ATC Registration

[Lauriep]

TJ, I can guess what you mean when you say you're not certain it's useful for sobos, but would you explain?

By the way, as of about noon today, we had 4 sobos registered, 3 of them on June 1.

[Binjali]

Registration is working now on Macs. Seems a reasonable idea, certainly best to gather data before making decisions.

[Traveler]

How about making first 300 and last 300 miles of the trail alcohol free zones.

Much of the AT is managed by the National Park Service and is under those rules, which typically means no booze. State parks overall usually ban alcohol as well. That said, there is little one can do to stop drunks from bringing booze along.

[LoneStranger]

Much of the AT is managed by the National Park Service and is under those rules, which typically means no booze. State parks overall usually ban alcohol as well. That said, there is little one can do to stop drunks from bringing booze along.

That goes for all the other rules or even recommendations in effect along the route too. There is little you can do to stop people from being idiots and many folks these days seem inclined to intentionally break any rules they encounter to prove how special they are. After running into groups of these special folks in NH and ME last year and being so disgusted with their lack of consideration for others it seems a Winter SOBO would be only sane option and that is just crazy

[gillian]

Lauriep, if you are still looking for feedback on the registration process, I just registered my start date and had no issues.

[Lauriep]

Thanks, gillian, good to hear!

[mattjv89]

Just put mine in too. It would be neat if the system tells how many are registered on your day. If I understand correctly it'll return a "no" when the number climbs above 50 but aside from that I have no clue how many others are signed up for my day (March 26).

[full conditions]

Just put mine in too. It would be neat if the system tells how many are registered on your day. If I understand correctly it'll return a "no" when the number climbs above 50 but aside from that I have no clue how many others are signed up for my day (March 26).

Excellent idea. In fact, if ATC wanted to get extra fancy, they could transform the data into updated histograms that could be viewed by anyone so that folks had clear visual of what the registration trend is for a given year. It might help folks make better informed decisions.

[Lauriep]

Yes, mattjv89 and full conditions, we would like to be able to provide real-time information about who has registered. That would be helpful for hikers, trail and land managers, and business providers alike. We will try to get there this year, but if we can't, we'll definitely shoot for 2016.

[TJ aka Teej]

I don't like pointing out problems without being able to suggest a solution.
But here I go...

I wonder about the usefulness for southbounders for many reasons.
When will Baxter be open? The Park's camping season has been delayed more than once in recent years.
When will the Hunt Trail open? It seldom opens by the 15th (which is X'd out for some reason) and the Abol Trail option isn't available this year. Perhaps a "not recommended" symbol in needed until 6/1 rather than an X?
Some southbounders stay in the Park, then climb, some climb and stay in the Park, some just climb, without staying in the Park.
What is being considered as early available camping options for southbounders? KSC, Abol Campground, the state campground at Abol Bridge, the private campground at Abol Bridge, Hurd Brook? Just Hurd Brook? Southbounders seem to opt for Millinocket after summiting about half the time, how can that be figured into the program?
BSP doesn't ask the reason for reservations - and not all southbounders make them. How can the available sites at Baxter be figured in?
Many southbounders end up staying at KSC, with Rangers scrambling to find them spots, even if they'd planned on hiking out.
Saying with certainty that a southbounder can't/shouldn't start on a certain date ain't a certainty.
Phantom registrations will be an issue, with 'hopeful' hikers trying to plan 5 months ahead.
People not using the system will foul the data. People do show up at KSC without a clue, let alone a plan.
And then, there's the 100 Mile, which will have section hikers, camp groups, and northbounders to figure into the volume at campsites.

The first date a Baxter Peak summit is possible can't be predicted.
MEGAs filter out into the 100 after Katahdin at an unpredictable rate.
There's no way to accurately determine (or even guess) how crowded the campsites available to them will be.
I'm optimistic that ATC can make positive moves regarding over-use. I'm just not sure, for MEGAs, that this is the way.

