Fewer people hiking the AT?

[MedicineMan]

this coming weekend i'm taking LiLi (my youngest) from Sams to Spivey....it will either make or brake her but she is a fighter and if we get some good weather on Big Bald I think she will see what its all about, it was her request a backpack for christmas....she got a Jansport Scout

[kyhiker1]

Im not sure since I have done only short hikes on the AT.I plan to do the Tenn/NC section second week of June 06.Seems to be several hikers still but not doing the long or thru hikes as much.

[Tinker]

Americans aren't as "Anglo" as they used to be. Hiking was at its heyday when I was in my late teens to early 20's. It's a pretty safe bet that a lot of my peers grew up on Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett as I did, in the late 50's and through the 60's - hence, the interest in "The Wilderness Experience".
Many new, young Americans came from families fairly new to this country, whose parents grew up with the hope of a more civilized and easier city life, with conveniences at the touch of a button. These youngsters are probably more interested in obtaining the newest electronic gadget than escaping it (cell phones, which I deplore in everyday life [don't we have trouble getting a minute to ourselves already???????] come to mind).
I've never been lonely in the woods. I'm good company. Fewer people on the AT is just fine with me. Unfortunately, lack of funding often follows close on the tails of lack of interest. We might just have to kick in a few extra bucks and hours to keep the AT maintained and protected in the future.

[MedicineMan]

your comment reminded me of a guy i met on last weeks section hike in n.Va...
he was carrying a bow saw and pruners....i had heard of him by passing hikers SoBo and found him at the next shelter. I asked if he was with the PATC but he said no, that he was on his own not having time or inclination for 'clubs'....the evidence of his work was obvious on the trail and i thanked him.....so maybe more of us need to adopt a section of trail and hug on it a bit.

[weary]

your comment reminded me of a guy i met on last weeks section hike in n.Va...
he was carrying a bow saw and pruners....i had heard of him by passing hikers SoBo and found him at the next shelter. I asked if he was with the PATC but he said no, that he was on his own not having time or inclination for 'clubs'....the evidence of his work was obvious on the trail and i thanked him.....so maybe more of us need to adopt a section of trail and hug on it a bit.

There are guidelines for maintaining the trail based on decades of experience by maintaining clubs and ATC. "Volunteer" maintenance without knowing what you are doing can be destructive as well as constructive.

Clearing too wide a trail, for instance, let's in the sun, encourages new growth and makes future maintenance harder. Experienced maintainers take a narrow slice out of large blowdowns -- wide enough for hikers, too narrow for ATVs.

Nor does participation in a maintaining club require extra time -- other than a few minutes reading the trail maintenance field guides. At least not MATC. We have no obligatory meetings. We do ask maintainers for $15 annual dues. But writing a check involves minimal extra time for most of us.

Basic maintenance along most of the trail is assigned to a single person by most of the clubs. Some have maintained the same few miles for decades. Many rightly resent it when others mess with "their" section.

Before taking on maintenance chores at least take the time to learn the policies of the club that is responsible for the trail you wish to volunteer for, and get to know whoever is responsible for the section you wish to work on. Virtually all maintainers welcome extra help; and resent meddling.

Weary

[leeki pole]

Mr. Weary: Your points are well taken. However, there are some of us who enjoy maintaining trails without the benefit of a club or organization, where budget shortfalls for State parks have seriously reduced the monies available for proper maintenance. I have two books on trail maintenance and have built two small trails on my "back 40" and have honed what few skills I have on my little trails. Please don't belittle our efforts, however meager they may be. I always ask permission of the Park Manager before beginning any maintenance, and I have yet to hear any criticism of my small, yet fruitful efforts.

[weary]

Mr. Weary: Your points are well taken. However, there are some of us who enjoy maintaining trails without the benefit of a club or organization, where budget shortfalls for State parks have seriously reduced the monies available for proper maintenance. I have two books on trail maintenance and have built two small trails on my "back 40" and have honed what few skills I have on my little trails. Please don't belittle our efforts, however meager they may be. I always ask permission of the Park Manager before beginning any maintenance, and I have yet to hear any criticism of my small, yet fruitful efforts.

That's probably because you are following my advice and asking permission from the responsible managers.

