the future of thru hiking the at

[mweinstone]

i belive we are in the hay days of thru hiking. there is a couple hiking the IAT right now,jessica and jason,who outfitted themselves from wallmart for 400 dollars for the both of them.and there doing fine thanx.and while i may have only made it to pearisburg this year due to money being short, i was carrying state of the art gear and wearing all patagucci.my point is that more people have access to more gear than ever before. and while no gear can hike for you,having these gear and price options make hiking the trail more doable for more folks.unfortunatly the rare folks like jess and jase are dwindling , and the people rich enough to thru hike are growing less interested in doing it.so i suggest a future where only 20 people make the trip and only 100 start . and i put forth the prediction that this will come about within a year or three. imagine a trail empty. its comming. im okay with this from a hikier point of veiw but its bad from a trail support,government money point of veiw.matthewski wonders.

[Kembo]

There have always been differences in the equipment that thru-hikers can afford. The equipment can make it a little more comfortable but the equipment or money isn’t what carries a hiker from Georgia to Maine. What drives a thru-hiker is in their minds and hearts. I don’t see that spirit waning. If anything, it’s growing stronger. The total number of thru’s may drop a little now and then but the core spirit will always be there. I can’t imagine the number of thru hikers ever dropping to 20 in one year again.

[attroll]

You don't have to be rich to attempt a thru hike the AT. I am defiantly not rich and I have not thru hiked the AT yet. I am one of the ones that have been experimenting with gear over the years to find what I like best. Yes some of my gear is expensive but it is really not that expensive. I think the most expensive part of gear you buy is a backpack, sleeping bag and your shelter. To me those are the most essential items and you do not want to skimp on them. Everything else you can get relatively cheap if you look around. There are many people like me who plan ahead for their thru hike and experiment with gear until they find what they like. I did not buy all my gear all at once. I bought something every year after reading and researching. I started out with cheap Wal-Mart and Kmart items until I found what I wanted. So I did not fork out a lot of money all at once. I have experimented with some expensive backpacks that I did not like and one was not a name brand that a lot of people said was a great frameless pack and I took the gamble and bought one and I do not like it. That was $185 I think I could have passed on and I wished I had. But still other swear by that pack.

I think the people to fork out a lot of money all at once seem to be the people who think that have to have name brand items when hiking the AT and do not do there research ahead of time. The only name brand Items I am concerned with are the three essentials that I mentioned above. Those are the three that are very important to me. I have yet to purchase my sleeping bag for my thru hike. That will be my most expensive item in my whole outfit because to me that is one item that will make or break my thru hike in the early stages. I like to sleep warm and if I am not warm I am not a happy camper. So I want one that is very light and warm enough for early March and will stay with me till probably the end of May.

[white blaze]

so i suggest a future where only 20 people make the trip and only 100 start . and i put forth the prediction that this will come about within a year or three. imagine a trail empty.

I wish you were right, but you forget that Hollywood has the AT in its sights with Robert Redford and Paul Newman pulling the trigger. In just a year or 2, there will be precious little solitude to be found anywhere on the AT, at any time.

[max patch]

so i suggest a future where only 20 people make the trip and only 100 start . and i put forth the prediction that this will come about within a year or three.

No fricking way.

Care to put your money where your mouth is?

[the goat]

wish your predictions would come true......but then reality sinks in.

in fact, you couldn't be more incorrect i'm afraid...

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

While Hollyweird's focus will temporarily increase the traffic, I doubt it will last. Long distance hiking requires the willingness to forego many comforts and the dedication to remain focused on a goal during adversity. Few who follow the suggestions of Hollyweird will have this willingness and dedication - and those that do will become the newest members of this evolving community.

