Hikers behaving badly: Appalachian Trail partying raises ire

[Nurrgle]

Interesting story about some of the problems they are seeing on the Appalachian with the surge in people. Sorry for the link, I hate to send anyone to that site but the story was too good.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/08/3...hian-trail-partying-raises-ire/?intcmp=hplnws


So, what do those of us who have been here do to help prevent damage to our trails, restricted access, and souring of local opinions?

 

[hikerboy]

ive been hiking the at si nce the 70s.there havealways been a small percentage of dummies. the past few years the number of hikers has increased dramatically, with a growing number of a-holes along with it. this year a few hostels had to close due to bad behaviour. the jurek scene was a very public example of how not to respect the rules of baxter state park authority.the atc needs to get ridgerunners in place at both abol bridge and the birches to ensure thru hikers understand the rules, aand that th etrail itself is at risk should they choose to break them.
baxter also needs to shoulder more responsibility towards enforcing those rules.

 

[IntrepidXJ]

We have the same issue with the more popular 14ers here in Colorado....which is why I try to avoid them and hike less popular areas. If I can't avoid a popular hike, I try to go during the week and very early.

 

[mak1277]

I think it's absolutely a volume issue. The percentage of people that are problems isn't necessarily increasing, but the denominator is, which means there are more jerks and partiers and whatever...

I don't really consider the AT if my goal is to find solitude. Fortunately, there are still tons of places and millions of acres where you can be more or less alone.

 

[BJett]

The AT is always going to have issues, especially now that A Walk in the Woods is coming out. Not sure why people feel the need to flock to an area just because its in a movie, but whatever. I avoid those kind of places like the plague, there are so many more options than the AT.
Anyone looking for solitude should know better by now.

 

[slc_dan]

I'm really torn on ACT/PCT. On one hand, I'd love to be on the trail for 4-6 months, I'd love to accomplish something that big. For some reason it would be easier to justify a big hike like that. Not to myself, but to others I suppose. On the other hand the culture of it all is bizarre to me. Having a trail name, "trail angels", and it being a very social thing are all very odd.

 

[hikerboy]

i hiked the benton mackaye trail this spring which runs 286 miles from Springer mtn through the smokies. in 25 days i saw only 5 people.
there are plenty of less populous trails.
but that wasnt the question.

 

[Vegan.Hiker]

I've spent a good amount of time on the AT and it's shelters in several states and have never seen any rowdy behavior from thru-hikers. To be honest, the rowdy crowds I've encountered have been either overnighter groups lugging tons of alcohol to a popular campsite/shelter or large Boy Scout troops yelling and screaming. You gotta figure long distance hikers that pound out serious mileage every day wouldn't be willing to carry around the excess weight of enough alcohol to "party" with.

 

[Nick]

I'm really torn on ACT/PCT. On one hand, I'd love to be on the trail for 4-6 months, I'd love to accomplish something that big. For some reason it would be easier to justify a big hike like that. Not to myself, but to others I suppose. On the other hand the culture of it all is bizarre to me. Having a trail name, "trail angels", and it being a very social thing are all very odd.

Sounds like the CDT is for you. Or maybe just the Hayduke. Totally agree though. It's hard to wrap my head around that whole thing.

 

[mak1277]

I've spent a good amount of time on the AT and it's shelters in several states and have never seen any rowdy behavior from thru-hikers. To be honest, the rowdy crowds I've encountered have been either overnighter groups lugging tons of alcohol to a popular campsite/shelter or large Boy Scout troops yelling and screaming. You gotta figure long distance hikers that pound out serious mileage every day wouldn't be willing to carry around the excess weight of enough alcohol to "party" with.

Two thoughts:

1) I think many (most?) of the problems that are being documented are coming in town...hikers get to hostels and then the parties start.
2) I also think the party substance of choice in some cases is significantly lighter than alcohol.

 

[BJett]

threadjack... @hikerboy how about a Benton Mackeye Trail trip report? I've done parts around Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock, intrigued to hear about other sections....end threadjack.

 

[hikerboy]

two years ago i hiked north on the AT from Springer to Damascus,Va with the "bubble". it was very much a social experience, with quite a few partiers. most thru hikers are good people , but there is a growing "entitled" class that exercise little dioscretion in their partying activities.
last year i hiked the benton mackaye trail from springer thru the smokies to get out of the bubble and have a more solitary hike. i got on the AT at davenport gap, and hiked north through virginia. the campsites were more crowded than the year before with upwards of 30 people camped at some sites. most are well behaved, but some, not so much. this year, the crowds increased, and several hostels have shut their doors due to hikers behaving poorly.
the atc has begun to promote alternative thru hike ideas, flip flops, to help alleviate the overcrowding thats becoming a problem with lnt as well.
with the movie a walk in the woods coming out this month, there is growing apprehension the crowds will worsen.
most thru hikers are great people, but theres always been a few bad apples. the problem is now theres more of them.

 

[hikerboy]

threadjack... @hikerboy how about a Benton Mackeye Trail trip report? I've done parts around Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock, intrigued to hear about other sections....end threadjack.

I have a very complete report with pictures at my website: http://www.appalachiantrailcafe.net...thru-hike-2015-pt-2-the-best-plan-is-no-plan/

its a great trail, more backcountry than ridgeline walking, and a much more solitary hike.
"oh,no, not more waterfalls and cascades!!"

 

[Nurrgle]

My guess is there is just more people on the trail in general. There is always going to be the element of people that like to have a little fun, this often gets compounded by meeting new friends and celebrating the situation. Any camp that has a large number of people in it is going to get rowdy sometimes.