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Poll: Should the ATC confer 2,000 Miler awards in 2020.

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  1. #1
    ME => GA 19AT3 rickb's Avatar
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    Default 2000 Miler Award for 2020

    This poll asks whether or not the ATC should confer any of their 2,000 Miler awards this year.

  2. #2
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    To be complete, this poll needs an unconditional yes option.
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    do away with the certificates

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    ME => GA 19AT3 rickb's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RangerZ View Post
    To be complete, this poll needs an unconditional yes option.
    That would be your second option.

  5. #5

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    If you had to skip GSMNP, SNP, MD and PA because they are "closed", then you haven't achieved 2000 miles, so option #2 wouldn't apply. It certainly couldn't be considered a thruhike. I actually don't mean to be negative, but in light of everything going on this seems too trivial even for entertainment sake, and I'd prefer to see a Who Cares option. (yeah, this has got me down).
    "Maybe life isn't about avoiding the bruises. Maybe it's about collecting the scars to prove we showed up for it."

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    Not many respondents to the poll yet, but I find the percentage of those who did respond voting for doing away with the award interesting. Just curious. Why do away with the award? I was sort of looking to add my name to the list whenever I get a chance to finish up my last couple of hundred miles.
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  7. #7
    Registered User Christoph's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ldsailor View Post
    Not many respondents to the poll yet, but I find the percentage of those who did respond voting for doing away with the award interesting. Just curious. Why do away with the award? I was sort of looking to add my name to the list whenever I get a chance to finish up my last couple of hundred miles.
    My thoughts too. Why do away with it? It's a great conversational piece/ice breaker in the office. I worked for every mile of it, why not be proud to show it off a little bit?
    - Trail name: Thumper

  8. #8

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    I have not thru hiked the Appalachian Trail yet, and won’t respond to this survey. But don’t think I would need a piece of paper to show off. My hike would just be leaking from me in a way paper could never drip.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Lone Wolf View Post
    do away with the certificates
    why do away with it?

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    Why do away with the certificates? If you thru and don't want one then don't apply. Nobody is making you accept a certificate or put your name on a list.
    "Chainsaw" GA-ME 2011

  11. #11

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    The 2K award is for anyone. There is a separate award for the 365 day thru hike, right?

    There well could be a number of people who finish the trail this year, but not as a thru hike. So sure, they can get a certificate suitable for framing.

    As for the thru hike certificate, if anyone does manage to complete a thru hike this year I think they are entitled to an award. Skipping sections due to them being closed when you got there is acceptable.
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    My Take: ATC has requested the AT be closed, travel during these times should not count towards the 2000 miler award. Thru's and sections are still possible if completed outside of those closure times.


    Quote Originally Posted by Teacher & Snacktime View Post
    If you had to skip GSMNP, SNP, MD and PA because they are "closed", then you haven't achieved 2000 miles, so option #2 wouldn't apply. It certainly couldn't be considered a thru hike. I actually don't mean to be negative, but in light of everything going on this seems too trivial even for entertainment sake, and I'd prefer to see a Who Cares option. (yeah, this has got me down).
    During the wildfires SoBo's were awarded the 2000 miler certificate finishing at Hot Springs, which I believe made their thru less than 2000 miles.

  13. #13
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    I think flip-floppers shouldn't qualify for a badge, traditional hikes only, those who start on the approach trail and finish at Katahin with no yellow blazing.
    Let's head for the roundhouse; they can't corner us there!

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    ME => GA 19AT3 rickb's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Starchild View Post
    My Take: ATC has requested the AT be closed, travel during these times should not count towards the 2000 miler award. Thru's and sections are still possible if completed outside of those closure times.
    This is the approach that the organization which recognizes 4,000 footers hikes took, at least until very recently when there was some relaxation of recommendations.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Last Call View Post
    I think flip-floppers shouldn't qualify for a badge, traditional hikes only, those who start on the approach trail and finish at Katahin with no yellow blazing.
    Thankfully, this mindset is dying every year.

