Regulating thru-hikers

[journalist]

Every spring a great glob of thru-hikers goes through the Smokies. They make things miserable for everyone and, as a group, probably cause the largest negative impact to the Smokies in any given year. Here is my solution: restrict the number of thru-hikers allowed into the park each day. I suggest 12 as a good number. You could let four go to Mollies, four to Russell and four to Spence, and that's it each day. You greatly lessen the impact by spreading everybody out. You could park a ridgerunner down at the Fontana entrance to hand out permits. This is a great idea, right?

[warraghiyagey]

Excellent. The gestapo wants in on the trail. Excellent idea eh? UUUGGGHHH.
Mabye try screenname BlackJournalist.

[warren doyle]

About as great an idea as selling appointment calendars to prisoners assigned to solitary confinement.

[Freeleo]

i would think car campers and weekenders leave more of an impact than thru hikers....all things reconsidered

[warraghiyagey]

About as great an idea as selling appointment calendars to prisoners assigned to solitary confinement.

Maybe there should be rotating counter gates all along the trail that lock when the quota has been met for the day. And maybe hiker hunters that shoot when they deem we've overpopulated the ecosystem. Then Blackjournalist will have created a story to write.

[notorius tic]

This my land this is your land? I think you might have missed that lesson in uuuuuummmm. elem. They already try to push faster than some like to hike through that section. I was there during the north eastern this year and it was cold. Ten miles a day was about anyone could do. And they do make us check in (register). And as far as impact we are probabley the least offensive to the trail<:. And really during that time of the year you do not see to many day or section hikers.. But thanks for your input.. It gives me something to think about the next time i run into a journalst on the trail... Peace Notorius TIC

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

::: Dino seen putting on asbestos base layer :::

Limiting the number of thru-hikers entering the GSMNP might be a workable idea. I'm thinking more like 12 to 15 per day than 4, however. It would encourage people to use the so-to-be-official alternate route of the BMT which would spread the hikers out more . I'd really like to see the BMT route become the official AT route and the way-too-overused GSMNP route become the alternate.

[MOWGLI]

Hopefully hikers will start following SGT Rock's lead and hike the BMT in the park on their way to Maine. It's arguably a prettier part of the park. That would alleviate some of the problems with crowding and human waste by dispersing it.

[The Solemates]

i would think car campers and weekenders leave more of an impact than thru hikers....all things reconsidered

while i dont necessarily agree with journalist's solution, his observations are right on target. i would disagree with freeleo here though. thru-hikers typically have a larger negative impact to the trail than do car campers: in the smokies this may or may not be easily evident, but obviously the smokies are not the only area impacted. northern GA is hit the hardest, and its all because of disrepectful thru hikers. I've hiked GA 3 times now after the main season of hikers goes thru and their impact is astounding. The GA trail clubs really do an excellent job of cleaning up the mess and preserving the trail. thanks to all the hard workers!

[SGT Rock]

::: Dino seen putting on asbestos base layer :::

Limiting the number of thru-hikers entering the GSMNP might be a workable idea. I'm thinking more like 12 to 15 per day than 4, however. It would encourage people to use the so-to-be-official alternate route of the BMT which would spread the hikers out more . I'd really like to see the BMT route become the official AT route and the way-too-overused GSMNP route become the alternate.

Hopefully hikers will start following SGT Rock's lead and hike the BMT in the park on their way to Maine. It's arguably a prettier part of the park. That would alleviate some of the problems with crowding and human waste by dispersing it.

I was thinking the same thing. I'm not Infantry, but I am a Scout, so in this case I'll use the Infantry motto:

"Follow Me!"

[Jack Tarlin]

Note to Journalist:

You really think thru-hikers create more of a negative impact in the park?

Well I don't think so. They don't litter as a rule; they bury their waste properly; they don't pollute or abuse water sources; they don't degrade Trails by horseback riding, and so on.

As for "making things miserable" for everyone else, well I've seen thru-hikers share food, clothing and first-aid with ill-equipped weekenders and school groups. Is this what you mean by making other hikers miserable?

In short, I think your comments and tone are pevish and mean-spirited.

And instead of regulating how many can stay at each shelter, it'd make more sense to let thru-hikers camp elsewhere. Then the shelters wouldn't be crowded with them, and sensitive souls like Journalist would have to find something else to complain about.

[LIhikers]

And what would happen to the hikers who wanted to get into the park but couldn't because of the quota? Would they have to form a line, and camp at the permit office and just wait until it was their turn or would there be a holding pattern for them to hike?

[Freeleo]

its like tee times in golf....how far in advance could you schedule a send off time

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

And what would happen to the hikers who wanted to get into the park but couldn't because of the quota? Would they have to form a line, and camp at the permit office and just wait until it was their turn or would there be a holding pattern for them to hike?

My guess is most would opt to hike the BMT instead of waiting and this would be a good thing. The AT in GSMNP is currently receiving far too much use for the good of the park, trail or the ecosystems near the trail. Anything that would slow down the traffic would be a step in the right direction IMO YMMV

[SGT Rock]

Get rid of the whole "must walk every mile of the AT" thing and start promoting blue blazing. The Smokies are full of great trails - no need to be all shoe-horned into just one.

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

Is there a similar problem in the SNP or has the hoard thinned out enough by then to not be as much of a problem?

[Jim Adams]

Check out GSMNP and the AT in mid summer. Thru hikers do cause some impact but nothing like the general public does!

geek

[SGT Rock]

Absolutly.

But if you hike the Smokies on the AT outside of thru-hiking season you can pretty much have the trail to yourself. The thru-hikers in the Smokies do tend to clog up a system that has limited spaces based on the current system.

[Deadeye]

Journalist:

According to the ATC website, roughly 1,000 thru-hikers get to Fontana Dam each year.

According to the National Park Service, GSMNP is the most-visited park in the country, with 9 million visitors annually.

Boy, those thru-hikers really get in the way, huh, you pack-sniffer.

http://www.appalachiantrail.org/site...Statistics.htm

http://www.nps.gov/grsm/parkmgmt/statistics.htm

[Deadeye]

Get rid of the whole "must walk every mile of the AT" thing and start promoting blue blazing. The Smokies are full of great trails - no need to be all shoe-horned into just one.

Gotta agree with that - if you can walk from Georgia to Maine or vice-versa, white blazes or blue blazes are no different. Just no yellow-blazes!