Appalachian trail how many people hike

They are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Typically, the shelters are built in a lean-to style with a floor, a roof, and three walls. Most can accommodate at least six people; a few of the bigger, newer ones fit upwards of a dozen, often more. Shelters are usually located near a water source, and there is usually a fire pit and a privy nearby. Some cons to sleeping in a shelter include the frequent presence of mice and the fact that shelters are usually located half a mile off-trail.

You may ask why you should pack a tent or hammock if shelters are available. Below are recommended amounts for each category. Planning and budgeting wisely will save you a lot of headache and allow you to enjoy the wilderness stress-free.

The good news is that if you buy quality gear, this is going to be a one-time expense. Splurge on ultralight gear, and get everything right the first time. Check out the Appalachian Trail packing list for recommendations on essentials. Trail expenses include buying food and shipping food. Buy as much food as you need, and expect to consume about 2, to 4, calories per day. Of course, this all adds up. Most hikers start out slow, averaging eight to 10 miles a day. They will eventually work up to 12 to 16 miles a day.

It takes the average person anywhere from months, but experienced hikers going for fastest known times have completed the entire trail in under 50 days. When thru-hiking the AT, you will climb a total amount of , feet—the equivalent of going to the summit of Mt. Everest more than 17 times. He averaged 48 miles 77 km a day. For women, the current overall and supported record belongs to Jennifer Pharr-Davis, who finished the trail going southbound in 46 days, 11 hours, and 20 minutes in July Since its creation in , more than 20, people on record have successfully hiked the trail in its entirety.

Of these people, about half were in their 20s. Consult our guide on safely backpacking with dogs to make the hike enjoyable for you, your buddy, and others around you. While about half of all thru-hikers are in their 20s, many people in their 30s, 40s, and 50s have thru-hiked the A.

About people in their 60s have completed thru-hikes, but only about 50 people age 70 and above have completed thru-hikes. Two people in their 80s have completed a thru-hike; the oldest was Teens comprise about four percent of thru-hikers; a very small number of children have completed the A.

Section-hikers tend to be older, with a median age of Their ages at the time of their hike completions have ranged from 15 to Five others reported completing the entire Trail between and , including a completion by George W. Outerbridge, who now has a shelter named after him just south of Lehigh Gap, Pennsylvania, on the first stretch of Trail he completed in Although hiking the entire Appalachian Trail is a demanding endeavor for a person in the best physical condition and optimal health, hikers with a variety of disabilities have successfully completed the entire A.

These include several blind hikers, an above-the-knee amputee, hikers with diabetes, and organ transplantees. Mildred Norman is the earliest female thru-hiker on record, having reported a flip-flop hike in In , she completed her second thru-hike at age In , she became the first person to complete the A. In , Earl V. Shaffer became the first to report a thru-hike, walking the entire Trail from Georgia to Maine.

He was a World War II veteran. Part of the reason he was drawn to hike the A. On his third thru-hike, 50 years after his first, he became the oldest thru-hiker at age 79, a distinction he held until His memoir about his first thru-hike, Walking With Spring, is still in print.

Boots Off Hostel. Over a third of hikers in our survey attended Trail Days in Damascus, Virginia, but very few attended the kickoffs at Harpers Ferry or Springer Mountain. Most did not attend any of these festivals at all. Regarding thru-hikers only, about four out of five checked in at Springer Mountain, three out of five checked in at Harpers Ferry, and about half checked in at Mount Katahdin.

This means about ten percent fewer hikers checked in at Harpers Ferry and Katahdin, compared to last year. Checking in with the ATC helps them research surges in numbers of hikers and to prepare for future maintenance of the trail. This is the first post on our survey of the hikers of Upcoming posts will cover our survey data on backpacks, footwear, shelter systems, sleeping bags, stoves, food, and water, and sleeping pads.

Best of luck to those who are still on the trail. Thanks also to Zach Davis and Maggie Slepian for coordinating and for spreading the word about the survey, and especially for putting together that long list of hostels for me to use. This website contains affiliate links, which means The Trek may receive a percentage of any product or service you purchase using the links in the articles or advertisements. The buyer pays the same price as they would otherwise, and your purchase helps to support The Trek's ongoing goal to serve you quality backpacking advice and information.

Thanks for your support! To learn more, please visit the About This Site page. I was ten years old when my love for the Smoky Mountains first inspired my dream of thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail. Twelve years later, I made that dream a reality when I completed my NoBo thru-hike. I look forward to what holds! Yours truly—Bloodhound. Thanks for the great info! Someone did a lot of work, though fun work! Is there information on that?

Having those of you put out this kind of quality content gives me so much confidence in my AT attempt. Love the facts and figures.

For those of us taking a mid-career break for a thru-hike as opposed to those hiking straight out of college or after retirement , I wonder how much it costs in total when taking 6 months of lost wages, ongoing bills and mortgage payments into account — far more than the average figure quoted above, I suspect.

Beaucoup bucks, but got to do it anyway. Really enjoyed the analysis. Another aspect I would be interested in would be families. How many of these hikers are married? Would also like to know their careers. Business owners? I know we could ask endless questions of these vagabonds. Hike on. This is great — thanks! It would be helpful if you included the number of days it took respondents to complete their thru hike.

For example, what age group is most likely to complete the hike? Do senior hikers fail to complete the hike at a higher rate than younger hikers or vice versa?

What age range is most favorable to completion? Does one particular age group seem to fall short on a regular basis? Hi guys if you like to watch online funny video then click here whatsapp status video download just visit and play video if want download click on download button.

Hear is all types of hard work quotes are there visit Quotes Quietly for more quotes on hard work. Top 51 cute good night quotes inspirational good night quotes. I love this! I also found it interesting the education background and how the most common distances were either the highest or lowest end.