[Lauriep]

TJ, point made well enough! Figuring out how to make this beneficial for sobos and Baxter is complicated. Certainly we can work with Baxter and others to figure out how to improve things, maybe just a few pieces this year, more next year.

We talked to Jean Hoekwater at Baxter about x-ing out days the park is closed, typically, at a minimum, for the spring season. We were undecided as to whether to X out the days in between May 15 and June 1 or some other date. We can only use one symbol with our current software.

We could send a specific message to southbounders who registered between May 15 and June 1.

[lemon b]

Any time reservations are taken this far in advance you can expect quite a few no shows and cancellations.

[Lauriep]

So far we have almost 300 thru-hikers who have participated in the voluntary registration system. A chart should be attached in different format, and is now linked on the registration page www.appalachiantrail.org/thruhikeregistration. It's a humble start, but every day we are working to improve the system a little bit.

At last count (earlier this evening), we had 254 nobos, 15 flip-floppers (starting somewhere other than Springer, 7 of those in Harpers Ferry), and 6 sobos. (The most recent ones haven't been sorted yet).

We have started sending out commemorative hangtags in the shape of the NPS A.T. logo, with the A.T. logo featured prominently, the trail mileage for the current year (2,189.2), the year (2015), some Leave No Trace tips, and a place to write your trail name.

Laurie P.
ATC

[squeezebox]

So start somewhere other than Springer and take some pressure off of the big Springer bubbles. There's a May 1 mini bubble going north from Harpers Ferry started this year. How about someone starting an April 1 bubble from Hot Springs or Erwin.

[Grampie]

I think that the ATC should let the amount of hikers starting at any time just play out. When it gets too crowded hikers will not enjoy their hike and let it be known to others who aspire to thru-hike. These folks will reconsider and some will change their minds, some what, limiting the amount of starts.
Doing a thru-hike on the AT has been glorifried to such a degree it's now become one great big party. Many who start as claimed ":thru-hikers" have no intention of hiking a thr-hike. They are the ones that are causing the over crowding. They show up not having sufficent time or money to hike for 5-6 months.

[Lauriep]

Just letting the crowds play out and clump together naturally means we are encouraging the crowd-loving party types and discouraging those who want a more primitive experience. The A.T. was created as "Footpath for those who seek fellowship with the wilderness."

ATC’s 1997 Policy on the A.T. Hiking Experience says:

The Trail Experience…is intended to represent the sum of opportunities that are available for those walking the Appalachian Trail to interact with the wild, scenic, pastoral, cultural, and natural elements of the Appalachian Trail environment, unfettered and unimpeded by competing sights or sounds and in as direct and intimate a manner as possible.

Including:

• Opportunities for observation, contemplation, enjoyment, and exploration of the natural world;
• A sense of remoteness and detachment from civilization;
• Opportunities to experience solitude; freedom; personal accomplishment; self reliance; and self-discovery;
• A sense of being on the height of the land;
• Opportunities to experience the historic and pastoral elements of the surrounding countryside;
• A feeling of being part of the natural environment;
• and
• Opportunities for travel on foot, including opportunities for long-distance hiking.

That definition has not been updated in almost 20 years, and maybe needs to be, but those have been the guiding principles.

[SGT Rock]

I hope I don't run afoul of the straight forward rules here, but for GAME hikers who are going to start this year in the spring and are discouraged by the number of people that will be out there and the impact it may have on the solitude they thought they could get, there is another option for at least the first 250 miles or so: The Benton MacKaye Trail.

The BMT was originally envisioned by it's creators as exactly this: a relief valve for the AT. In the late 1970's hikers in the GATC saw the AT as getting overcrowded and wanted to add another way for hikers to make that first section on a route with a more wilderness experience. If you think about it, what they must have been considering as overcrowding is what we would probably consider the good old days. I don't think the BMT is for everyone as some are actually looking for the social trail experience, it also doesn't have the shelter system (on purpose), it goes through more remote areas where maintenance is harder to perform so you have less of a boulevard of a trail, the town services are not as adapted to long distance hikers, it is slightly longer, etc, etc, etc. I also don't want the BMT to change into another AT, it has its own character and it gives the hiker another way of enjoying the hiking experience.