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Last Call View Post
    I think flip-floppers shouldn't qualify for a badge, traditional hikes only, those who start on the approach trail and finish at Katahin with no yellow blazing.
    Funny thing is that I've got several AT related items and patches and such, and they all say "Maine to Georgia"? Sounds to me like maybe those NOBOs are hiking it backwards. Probably shouldn't get a badge for that either.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Crushed Grapes View Post
    Thankfully, this mindset is dying every year.
    Agreed— but that prior post was probably just a troll to suggest that any requirements are an arbitrary construct.

    I would disagree when it comes to this one.

    The ATC’s mission has always been about creating and protecting a continuous footpath, with the entirety seen as something even more important that the sum of its parts.

    Since the 2,000 Miler Award is theirs to give (other organizations are free to establish their own awards) it seems fitting that central requirement is to walk each of those miles (or make every effort to do so) without regard to speed, direction or time (years even) taken.

    The award has always been just as much about the Trail as those who end up walking it all.

    ALDHA or any other group can always establish a different award that is just about hiking, or running or whatever — with whatever caveats the want.



    As for patches, I say print up a whole variety and sell them to whoever wants one.

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    I see a lot more hikers bragging about not needing the validation of a piece of paper than I've ever seen anyone brag about their piece of paper. At least, that's been my observation about both the 2000-miler certificate and the various peak-bagging patches of New England. :P

    As for the question at hand, I think it's too early to tell. A traditional NOBO thru-hike would be very challenging this year, but the jury's still out whether the trail will be more accessible later this year for SOBO, flip-flop, or completed section hikes. If the COVID-19 situation plays out in such a way that hikers are able to complete the trail according to the ATC's definition of a thru-hike, I don't see why they wouldn't continue to award the 2000-miler designation.

    They also published this letter about their 2000-miler policy for thru-hikers this year: https://appalachiantrail.org/officia...-you-left-off/
    Quote: "We will recognize all 2020 thru-hikers who began their hikes this year and left the Trail prior to March 31, 2020, postponing until after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that special precautions are no longer necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19 or ATC issues an announcement. Once the CDC issues this guidance, thru-hikers can pick up where they left off — whether at mile 5 or 500 — and have twelve months from the date they choose to resume their hikes to complete the remainder of their journeys and still be recognized by the ATC as a thru-hiker and 2,000-miler."
    A.T. 2018 Thru-hiker
    Follow along at www.tefltrekker.com

  19. #19
    Registered User ldsailor's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Slo-go'en View Post
    The 2K award is for anyone. There is a separate award for the 365 day thru hike, right?
    There is? I get the ATC Journeys journal. The latest has a "2,000 Milers" listing in which they say, "...includes those who reported hike completions of the entire Trail (thru-hikes and section-hikes)..." If there is a separate listing, maybe someone else knows, but the ATC apparently makes no distinction between thru-hikes and completed section-hikes when they hand out the 2,000 miler award.
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    Quote Originally Posted by ldsailor View Post
    There is? I get the ATC Journeys journal. The latest has a "2,000 Milers" listing in which they say, "...includes those who reported hike completions of the entire Trail (thru-hikes and section-hikes)..." If there is a separate listing, maybe someone else knows, but the ATC apparently makes no distinction between thru-hikes and completed section-hikes when they hand out the 2,000 miler award.
    Logistically thru hikers (and LASHERS) get a bit more leeway, since one is allowed to road walk around closed/dangerous sections (at one time according to ATC, one could even skip by vehicle for those reason and it would count, but I believe they removed that), harder to 'honestly' justify for a section hiker who could just scedual that section for another time in the spirit of making the effort to walking the entire trail. The act of thru hiking allows the honest effort.

    Additionally ATC does ask if it's a thru or section, and if a thru, a NoBo, SoBo or flipflop (NoBo or SoBo dictates how the certificate will read ME>GA or GA>ME. So while the patch is the same, and except for direction dictated by NoBo or SoBo, it is recorded as a thru or section.

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