The nights are drawing in, and it is time to think about next year....

Will the A.T. be fully open? When? The Appalachian Trail Conservancy has weighed in on some considerations for thru-hiking next year:

https://appalachiantrail.org/officia...ikers-in-2021/

My own view? There's good news and bad news...

The good news is that the prospects for a widely available vaccine next year are indeed bright. If all goes well, we should be in a much different place by next summer/fall.

Another positive is that the nature of this virus is such that outdoors activities, with small numbers of people, are relatively safe. Sars-Cov-2 is a slightly different beast than norovirus, in terms of it being more spread by bioaerosols (breathing) as opposed to fomites (virus left on surfaces).

The bad news: there is exponential spread of the virus at the moment, and it will take some time to put out this fire. There will be a lot of pain starting next month..

So what do people think will happen next year in terms of hiking?