Just wondering what you wound up doing, what your experience was like, and which organization you partnered with.

After my thru hike I compiled a bunch of data and decided I'd share some here.

People frequently ask me how often I used the shelters. I spent 171 nights on trail, and despite feeling like I used shelters significantly more often than my fellow hikers, I was in my tent only 6 nights less than a shelter:

https://preview.redd.it/92degqgkt4yd1.png?width=469&format=png&auto=webp&s=bd7e881be1f45d3c4ad22d2401c62f22565caa63

I spent more nights in a bed (hostel, hotel, or family's house) than I expected. Often, since I was already in town to charge/shower etc, it just felt worth it to get a bed too.

Here's a tracker of my lodging over time:

https://preview.redd.it/2odybx0nv4yd1.png?width=853&format=png&auto=webp&s=03435427476a14a5c75cb232ee9054d63d09c342

You can see in July I switched heavily to my tent, mostly because of bugs. When it was cool over night, I could sleep in a shelter covered up by my blanket and not worry about getting bit up. But in NY/CT/MA, I was hit with both a heat wave and a ton of bugs. It was too hot to be covered up. I was jealous of a few people with a bivy setup who could put their bugnet up in the shelter. By early August I was farther north, temps cooled off and bugs weren't as big of an issue.

Overall I loved the shelters. They kept me and my tent dry, and earplugs helped me ignore any snoring neighbors or critters. Even though I used a bear can most of the trail, I still appreciated how many of the shelters had bear boxes/cables nearby. It took me 30 minutes less to leave camp when I slept in a shelter over my tent, and since I had a problem of sleeping in, I kinda liked how other hikers in the shelter would wake me up in the morning.

There were only 7 nights I spent in a shelter that I would consider "miserable" and I didnt get good enough sleep:

• 2 due to crowds in the Smokies
• 3 due to very active mice (and actually one night the mice were so obnoxious that I left and pitched my tent around midnight)
• 2 due to rainstorms making the shelter very crowded and wet

All other nights.....well I didn't get great sleep, but I never noticed a difference in quality of sleep in a shelter vs a tent, unlike some people.

If there's any other data you'd be interested in let me know. I've been thinking about putting something together for how many days/nights it rained, but that would change every year and person-to-person so not too sure how interesting that data would be

Carving pumpkins at work today!

Hey guys!

Aspiring Thru Hiker checking in to give a huge shoutout to my community hiking club.

I recently went on one of many shakedown hikes with my wife during our honeymoon around the Albert Mountain to Winding Stair hike (MM 100 NOBO - 109.6) and absolutely loved it!

Throughout our overnight my wife and I were having a great time with our two Corgis who were surprisingly decent hiking buddies. The trail was well maintained especially after the damage caused by the hurricane. We had to hop a few downed trees which was fine, and got stuck in the rain for the night but we had a ton of fun!

We made it down to the Long Branch shelter and heard chainsaws not far from where we experienced downed trees on the trail and shortly after met a large group who mentioned they were from the Nantahala Hiking Club. They were on their weekly meetup cleaning and maintaining the trail and stopped and joined us for lunch.

They were all extremely nice, and gave some awesome tips for my wife and I since we are new to backpacking.

Just wanted to post this as a thank you for maintaining the trail. Your dedication to help provide a great backpacking experience for everyone is amazing! It makes me excited to get back out there!

Happy trails.

Hey guys. My name is Second Breakfast. I hiked the trail in 2014 with my best friend Tumbles. Sadly he took his own life last year. I plan to spread his ashes in the Grayson Highlands this coming Saturday the 2nd.

I think there should be a decent amount of south bounders coming through the gap around this time. I think Tumbles would be happy to have some food/snacks/drinks passed out to hikers in his honor.

If you think you'll be headed through the gap Saturday, I am taking requests for food or gear items. If you need something, just let me know and I will bring it and hold it for you. I will also take suggestions for what kinds of foods/drinks to bring in general.

I will be at the gap between 11am - 3PM. Its a long drive for me (Ohio) so forgive me if i am not there right at 11. I will be in a white ford F150 hybrid truck with a generator built into it. I will have a few surge protectors/strips hooked up so people can charge whatever devices they need.

Be safe out there and happy hiking! Stop by and say hi :)

https://preview.redd.it/n6loybprn4yd1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f65eaefdeb7257eca13ddebdf696bdcc2ae3d2dd

https://preview.redd.it/ua93zbprn4yd1.jpg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=94d3ce928fd3779da1bc5482a853e85f44f99eb6

https://preview.redd.it/e6qym2prn4yd1.jpg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8040b501db60d61af19b70ae05aa2a9b8f24bbf6

https://preview.redd.it/wdybv3prn4yd1.jpg?width=612&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=67a2f230b3b2cad2afaf886b4771e4a6b315c720

Has anyone ever hopped of trail in PA to go to Nazareth and tour the Martin factory? I'm considering a side quest. I got info putting it as close as 15 miles off trail, but not sure of that accuracy.