[Tinker]

I think that we're probably past the heydays of thruhiking. There will be thruhikers as long as there is a long trail to hike from end to end, but the average (note, I say average) American is less likely to embark on an arduous, ambitious, uncomfortable, and possibly dangerous journey today than they would have when I was in my twenties (the seventies). Comfort and convenience are sought after by the masses today (though the case may be made that the television commercials of the 50's did not dissuade the hikers of the 70's from hiking to "discover nature" or "discover themselves"). The draw of the AT used to be solitude and nature. More and more I see roving bands of town-bound party hounds (not that there haven't always been some). Completing a thruhike on the AT isn't the romantic notion that it used to be to me. Reality has dulled the romance. I will welcome more solitude on the trail, though that solitude will come at a cost. Dollars spent maintaining the trail may find their way to other causes. Volunteers may become fewer and farther between. It is up to those who really care for the trail, as it always has been, to give it a future.

[Alligator]

"...
Teach your children well
..."

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

"...
And feed them on your dreams
...."

[KirkMcquest]

I wish you were right, but you forget that Hollywood has the AT in its sights with Robert Redford and Paul Newman pulling the trigger. In just a year or 2, there will be precious little solitude to be found anywhere on the AT, at any time.

I agree. We are probably experiencing the last few years of solitude that will be available on the at, not the other way around.

[Tinker]

My favorite line from Bryson's book, or possibly "I don't know, elevators, maybe".

They Trail might get crowded if Hollywood does a flick on it, but it won't be for long.

Romance is fleeting.

Commitment endures.

[Moon Monster]

I wish you were right, but you forget that Hollywood has the AT in its sights with Robert Redford and Paul Newman pulling the trigger. In just a year or 2, there will be precious little solitude to be found anywhere on the AT, at any time.

There has been no real news on this proposed movie adaptation since August, and even the first announcement was just a fleeting couple of quotes from Redford. In all possibility, this movie may never happen.

[rhjanes]

There has been no real news on this proposed movie adaptation since August, and even the first announcement was just a fleeting couple of quotes from Redford. In all possibility, this movie may never happen.

I think the movie HAS to be in smell-a-rama (aroma??) And forget Newman/Redford. Tom Cruise and Jerry Springer. Throw in a hot chick. Don't forget the smell. Sure way to end their careers!!!!

[weary]

I agree. We are probably experiencing the last few years of solitude that will be available on the at, not the other way around.

I suspect solitude will be around for a bit longer, especially during the off seasons. In 35 years of winter backpacking either on or near the Appalachian Trail in Maine I saw a total of maybe seven other winter backbackers

It is encougaging to note that only a few of the people we invited to join our treks ever came back a second time.

Weary

[Jaybird]

i belive we are in the hay days of thru hiking. there is a couple hiking the IAT right now,jessica and jason,who outfitted themselves from wallmart for 400 dollars for the both of them.and there doing fine........blah,blah,blah,.......... .................................................. ...........unfortunatly the rare folks like jess and jase are dwindling , and the people rich enough to thru hike are growing less interested in doing it.so i suggest a future where only 20 people make the trip and only 100 start ........etc,etc,etc,.

Man, are you giving a BLEAK picture of the hiking scene..or WHAT?

i hope your dim viewpoint is totally incorrect!

RICH enuff to hike the trail?????
who've you been listening to?

[lobster]

Both the 20 thruhiker prediction and the oodles of folks on the AT because of a movie are fantasies. If there was a movie, there likely would be an uptick, but things would settle down after just 2-3 years and thru-hiker attempts would get back to a narrow range.

[Squeaky 2]

just wait till "squeaky the movie" hits Banff and other film festivals.
then you will see a decline alright! hahaha

[kyhipo]

well one must have hiker blood in them to be a hiker!We are a breed of our own,like Levis 501 button flys I still wear them they come out of style and come back.I enjoy many things in life,but the one thing that always stays on my mind is my next hike .I think rich,poor, rebell ,or non rebell educated or uneducated the thru hikers long distant hikers are forever,I remember the rainbows when I was a kid,never left me just taking a walk where they wanted too free to wander.ky

[fiddlehead]

World population grows daily and it's not going to stop.
The planet doesn't get any bigger to accomodate.
The numbers will grow, especially on the AT.
The hope that there will only be 20 a year thru-hiking will only be a fantasy.
Go find other trails if that's your wish. They're out there.
Has anyone ever hiked in Korea? or Japan? You'll find single file lines of hikers in these places in the high season, because Asia is more overpopulated than the US but the US is growing and so will the hikers.