[Ridge]

Leave the cutting and pruning to the clubs......instead, pick up trash, clean out fire pits, etc. Trash grows much faster than the forest.

[BlackCloud]

Ipods, satellite radio, satellite tv, satellite phones, MP3 players, Playstations, internet, relative ease & accessibility of air travel, obesity, urbanization, lengthening of work (both in hours and years), and the disheartening list goes on.

The decline in backpacking is unquestionably related to the overall decline in National Park visitation since 1998. Where once you needed to make reservations a year or more ahead, you can now book a summer trip down the Colorado in May and reserve a room for the fall in Shenandoah after July 4th.

We now possess a society that places a social value on everything. Taking the kids hiking in Shenandoah impresses no one in an office where others go trekking in Nepal, Alaska, Vegas, or wherever...

[Rain]

Fewer people may be attempting a thru-hike these days, yes, but I think more are actually finishing. People are more prepared these days.

[wilconow]

your comment reminded me of a guy i met on last weeks section hike in n.Va...
he was carrying a bow saw and pruners....i had heard of him by passing hikers SoBo and found him at the next shelter. I asked if he was with the PATC but he said no, that he was on his own not having time or inclination for 'clubs'....the evidence of his work was obvious on the trail and i thanked him.....so maybe more of us need to adopt a section of trail and hug on it a bit.

Hey MedicineMan!

I believe I saw that same guy last fall when I was hiking between snickers and ashby. I asked him the same question - Are you with the PATC? He seemed very indepedent

Also, my group and I saw that section hiker in the orange shirt you posted in a photo.

Take care! Drop me a line if you have a chance.. I believe you have my email.

[Kozmic Zian]

Yea....Fewer

GOOD!!!! The Trail Could Use A Break! When It gets wide enough to drive a Mac Truck Thru, it's no longer a trail, but a 'Road'....'The Appalachian Road'. Sometimes I wish userability was 'limited', but no, don't want to go there....someone might bitch about it....say it was 'politically incorrect', etc. Ah, you can't win. Just Hike....hope it dosen't get so crowded you can't find a privey. KZ@

[Programbo]

On the appalachiantrail.org site they report only 959 thru hikers leaving northbound as of April 7 this year.

959 as of the 7th?????..Holy moly!.."Only"?....Forgive me but that sounds like an insane number of thru hikers and it`s still early in the season..How much is that down from before?...I guess I have been away a long time..I can recall two week trips where I spent 7 nights alone in the shelter and the other 7 nights there was maybe 1-3 others

[River Runner]

As of April 10, when we signed in for our section hike at Amicolola Falls, the park employees (rangers?) registering us said over 1,000 had started this year.

[Ridge]

If the rumor of Redford and Newman doing a movie based on Bryson's book comes true then all HELL will break lose, at least for a while. The next thread will go something like this: "When will the flood of hikers stop"

[weary]

Yea....Fewer

GOOD!!!! The Trail Could Use A Break! When It gets wide enough to drive a Mac Truck Thru, it's no longer a trail, but a 'Road'....'The Appalachian Road'. Sometimes I wish userability was 'limited', but no, don't want to go there....someone might bitch about it....say it was 'politically incorrect', etc. Ah, you can't win. Just Hike....hope it dosen't get so crowded you can't find a privey. KZ@

The trail isn't crowded. Campsites are crowded. The answer is to acquire more land for off trail (one-quarter to one half mile) camping facilities. If and when the trail gets crowded the answer is to build parallel trails as needed to assume some of the hiker burden. With a majority of Americans overweight or obese, hiking is a good thing, not a bad thing. The more the better, both because in the long run exercise will reduce health costs to society, and because government was invented to provide those things people can't achieve on their own.

Those who can afford to buy their own trails should do so. The rest of us have to rely on government intervention.

Weary

[Blissful]

959 as of the 7th?????..Holy moly!.."Only"?....Forgive me but that sounds like an insane number of thru hikers and it`s still early in the season..How much is that down from before?...I guess I have been away a long time..I can recall two week trips where I spent 7 nights alone in the shelter and the other 7 nights there was maybe 1-3 others

I had always heard there's about 2,000 that start every year (about 200 sobo the rest nobo, correct me if I'm wrong). So to me, especially after the main start period of mid march to early April, 1,000 seems like a lot less (and I'm happy with that - starting next year). But I know Georgia is gonna be crowded anyway.