Me and a couple of friends are planning on camping on the AT up to Mount Roger this weekend.

Does anybody know if we can just find our own spot off of the AT or do we have to make a reservation?

Thanks!

Video walking through some towns and trail down in TN and VA https://youtu.be/6j2CoE6fHwQ?si=sAm7QMebJDi5jjze

Here's my thoughts on what a Appalachian Trail thru hike will look like in 2025.

Bottom line there may be small detours and skips but the majority of the trail should be open. I'm confident hostels, shuttle drivers, and trail angels will come together to help hikers hike as much of the trail as possible.

Currently the most likely closed section/reroutes will be around Hot Springs and Erwin, with most of the trail past Erwin clear aside from the ~24 mile stretch north of Damascus. From Elk Garden VA north the trail is already open and southbounders have been able to pass through.

So don't cancel or postpone your hikes. The trail community and businesses need you!

If you're changing plans because you think it'll be better for the communities impacted, that is exactly the opposite of what business owners in those communities want. They need business NOW. They've already lost 1/4 to 1/3rd of their revenue for this season and can't take a hit of not having hikers in 2025.

Hey guys! I hiked the trail this year and want to work at a hostel for the 2025 season, but I’m not sure where to apply. Should I message the hostels directly or will they post in an AT Facebook group? Let me know! I’m open to work at any hostel. Was thinking down south in the early season and Maine in the late season.

I am 66 and researching a "light" section hike. In other words, carry the minimal amount of weight and stockpile along the way, or use some other method, to lower my carry weight. Is this doable? Suggestions? Any guides on this approach? Thank you.

Hey AT crew,

As luck will have it i have a conference in March in Orlando and I want to tag on a week of trail walking. to the trip. What section across the trail would you recommend that is nice and not too cold?

I have the AT on my life's bucket list, and as the kids are still young, I won't be able to do a thru-hike at this stage of life yet. However, I might be able to do one for a week or so. I would love to hear your ideas of sections that are coming into spring and where the weather would be nice and warm (ish). Thanks!

I'm assuming there might be questions, but what I'm looking for is the best hiking boot for multi day back country hikes. Cost is not an issue. Literally, if they cost $5000 I want to hear about them.

Specifically, I'm looking for a boot that is long lasting and durable for variable environments, think East Coast/AT types of environments. I normally buy $200-$350 price point boots with Vibram soles, but they get destroyed fairly easily. I would like something that actually lasts me a few years.

Thoughts? Is this something that just doesn't exist anymore? (Disposable this, disposable that)

Hi!

I have been interested in hiking the AT for years and, as a geography major in college, currently have the opportunity to do a research/mapping project on the trail. I want to include data regarding shelters, water resupply points, and potentially significant overlook points. As well as of course the trail itself, state lines, peaks, etc.

I am sure the data is out there but I am having a hard time finding it. Any recommendations? Should I just find the data within each states database? To be clear I am not looking for a map of this information, but just the raw data itself.

P.s. For those familiar, I am using ArcGis Pro for this project

THANKS A MILLION :) peace and love

Hello, me and a friend are planning on doing this hike soon. What route would you guys recommend if we want to park at dragons tooth parking? Also, do people ever bring hammocks?? TIA, appreciate any tips/tricks as well!

Hi everyone - our Scout troop has been planning to do a short backpacking trip for the coming weekend, and originally wanted to do the Warwoman Dell to Pinnacle Knob portion of the Bartram Trail, which I have hiked twice since summer. However, from what we can gather, it's apparently closed after damage from Helene. A couple of alternatives were suggested, but we have apparently settled on the first few miles of the AT Approach Trail.

Our goal, to have kids meet Camping Merit Badge requirements, is to ascend at least 1,000 ft and hike at least 4 miles total. However, I know the elevation gain per mile of the Approach Trail is significant, and since having gotten back in to backpacking as an adult of the past several years my hiking group has never considered doing it. I have reservations about taking our scouts on this for their first hike. Most of them are middle school or early high school age, and frequent backpacking/hiking is not a strength of our troop programming. For most of them, as I said, it would be their first trip.

