The Citizen asked Tenny Webster, Appalachian Trail Conservancy Trail Information Specialist, some questions about hiking the trail. Webster has worked at the ATC headquarters in Harpers Ferry, W.V. for 2.5 years, thru-hiked the trail in ’96, and volunteers with the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, one of the 31 Trail clubs that maintains the Trail.
How many people hike the trail yearly on average? How many of those are thru-hikers?
TW: Conventional wisdom asserts that upwards of 3 million people visit the A.T. A very small portion of those folks are thru-hikers—on the order of roughly 4000 thru-hiker starts. Roughly a quarter to a third of those thru-hiker hopefuls finish their hike within 12 months.
What are the most common reasons for inability to complete the hike? What helps a hiker successfully complete the trail?
TW: There are many reasons prospective thru-hikers drop out of the hike and include: injuries (due to overuse), family emergencies/obligations, boredom/would rather be doing something else, running out of money, or being overwhelmed (by the distance). Successful thru-hikers quite simply stay healthy, keep their overarching goals in mind, hold their doubts in check, and plod onward…and onward…and onward
What is the biggest challenge of hiking the Appalachian Trail?
TW: ‘Not dying from a thousand paper cuts’ sort of thing. Thru-hikers have many challenges—difficult terrain, plowing through boredom, staying healthy, balancing caloric intake with expenditure, budgeting the entire hike, ‘weathering’ the weather….
What is an average cost of undertaking this endeavor?
TW: Very thrifty hikers can do it for less than 3K. I’ve heard of people spending upwards of 10K—it’s easy to do if you rack up many motel stays when in town and eat two meals on the town for every one meal non-hikers eat.
What are essentials for hiking the trail?
TW: To start, proper equipment for any weather, maps and/or a guidebook, sustaining food, water treatment system, appropriate footwear, preparation (physical prep and letting family or friends know hiking plans and establishing reasonable expectations for when they will hear back—definitely NOT every day!) and grit.
What is your best advice to anyone considering thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail?
TW: Be creative—don’t blindly start in Georgia and hike north to Maine. It can be done a million different ways, including starting in Maine and going south, and starting anywhere between either termini and ‘flip-flopping’ to cover the entire Trail.
What are dangers of the trail? How many people get lost, suffer a medical emergency on the trail, etc? How do you avoid these safety issues?
TW: You can avoid most dangers by planning and preparing for a hike. Sharpening your situational awareness, paying attention and having maps especially made for the A.T. will help prevent major tragedies and minor snafus alike. Hikers, by and large, must self-evacuate if they get into trouble, though 911 should be called if there is an emergency anywhere on the A.T. However, since reception isn’t always good enough to get through to emergency services, so self-evacuation is often the best course of action—and a map is key for finding the fastest route to safety.
Although the Trail is relatively ‘safe’ from crime when compared to it’s total area and visitation, everyone should still take common sense precautions.
Most difficult portion of the trail? Best view on the trail?
TW: Hard to say. The Mahoosuc notch stands out as the single most arduous mile on the A.T. where a hiker crawls between (and through) and sometimes over refrigerator to house sized boulders within a tight valley. Other notable difficult sections: The White Mountains National Forest in New Hampshire, much of North Carolina/Tennessee, the ‘roller coaster’ in northern Virginia, and Katahdin, in Maine. Too many ‘best’ views to name, but the good views tend to go hand in hand with the difficult sections listed above, with the notable exceptions of the Mahoosuc Notch and the ‘roller coaster.’

For much more information on the Appalachian Trail, visit www.appalachiantrail.org.