And of course, there are those I hear that drop out at Neels Gap, Damascus, Harper's Ferry or they flip flop. So the number must vary dramatically once you leave Springer.

[Toolshed]

I look around at my younger co workers now and everyone is plugged in with Ipods video cellphones, blackberries and laptops. They seem to all be driving very, very nice cars and wearing very fashionable designer style clothing and pulling small roller backpacks everywhere they go.

I think back to when I started backpacking again (17 years ago) and there were none of these things around, for the most part and if they were, they simply never distracted us as much as they do now. I think many folks would have a hard time being away from a phone for more than 24 hours as our society become more networked. I also think there is a shift in society to folks having to have it all or appear to have it all and backpacking doesn't fit into that scope.

I also look at many of these younger folks and I see life revolves around American Idol, Brittany Spears, and a host of other actresses or singers or celebrities that I don't know anything about. Many young women I see are into a more glamorous look and many of the men seem to be more metrosexual appearing. I am beginning to feel like an old fart.

I beleive it all goes hand in hand with the comment about backpacking & grunge not mixing well with today's youth.

[Footslogger]

[quote=Toolshed]I look around at my younger co workers now and everyone is plugged in with Ipods video cellphones, blackberries and laptops.
========================
Toolshed ...add 10 years and you're where I am. Even more of a difference for me. I live in an area where the mountains are virtually in our backyard. Most of the other employees in the clinic here are 20 - 30 years younger than I am and just about all of them TALK about doing outdoor stuff but rarely do any.

I suppose in my younger years the adults looked at us as somewhat of a lost generation. But one thing for sure ...when I and my friends had any spare time we were out in the woods. In many ways we were fortunate to NOT have all the electronics and entertainment options available today.

There's a good book out now about something called "Nature Deficit Disorder". It's an unfortunate affliction.

'Slogger

[gsingjane]

I sure don't want this to turn into a "kids today" post but, given my utter lack of success at interesting Girl Scouts in outdoors activities that don't involve nail polish or facials, it sure does seem like something has changed. (Yes, I know about Venturers, but for other reasons I do not want to get involved with leadership in BSA). When we went to (primitive) summer camp for two weeks in the summer, it was the absolute high point of the year... however tent camping, night hikes and lanyards have a very tough time competing with the "wow" factor of a DisneyWorld or even the local Chuck E. Cheese, neither of which were options "back in the day." As we all know, backpacking involves little, if any, instant gratification, and its pleasures are generally much subtler and frequently won at considerable cost.

I think that there are many factors, not just one, at work. People do seem to be working harder, and even middle class people can attain a lifestyle that 30-40 years ago would have been unthinkable. IOW, when I was a kid, people did family camping at a little lake in Northern Wisconsin because that's all they could afford, not because they chose not to go to the Bahamas or Europe. Parents have been told for years that they should "listen to the experts" on every aspect of child-rearing, so people lack even the basic confidence that they can take their kids out and survive. That's why outdoor schools like NOLS and Outward Bound continue to prosper (they're the "experts"), whereas the "DIY" mentality declines. There is so much news coverage of the dangers of the outdoors, whether it's bears, ticks, tainted water, or knife-wielding psychos, that people have a heightened and exaggerated fear of nature. Finally, it is absolutely the case that, just like their parents, kids have precious little free time for open-ended pursuits like hiking, backpacking or just being outside in an aimless and disorganized way (you know, the fun way). Youth sports are ubiquitous and incredibly time-consuming... and the demands are generally non-negotiable. That's a huge factor that's changed in the past 30 years and whether that's been a positive thing in terms of youth fitness or general well-being is, I think, fair grounds for debate.

I feel that at some point there will be a backlash. The overly-scheduled, professionally-coached kid of today may well grow up to say, hey, dude, what happened to my childhood? Maybe that's already happening in a way with the "slacker" mentality. And I also think that, as energy becomes more expensive, many family pursuits (such as airline trips to amusement parks) will become much pricier relative to outdoor recreation. We may well be looking at an outdoor "renaissance" in 10-20 years - at least that is my hope and fervent prayer!

Jane in CT