Is anyone seeing an increase in hiker #'s yet?
Anyone that is near/on the trail seeing a significant increase in the number of hikers? Or has the prediction of an increase due to A Walk in the Woods not happened (yet)?
I don't know for sure, but if you look at the Thru hiker registration charts for last year and this year the numbers actually appear to be down. Maybe it's just that the voluntary registration is not being used, but the charts I see do not support the prediction of a major increase due to the movies.
Both Wild and A Walk in the Woods were insignificant movies, and having seen both, there was nothing that would motivate anyone to undertake a long distance hike. Just my opinion.
It has been a weird season and I haven't seen many hikers yet. Talking with a PATC trail runner yesterday, they are prepared for an increased number of hikers (mostly day/weekend) as soon as weather gets better. They have trying to locate more volunteers in their trails this year. Law enforcement and rangers in the different parks are ready in higher numbers as well. There is a new LNT Reference card for the AT hoping to improved education and control damage in trails and shelters.
All I know is that Springer was SLAMMED this weekend, with the pretty weather and all. I live close by and planned on doing a day hike, but got there this morning and people were actually having to park on the side of the forest service road, all lined up quite a ways from the parking lot.
We figured it would be nuts today so have ipted to hike anywhere BUT the AT until late April. The BMT at the Swinging Bridge and at Stanley Creek were both busy but not annoyingly so.Originally Posted by 4eyes
Wild definitely had a effect on the PCT.
I doubt AWITW will have much effect at all.
I know someone that is currently reading the book and loves it.....they didnt even know there had been a movie recently.
Last edited by MuddyWaters; 02-28-2016 at 20:27.
TJ has more starting the last 2 weeks of Feb than ever before
I don't know what the numbers were for last year but I did some quick calculator work on the PCTA's Mexico Border permit availability tool and so far 2666 have applied for permits to start NOBO in 2016. Of course it is possible that a permit applicant will not actually hike.
Tool here: https://www.pcta.org/discover-the-tr...ermit-request/
*Disclaimer, these are not official numbers as I just used a calculator and may have made a fat finger error.
There were about a dozen that I saw today on a short 4 mile walk.
Sales of AT Passports is 25% higher than last year....
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What does it mean if you are hiking this year and have not found the motivation to go see or rent the movie? What reply should I say to people I meet along the way who ask if I have seen the movie?
A Walk in the Woods? It was 75% garbage, 20% great soundtrack, and 5% nice overhead shots of famous AT locations. To be honest, if you haven't seen it you're not missing much.
AT '16: 1,378 miles GA-NY
trail journal // blog
That was what I read here and blew it off! I will prob be only one hiking this year who at least did not Red Box it? I did enjoy the book some years ago, but you know what they say about seeing a movie after reading the book....A Walk in the Woods? It was 75% garbage, 20% great soundtrack, and 5% nice overhead shots of famous AT locations. To be honest, if you haven't seen it you're not missing much.
Maybe the Revenant has changed some people's minds!! LOL
Whether you think you can, or think you can't--you're right--Henry Ford; The Journey Is The Destination
All mainstream events cause the number of people on the trail to spike for a year or two, whether thru-hikers or not. It doesn't matter on on how good or bad they are, it's all about exposure and putting a bug in the public's ear.
sadly yes! after 2 movies in a short time is as if everyone wants a small piece of the experience (just wish they studied and practiced no trace
LOL
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AT '16: 1,378 miles GA-NY
trail journal // blog
Only saw 4 thru hikers today on a six mile walk today.
Most of the garbage was from Nolte's mouth.
The movie was just a poor imitation of the book.
"To make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from." - T.S. Eliot
I actually rented the movie because everyone kept asking me if that's why I was thru-hiking -- I had never heard of it. The movie was... uneventful. Not sure what it was about. Then I read the book and saw why. Bryson's book was really a lot of non-fiction research on the Appalachian Trail, the Forest Service, even completely unrelated topics like grizzly bears. His own experience on the trail was sprinkled in throughout this, but the core of the book was information. (Much of it outdated, now that it's been 18 years). "Wild" I did see when it first hit redbox... I thought it was a decent movie, but it was at most half PCT and half flashbacks of the writer's personal life. Mostly I remember the big plug for REI :P
I imagine hiker registry will get hit hard as it gets closer to mid-march -- l'm sure lots of people who will be hiking don't have an exact date, especially if they aren't flying into Atlanta or using some other pre-arranged travel. I know I am starting late march, but I won't have an exact date until I get closer to Georgia (slowly making my way from upstate NY, in DE now). I'll be leaving my car about 4 hours from Amicalola and logistically it would just be hard to pick a date now. And honestly, because I'm leaving around such a popular time it will probably come down to choosing whatever day looks the least crowded. I do tend to get up at 4-5am though, so I expect to at least have a head start every morning in the early crowded sections. (Getting up at 4-5am may cease after the first few long days of hiking though...) ;-)
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