If anyone would like to weigh in on whether or not this is a good idea for this trip, please do. I'm also interested in alternatives, because the remainder of November is very full for our troop programming and it would be best not to have to reschedule. Again, we need the scouts to ascend at least 1000 feet and hike at least 4 miles total for the trip. We also intend for the trip to be an overnighter, arriving no later than noon Saturday and finishing out Sunday morning.

Thanks to everyone in advance -

hi guys! i am looking for a few days of hiking bliss as ive been in a bit of a rut mentally. i have always heard of how beautiful the appalatian mountains are. also, having been born and raised in northern europe but located in florida, i admit i miss the crisp weather , especially the falling of the leaves this time of year. i am not an avid hiker but i truly do enjoy it (thanks to my southern spanish roots). for reference, i did the inca trail in 2022 and im fairly physically active. i was wondering if anyone knew of a specific trail including hostels, restaurants etc that would be enjoyable as a female in her early 20s whos looking for some peace and quiet but is also open to meeting fellow hikers! i thought of a guided tour or travel group but from my previous experience in peru they are pretty overpriced considering the itinerary could just be planned without the help of an external party (also i didnt really click with the people in my group unfortunately). any advice is welcome, thanks in advance :)

edit: thanks guys, although i did forget to mention a very important part which is that im on a budget and i dont want to rent a car, especially since im only just about to get my license. is there any way i could get from roanoke to the starting point of this hike without a car?

I saw yesterday that the ATC is hiring Ridge runners for the 2025 season in Georgia. I wasn't able to apply yesterday but planned to apply today. Now it seems that the ridge running position for Georgia isn't listed on the ATC's website. I guess they filled the position. Does anyone know if they have a second round of hiring?

Hi everyone, I'm an Industrial design student and my project is trying to design a navigation device for people interested in trails and solo trips. I don't want to design an app because people get into the woods are supposed to enjoy the view. The problems I found for current products is: signs are confusing for the impulsive tourists while maps or compass wouldn't be there usually, some people don't have concept about "the proper time to start going back", and the updates about views, emergencies, or recommendations are usually in a separate website.

What do you all think about this idea? What's your most annoying moment during trails, either solo or group? And what feature would you focus on if you are redesigning such an item? This will help me a lot!

I'm looking for a place where in NC where we would need to hike for a few hours just to reach the fishing spot, it could be a lake or a river. We do have Ultra light camping gear and want to stay for 2 nights before hiking back.

Does anyone know of such spots in NC or close to NC?

Thanks for any help 🙏

Thru-hiking really is not an option for me (maybe one day). However, I am obsessed with backpacking the AT in some manageable form that fits my life circumstances and want to get the fullest experience possible while seeing a wide variety of the trail without thru-hiking.

I am aiming to do a section hike in every state along the trail over the next few/many years. Including the beginning (Amilacalola), middle (Harpers Ferry), and of course the end (Katahdin).

This will somewhat scratch my itch to link up portions of the whole trail form Georgia to Maine.

My question…

What are some good sections to consider in each state?

EDIT: I live in Lexington, Kentucky.

I usually do a 3-5 day section hike around Thanksgiving (60-80 miles, possibly can add a 10-25 mile out/back trail run on first or last day to get it closer to 90 miles). I live in central NC and have been working my way along the TN/NC south and up into VA. Right now I have Sam's Gap (~NB 318) to Knot Maul Shelter complete (NB ~560) (I also have most of central VA to MD covered). I would have hiked south from Sam's Gap, but assume that isn't feasible right now. I was thinking of maybe just driving down to start from Springer and do Georgia (it looks like I40 is open now, but don't want to cause issues if road is still mostly for recovery efforts or if that trail isn't really doable right now). Any good stopping points that would be easy to get a shuttle to the start from? Or should I just go north and fill-in the VA section I am missing north from Knot Maul Shelter? (Or just scrap the AT this year and go somewhere else).

https://www.johnsoncitypress.com/helene/uncle-johnnys-nolichucky-hostel-is-rebuilding/article_a80e1eaa-9333-11ef-8a0b-9348215f7eb9.html

I was planning on doing a traditional NOBO starting in early April but now I'm leaning towards a flip flop starting somewhere in VA in May. Still holding out hope that a traditional NOBO will be possible though.

What are you all planning or are you still waiting to make a decision?

https://wapo.st/3NDG2cE

Good morning - about to hit the trail for some section hiking near Delaware Water Gap in Pennsylvania. Any recommendations for sherpas would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

I’m doing a couple nights from NFG to pecks shelter on the AT and back in a couple weeks. All hiking will be above 5k feet. Are the piped springs still flowing at this time of year? Any chance they will be frozen on cooler nights?