mountains to ourselves everynight. 2 other people thru-hiked that trail that year.

The trail I'm blazing in Phuket, Thailand. Makes me laugh to think i might see another hiker on it someday. I do see rubber tree and pineapple farmers out there working sometimes though.

Annapurna circuit Nepal: In thru-hiking season, it's single file many days, especially in the mornings.
Same with Everest base camp trek north of Lukla.
But you'd be lucky to see someone out of mt. climbing season on the Tibet side base camp of THAT mountain.

[Bronk]

Grayson Highlands was crowded when I went through there, but interestingly nobody stayed in the shelters there. Newfound Gap = CROWDED...a solid line of people in both directions up to the first shelter, where there were hoards of people and cases of beer. 30 juvenile deliquents at one shelter = crowded. 50 boy scouts camped by the creek = crowded. 4 days before trail days just outside of Damascus = crowded. The Blue Ridge Parkway = crowded.

For the most part you can go most of the day without encountering more than a couple of people...but it can get crowded out there.

[bloodmountainman]

Try to find solitude on Blood Mt on any given day! It is a crowded trail! Same with Tray Mt.

[rambunny]

If we are just talking AT this year,it is my guess that people who started early had to sit back a few weeks because of weather,then started back when a bigger wave of people started later,i.e. more hikers per mile than usual in the 1st 500 miles. I'm sure there's more spacing happening as always further north.But like Uncle Johnny told me the end of April they were coming out of the woods 30 at a time. It is my unpopular opinion that shelter to shelter mentality causes these pile ups.No matter what hiking the AT is still heaven.

[fredmugs]

Try Maryland on a weekend......

No kidding. I hike SOBO and rarely run into 10 people a day. When I went thru Maryland there were easily over 200 people. Of course a 70 degree day in April on a Sunday is going to bring out a crowd.