Call from ATC for 2,000-miler applications from '13 thru-hikers and section-hikers

[Lauriep]

If you completed hiking the entire Appalachian Trail this year (whether as a thru-hike or a section-hike), the Appalachian Trail Conservancy encourages you to send in your 2,000-miler application soon.

The deadline to be included in the A.T. Journeys 2,000-miler listing is December 31, but two members of our volunteer crew that works on processing 2,000-miler applications will be heading south in a few weeks. After the first week of December, it will take longer to process your certificate, and it will make things easier for us if you can get yours in while "Tiger Bomb" and "Katahdin Kid" are still here.

I've attached our official 2,000-miler application below. When you send it in, we'll add you to our registry and send you a certificate, A.T. patch, and a 2,000-miler rocker.

Here's our recognition policy

• We give equal recognition to thru-hikers and section-hikers
• In the event of a trail closure or a safety hazard (such as a swollen stream, a forest fire, or an impending storm on an exposed ridge) hikers may take alternate routes (including by vehicle) and still receive official 2,000-miler recognition.
• We operate on the honor system
• We recognize hikers regardless of sequence, direction, speed, or whether they carry a pack

ATC assumes that those who apply have made an honest effort to walk the entire Trail (not just 2,000 miles) even if they did not walk past every white blaze.

If you miss the December 31 deadline, we can include you in a subsequent year's listing in A.T. Journeys (there's no time limit on reporting a hike completion). Once a year we publish names (and trail names) all new 2,000-milers (recently it has been the March/April issue). We also have a 2,000-miler listing on our website that's updated periodically, going back to the first 2,000-milers in the 1930s. We are behind on that and don't have all 2012 hikers or any 2013 hikers up yet--sorry! We'll get to that as soon as we have the capacity to do so.

We look forward to hearing from you! We love hearing highlights, stories, musings, and feedback about your journeys. But don't feel that you have to fill out that portion of the form if finding the right words is stopping you from sending it in.

If you feel you don't really care about the recognition, then report you hike for the Trail's benefit. (You can always tell us not to send you a certificate and patch, etc.) But it does help to have accurate numbers of people who traverse the entire Trail. With about 500 access points, it's really tough to track use of the A.T. On-the-ground surveys are very expensive and only come along rarely. But 2,000-milers are one very significant group that we have been able to track yearly since the Trail's beginning.

Laurie P.
ATC

[Lauriep]

if you can get your 2,000-miler applications in sooner rather than later, that will help us out, and you can be sure you'll make the deadline for getting your name in the March/April listing of A.T. Journeys.

(If you miss the deadline, there's always next year's listing, but then you won't be listed with most of the people you hiked with).

[Lauriep]

One last reminder...

[Starchild]

I want to make sure I'm in there as I filled out the application online in Sept.