I think there are two major things that keep people from doing something like this: first it is not the traditional way to hike the AT and some people want to experience the things they have read about like getting their butt kicked by Blood Mountain or the experience of walking into Mountain Crossings after their first 3 days to get ice cream and a pack shake down, for these folks I get it and nothing will change that in the near future. But I feel if more hikers take the challenge and do something a little different then write about it, then it will eventually get it's own set of traditions like the PCT where people want to do the tunnel on the Eagle Creek Trail. The other major reason people may not consider the BMT at the start is the "official definition" of what a thru-hiker is. I've said it for years, though I've not said it a lot lately, there are authorized deviations for weather, fire, trail closure, or other emergencies. Eventually there should probably be authorized deviations for the good of the trail to prevent over use. There are folks that are going to want their certificate and want to live up to the wording of the application, to do so using the BMT on an AT thru-hike may be considered disqualifying. If the ATC were to make it clear that this is authorized for hikers to do, then I think there are some that would start considering it at least.

My personal opinion is if you had 5,000 people start the AT this year probably less than 10% would consider using the BMT. That may go up in the future or it may not. But it would start to be a relief valve for the trail. When I did this for my attempted thru-hike in 2008 I saw more hikers between Springer Mountain and Three Forks (about 7 miles) than I saw in the next 280 miles of the BMT. Granted I did start in January, but I went for days without seeing another human - not even non hikers at road crossings. Where on the AT these days will you get that?

[full conditions]

I think that the ATC should let the amount of hikers starting at any time just play out. When it gets too crowded hikers will not enjoy their hike and let it be known to others who aspire to thru-hike. These folks will reconsider and some will change their minds, some what, limiting the amount of starts.
Doing a thru-hike on the AT has been glorifried to such a degree it's now become one great big party. Many who start as claimed ":thru-hikers" have no intention of hiking a thr-hike. They are the ones that are causing the over crowding. They show up not having sufficent time or money to hike for 5-6 months.

Better informed hikers can make better informed decisions. We already know that start dates are concentrated on particular days between March 1 and April 15 and this high concentration has a measurable negative impact on campsites and other heavy use areas. Are you really advocating for less information?

[Sodium]

It's a great idea, but I'd like to see mailing address fields being optional. Not everyone wants their personal details added to another database. By all means require state + country, for some statistical analysis, but not full mailing address unless people actually *want* a free hangtag.

[Lauriep]

Required Address Necessary? - I don't see any a reason a required address needs to stay when we re-do the system for next year, especially if we get enough people saying it is uncomfortable for them or a deterrant from participating. The system was put together as a test run/pilot to learn what works, what doesn't. To be honest, most of the people in the committee didn't realize how sensitive an issue this is for people these days. I didn't even think twice about asking when I learned it showed up as the default for the software. It certainly makes sense to make it optional (assuming we can find a system that allows it--and that may be a priority) unless the hiker wants something like the hangtag.

How do others feel about this? If we hear it is really deterring people from registering, it might be able to be changed this season.


Would ATC approve the Benton MacKaye Trail as an official alternative to the A.T.? - ATC will certainly seriously consider this (we have already talked about it). Given the pressure on the A.T., it makes sense. I don't think anyone is philosophically opposed to it. But first, we'd need the majority of the primary stakeholders who manage the BMT to approve it. The primary stakeholders are, as far as I know, the Chattahoochee National Forest, The Cherokee National Forest, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and the Benton MacKaye Trail Association. We have reached out to all of them, and responses have been mixed. The U.S. Forest Service and GSMNP will need time to evaluate. There is concern about the potential influx of a lot of novice hikers in an area that is much more primitive than the A.T.