If THAT'S your thing, why the AT?

[Jester2000]

I've noticed on a number of threads that many people complain about the social scene on the AT, or mention how much they dislike shelters, overcrowding on the trail, feeds, etc.

Often they'll mention that they go to the woods to get away from that sort of thing, that part of their motivation for hiking has to do with a desire to get away from society.

If that's the case, why hike the AT during the traditional hiking season? With so many underused trails to hike and explore, it seems strange to me that someone who seeks solitude would step foot on the AT when they know it's a heavily used trail, and then complain about the fact that it's a heavily used trail.

So I guess I'm wondering, if that's your thing, why the AT? Feel free, as well (if you know some), to list trails where people CAN find all of the solitude they desire. Thanks!

[Bearpaw]

I've noticed on a number of threads that many people complain about the social scene on the AT, or mention how much they dislike shelters, overcrowding on the trail, feeds, etc.

Often they'll mention that they go to the woods to get away from that sort of thing, that part of their motivation for hiking has to do with a desire to get away from society.

If that's the case, why hike the AT during the traditional hiking season? With so many underused trails to hike and explore, it seems strange to me that someone who seeks solitude would step foot on the AT when they know it's a heavily used trail, and then complain about the fact that it's a heavily used trail.

So I guess I'm wondering, if that's your thing, why the AT? Feel free, as well (if you know some), to list trails where people CAN find all of the solitude they desire. Thanks!

Honestly, I think it goes to publicity. SO MANY people have heard of the AT.

But in the southeast, how many have heard of the Benton MacKaye Trail, or Foothills Trail, or Sheltowee Trace, or Cumberland Trail, or Bartram Trail, or Pinhoti Trail or Duncan Ridge Trail or John Muir Trail (YES, there is a JMT in two sections in TN!)?

If you don't really look for alternatives, they're not as easy to find as you might think. Most folks, who've never heard of them, will go with the easy access to information on the more crowded AT.

[mister krabs]

Just in my area, Foothills Trail, BMT, DRT, Chattooga river trail, Bartram trail, Cohutta wilderness trails and more. No shelters, lots of solitude.

[traildust]

The Sheltowee Trace is what the A.T. was in the beginning. Only two shelters in over 200 miles and water is on you. No signs and privies. You want isolation, hit "The Trace".

But I would venture a guess that most all trails, especially on the weekends and those connected trails to parks and campgrounds are just as social and filled. We continue to grow as a population and urban encrochment continues at a record pace.
Let me fall of the soapbox.

[Pootz]

You will find that there are some that complain about everything on this site, just ignore them.

I just spent a week on the tuscarora trail. Starts at Mile 21 in in SNP on the AT and ends on the AT near the Darlington Shelter in PA. Great trail, and you will find lots of peace a solitude. Only saw 2 other hikers, and they were past AT thru hikers that I met in 2006. "

It's a small world but I would not want to paint it" STEVEN WRIGHT

[JAK]

surely there must be lots of solitude still to be found on the AT
you might have to avoid the certain places, certain times, but that can be fun to do

sometimes the best solitude is found places that are normally crowded, sometimes deserted

that can be part of the fun and beauty

[Alligator]

I generally time my hikes on the AT so that the bubble is not in my hiking area and find plenty of solitude. One can always camp away from shelters as well and not worry about people. There are even times at shelters were I only meet the people while fetching water, as I usually camp at a distance if others are there. I also tend to arrive late so many times I'll just cook at my campsite rather than at the picnic table. I always check to see if someone is sleeping inside at like 6-7 o'clock. I prefer my chair anyway, so it's a good excuse to be anti-social.

[Skyline]

Random thoughts:

The AT is generally well maintained, better than many other long distance trails I've been on or have researched. That would attract some folks.

The AT is within a day's drive or less for about 2/3 of the US population.

The AT is the best known trail on the planet, and there is abundant information about nearly every inch of it easily accessible. Hikers wanting to know lots of details in advance of their hikes will be attracted to the AT for this reason. Info about many other trails, which do afford more solitude, is just not that easy to come by.

Not wanting to sleep in crowded, filthy, rodent-infested shelters may not be, for some folks, the same as wanting to avoid the social scene all together.

The amenities found close to shelters (water source, sometimes a privy, bear pole or pulley, picnic table, fire rings, and pre-used tentsites) are attractive to some who don't mind being around people at all...they just don't get a good night's sleep right inside a shelter.

