AT excel spreadsheet data - research project for MBA course

[thetwelvebens]

Hello all,

I am taking a statistics course for my MBA at UMaine and I am looking for someone to direct me to extensive raw data on the Appalachian Trail. This is a sidepiece to other research I am doing on National Parks and the outdoors but I think it would be enjoyable to add some stats from the AT.

-Where can I find the excel file they use to calculate the thru-hikers per / year and the completion rate for South/North bound hikers

- Volunteer hours logged each year would be nice to see the growth

- Information on day-hikers

- Any large data sets I would be interested on in addition to the AT and hiking. Preferably 20+ years of data.

Thank you, I emailed the AT address a few days ago and no response so I have turned here!

[The Kisco Kid]

Contact the ATC

[Slo-go'en]

I don't think much of that information you seek actually exists. The ATC keeps some statistics, but they are in no way complete as they are based on self-reporting and there is no way of knowing how big a percentage of trail users that represents.

[illabelle]

Contact the ATC

Phone: 304.535.6331

Maybe try this number and ask for Laurie.

[Studlintsean]

You might also contact MapMan here and see if he would be willing to share some of the data he has pulled together over the years.

[thetwelvebens]

I have contacted the ATC and the guy was of little help besides directing me to the website. I will ask for Laurie next time

[Dogwood]

You are not trying very hard to conduct your own research which entails YOU doing the search to find this info which is all over the net and already largely accumulated and documented. I'll get you started though with answers to perhaps the easiest question to answer - "Where can I find the excel file they use to calculate the thru-hikers per / year?"

http://www.appalachiantrail.org/home...ty/2000-milers

You'll get a lot from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_Trail

Much is at the NPS AT site: https://www.nps.gov/appa/learn/index.htm

There's plenty listed in those sites to keep you busy. Now gather up some greater researching initiative. I pulled those links up with a 10 second Google search which a MBA candidate should well be able to conduct also.

[couscous]

You are not trying very hard to conduct your own research which entails YOU doing the search to find this info...

You've Gotta Love Millennials

[rickb]

You've Gotta Love Millennials

As a non-millennial with an MBA almost as ancient as my thru hike, I have come to learn that access to good information often begins with the name of -- or an introduction to -- the right person.

Kudos to the OP for for coming here and getting the name of Laurie Pottinger. Whether she turns out to be the right person to hep out or not, I think there are many scores of people on White Blaze who think of her as a tremendous resource.

She definitely has the potential to point the OP in the right direction, and actually help him get the information he was asking for -- rather than a brush off and just some abbreviated info in a few easy to find links.

[Dogwood]

...She definitely has the potential to point the OP in the right direction, and actually help him get the information he was asking for -- rather than a brush off and just some abbreviated info in a few easy to find links.

Is this another snide underhanded incorrect remark aimed at me rick? You've done it before.

[Dogwood]

...She definitely has the potential to point the OP in the right direction, and actually help him get the information he was asking for -- rather than a brush off and just some abbreviated info in a few easy to find links.

Is this another snide underhanded incorrect remark aimed at me rick? You've done it before.

[Dogwood]

Those links actually do provide direct and indirect answers to the OP's questions. All those links were aimed at helping someone which is more than you provided. BTW, who the hell do you think assists in documenting thru-hiker and AT hikers stats in the first link I offered that the OP specifically asked for? Could it be Laurie Pottinger?

If I get something wrong or communicate harshly fine. Point it out. I get things wrong. I can be an a hole and certainly opinionated. It's WB. It's the internet. That's largely what happens here - opinions. I own it. But don't accuse me of brushing someone off because that's often not the case. As for harshness I stand by what I said to the OP.

[rickb]

Sometimes it's best not to assume everything is about "you".

Did you read my post carefully? The OP had posted that had "contacted the ATC and the guy was of little help besides directing me to the website"

Coming here and getting the name of a great contact at the ATC to ask about the specific and detailed information the OP was searching for was good move.

People can draw their own conclusions about he tone of your comments, as well as their usefulness.

[thetwelvebens]

Thank you for the help. Dogwood those links are exactly what the person on the phone gave me and not what I want. That is not raw data, it is data that has already been condensed and simplified. I do appreciate your hard work and rude comment directing me to Wikipedia. I have many more things I could say about the unnecessary and rude comments here but I will just restate my question instead...

I am looking for the spreadsheets they use to keep track of all of this from the start of their records to present that they USED to make the website. I am also looking for any other data they are keeping track of about the AT such as financial spending and labor hours spent per year on maintenance. If you cannot help I appreciate you reading this and would prefer it if you followed my grandfathers words and "if you have nothing good to say then say nothing at all".

Thank you to those that have helped thus far. The search continues.

[V Eight]

I am looking for the spreadsheets they use to keep track of all of this from the start of their records to present that they USED to make the website. I am also looking for any other data they are keeping track of about the AT such as financial spending and labor hours spent per year on maintenance. If you cannot help I appreciate you reading this and would prefer it if you followed my grandfathers words and "if you have nothing good to say then say nothing at all".
Thank you to those that have helped thus far. The search continues.

I think what you will have to do is get a hold of all the AT trail clubs from GA to ME. With most of the maintenance done by volunteers, that will be the only way to any kind of "reliable"info on the number of hours.
For funding stats again you will have to search the archives of the 14 states the AT goes thru as well as many, many Federal agency's archives. I wish you well in your quest, but this may be a lot of work for a "little side piece"

V8

[atraildreamer]

I suggest that you start reading the Baxter State park thread:

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...T-concerns-Wow

It has only 808 posts! There is a lot of discussion about the number of hikers using the park and the AT in general starting at post 630, or thereabouts.

I tried to dig up accurate information about the number of hikers that use the AT and found that it was an impossible task to get reliable numbers due to the variety of categories of hikers, eg: NOBO,SOBO, Flip-Floppers, Day Hikers, Section hikers, etc.).

The only accurate figures I could find were the counts of the Kennebec Ferry service. A Google search will only produce Kennebec Ferry service counts for a few years, and is not a consistent record.What I could find is posted as attachments to my posts in the thread. You are welcome to use them, with the proper original source attribution, (not to me), as they are posted for the public.

Best bet, as others have said, contact the ATC.

Be nice, make a donation, or volunteer to do some trail maintenance!
Maybe they will be able to help you out.