For those who want to avoid large groups, hiker feeds, hostels, etc. it's certainly possible on most of the AT except at heavily-visited tourist spots. But I agree there are better chances to avoid these things outside of the traditional NOBO prime time.

[Skyline]

Some of the long distance trails (well, depending on how you define long distance) that indeed offer solitude much of the time are:

The Foothills Trail (NC/SC)
The Laurel Highlands Trail (PA)
The North Country Trail in PA, OH, NY (and probably other states it goes through)
The Finger Lakes Trail (NY)

Also, many of the side trails in SNP are known for their hidden away camping spots, streams, proximity to waterfalls and historical sites, etc. Most afford excellent solitude. You can put together a pretty good itinerary by starting at the southern Park boundary at Rockfish Gap and hiking north starting on the AT. Go as far as your time permits, even all the way to the northern Park boundary or beyond. You can leave the AT at 1-20some locations to take in side loops, and rejoin the AT further north for awhile before leaving it again (repeating this scenario as desired). For an average-speed hiker doing 8-15 miles per day this can become a two-to-three week adventure. The backcountry rules in SNP are not nearly as stringent as the Smokies, so that opens up a lot of campsite possibilities.

[garlic08]

Great question. I'm one of those who avoids shelters and hostels and is somewhat vocal about it.

Just because I don't enjoy the shelters and hostels and, to some extent, most of the trail towns, doesn't mean I didn't love the AT as a footpath. It's a world-class trail and a national treasure. Almost every mile of it is intrinsically valuable, unlike the Western trails where the only conceivable reason to hike some sections is to achieve a thru hike. The AT is mostly pure fun, and there's comparatively little risk. As mentioned above, resupply difficulty is nearly negligible. And there's good water every day. The shelters, privies, feeds, hostels, etc. are very easy to ignore.

The fact that there is a continuous protected trail easement, with a wonderfully maintained footpath, through the rugged ridges of the Southern Appalachians, remains a wonder to me.

Being a confirmed Western hiker, I did not expect to ever hike the AT. But the Triple Crown beckoned, and it's hard to ignore that call. (Someone said, "You can hike one trail, or you can hike all three trails, but you can't hike just two trails.") I certainly didn't expect to enjoy the AT as much as I did.

[mudhead]

Lack of National Forest in Maine.

[max patch]

Given the purpose of the trail...

http://www.appalachiantrail.org/atf/...G_4ATexper.pdf

...if someone needs to leave its the individuals who insist on creating a party atmosphere on the trail who should "go someplace else."

[ZEKE #2]

Much to my surprise, I really enjoyed the people/social scene that I met on the trail. I had planned my route to take advantage of the solitude, but soon changed my route to include the characters that I met along the way.
Only at the very beginning in April and after Trail Days in May were the shelters really crowded. And even then I looked at it as an opportunity to meet new people. Each day I hiked, I was alone on the trail; that is except for the birds and bears.
I now have a trail family.

[JokerJersey]

My thing is I hate people. Not individuals, but people as a whole. Single person encounters can be amazing and even small groups aren't bad. It's when you get above that when I start to have trouble. Invariably someone will say or do something wrong, offend someone, blatently break the rules, litter, smoke herb in front of others like it isn't a problem, be inconsiderate of others personal space or feelings, or any number of other things. Then when someone goes to correct them or calls them out on it, you immediately divide the group into for/against instead of being able to have a rational conversation with "most" individuals.

If it's a single person encounter, the dynamic is completely different then when mob rule applies. Most people in a single person encounter aren't really out to piss off the only other person there, but when the group dynamic comes into play, then you need to start worrying about things like ego, saving face, and other social attachments that often times don't come into it when speaking with someone one-on-one.

Society is what bothers me and the miniscule dynamics that accompany it. I have very rarely had issues when dealing with another human being in a single or small group environment, but have often times had issues with those same individuals when the larger group dynamic comes into play.

As for the AT, I'm going NOBO. I know I'm going to run into groups of people. I'm not forced to stay with them, stay in shelters, or do any of the things that others might choose to do. My town stops will be limited to resupply, maybe a motel stay, laundry, a shower, and perhaps dinner...then out again the next morning. I'm not looking to head out to the local tavern, pour back half a keg of beer, get loud, rowdy, and wake up the next morning hung-over, trying to figure out why my underwear are on backwards and why I have the word "Dingus" on my forehead in black permanent marker.

I'm looking forward to meeting the "individuals" on the trail, but plan on avoiding as much of the "social" group aspect of it as possible. My reasons for choosing the AT is location, the fact that it is well maintained, resupply is easy, it's probably the "easiest" of the long trails, and it passes through some of the country that I hold near and dear to my heart. After that, who knows where I may go next.

[Frosty]

If you don't really look for alternatives, they're not as easy to find

No agrument with this

[mweinstone]

if you hate parts of the at scene at its peak, dosnt that sort of intail you actually love the trail and can really be bothered by misuse of it by others? isnt possesion part of it. dont you have to think of the at as your own to care at all? and isnt our trail so hard up for dollars and volenteers and such that its great anyone even complains cause it means they used our trail once at least. and if their exsperiences are negetive and they blab about it, dosnt that spread not only information about our trail but gives challenge to some to prove it wrong. i feel every step by every person or dog on the at is a step twords protecting and ensuring the future of , my trail. so negetive is better than no comments and less use.

[mweinstone]

and bushwacking the winds is what you want for solitude. and a day in the pines on one of many trails other than of course such simular to the at trails as batsto, will provide the hiker with the sureity of being the only soul to have walked their that day. not running into hikers is easy. pick the dead zones like the benten mckey instead of the springer to neels section of at. not running into great hikers that become friends of a sort i need is why i stopped solo bushwacking in my 20's.and tolorating and or informing misusers is our duty as lovers of the trail. and its easy when you speak with love and the authority of a hiker who is hiking properly , respecting the wilds and others. as for the un tameables, we got 911. how hard is it to share? not very.

[Darwin again]

... Most people in a single person encounter aren't really out to piss off the only other person there, but when the group dynamic comes into play, then you need to start worrying about things like ego, saving face, and other social attachments that often times don't come into it when speaking with someone one-on-one.

So I see you've never been hiking with my dad.
But seriously, this can be a generational, cultural or class problem, with a member of one group feeling they've been disrespected or slighted somehow by a member of another group. Some people bring those group values with them because they've internalized them, not realizing or perhaps not caring that other people do things differently.

My reasons for choosing the AT is location, the fact that it is well maintained, resupply is easy, it's probably the "easiest" of the long trails, and it passes through some of the country that I hold near and dear to my heart.

Dude.
"easiest" ?
Bwah-hahahahaha!

Is it better to suffer alone or share your experiences with fellow travelers? I like both. I can be alone in a room full of people or in the midst of a big city. It's all in your mind...

[modiyooch]

I hiked 25 AT miles in maine two weekends ago and didn't see a sole. I get plenty of solitude on the trail even when it's busier. I too, enjoy the solitude, but also enjoy the sporadic encounters along the way. What I like the most is not having to adhere to a time schedule. I also don't typically stay at shelters. I'm asleep by dark. I hike many trails, but primarily hike the AT to complete a lifetime goal.

[Mags]

Just because I don't enjoy the shelters and hostels and, to some extent, most of the trail towns, doesn't mean I didn't love the AT as a footpath. It's a world-class trail and a national treasure.

Garlic summed it up quite well.

The only .02 I'll add that it is possible to have a nice compromise at night for social vs. solitude. Have your dinner at the shelters and converse with your fellow travelers for a little bit.

After dinner? Stroll, at most, .25 down the trail. Put up your shelter and sleep peacefully.

The shelters are a convenience. They aren't necessary for the AT experience IMO. When it is cold, rainy and you have it to yourself..they can be nice. Otherwise? I'd rather avoid the crowded sleeping arrangements.

The AT is beautiful in many ways. There just happens to be many ways to enjoy it, too.

As for solitude back east..the Cohos Trail comes to mind along with the Benton MacKaye Trail and the northern portion of the Long Trail.

re: "Easiest"

In some ways, the AT is the easiest of the big three trails. Logistics are super easy. There is a lot of help along the way if you need it. And there is a boat load of planning info if a hiker chooses to take advantage of it. That does not mean it is the "easy". (Which is why the author put it, quite correctly, in quotes). Other than northern New England (which still has THE toughest trails physically I've ever hiked), the grades aren't as bad as people make them to be IMO. The constant rain can be a PITA of course.

I think the AT has this hard reputation because many of the people hiking the AT are new to long distance hiking, aren't in shape, and carry fairly heavy loads. Just my opinion after hiking the BMT 11 yrs after I thru-hiked the AT. I found the BMT (which is supposed to be steeper than the nearby AT) to be not as hard as I remembered my own AT thru-hike to be. Of course, opinions are like something else: WE ALL HAVE ONE AND THEY ALL STINK.