Why I’m Never Hiking The Appalachian Trail

Well, Bye.

The AT is my only thru hike, and I loved it. I won’t try to convince anybody to hike it if he or she has already formed an opinion admittedly based on speculation other people’s accounts. I definitely don’t want to come across as attacking anybody for their opinion, just pointing out what I am seeing in this article.

The Halfway Anywhere 1 second a day video from the PCT was probably the one single thing that I can look back at as the spark that lit the fire for my AT thru hike, so if anything, I owe you a debt of gratitude.

If you do end up changing your mind, a late season SOBO would be awesome. It would probably work out really well for you. The crowds will be almost non existent, the humidity won’t really matter with the cooler weather, and the green tunnel will have dropped most of its leaves by the time you get there.

Whatever you choose to do is up to you, and if you do hit the AT, I hope that you have a great time out there.

Long distance hiking is rewarding in the journey. Yes, it’s uncomfortable, but the payoff is huge. There are tons of views on the A.T., and the green tunnels are beautiful. There are thousands of hikers every year, but split those thousands across the 2.2k miles and you have plenty of privacy. As for the shelters: you don’t have to sleep in them, and most prefer not to. I slept in a shelter 4 nights out of 182. Yes, it rains, and it’s humid in the later months, but if I didn’t want to experience nature, I’d stay home and let those who truly appreciate nature take my place.

Next time you get high on your own farts, keep it to yourself.

I’m sure this article was intended to come off as playful mockery, but it just came off as a genuinely unpleasant and bad taste attack.

I could use some of your own arguments from the PCT vs CDT article, about not getting mauled by bears, not having to drink out of cowshit piss buckets, having access to towns that aren’t dumps, having a continuous trail, getting affirmation from society at large.

My real argument wouldn’t be any of that because that comes down to taste. Maybe your tastes just align with the PCT instead. However, I think the most compelling argument I could make to you would be that it is different. Which isn’t the argument you think I’m making. It’s different because it’ll make you evaluate why you need validation, why you shit on gatekeeping jerks and then turn around and immediately act like a gatekeeping jerk. Why a walk through some of the most beautiful forests on the planet isn’t good enough for you. Why a rainstorm is apparently enough to make you not want to hike anymore. I think it is different because all the things you listed *shouldn’t* make you not want to do the AT. You’d need to be a couchsurfing pissbaby to say “im not going to do a thru-hike because muh humidity. Which means there is another reason. There is certainly another reason why the AT is beneath you. Why a thruhike of the PCT with its wealth of newbie hikers and trail towns is rad, but the AT is full of hobo trash. I think you should do it because you seem to think you’re too good for the AT, but you’re not. Maybe as you spend your first month thinking about how stupid it is, how overcrowded it is, how much better than everyone around you you are, and how much better the PCT is you’ll learn something about yourself. Like to appreciate things for once and not rail on about how things suck and you’re hot shit.

Though to be honest, I think you’d be doing the community of the AT a favor by not bringing your cloud of negativity with you and raining all over the already rainy parade.

I’ve hiked the AT, and it was my first trail, I’ve done several others since. Anyone telling you it’s great is full of shit.

What you’ve heard from former AT hikers is spot on. I can add more.

– Green Tunnel Yes, you wrote about this. Basically the worst parts of the PCT (Southern Oregon) and CDT (Idaho) trump the majority of the AT.

– Homeless people AT hikers don’t like to talk about it on other trails, but yes there’s a lot of bums. Bums suck.

– Trail Crime It’s pretty common and well documented. People have been murdered out there, and as a result lot of people are carrying.

– Trash I’d see trash everywhere. People treat firepits as if they were trashcans. On the PCT, occasionally you’d see a dropped jolly rancher wrapper or Chapstick, the AT I saw trash daily.

There’s other stuff I’m leaving out, I’m thankful I did it as it lead me to do the PCT/CDT/Hayduke but that’s the only reason why I’m happy I did it. Actually… I probably would have done those trails if I got off the first week of the AT.

I’m from the east coast and that’s WHY I chose to hike the PCT. I’ve been messing around in the appalachians my whole life and while it’s a beautiful place to live and hike, it can’t compare with the sheer scale of the ranges out west. And if you know a rainstorm isn’t going to sneak up in the middle of the night, and you aren’t cursed with tree cover/clouds/light pollution, you get to experience the magic that is seeing stars all night, every night. But then again I’m a misanthrope who dislikes towns and company, so it’s definitely a matter of taste.

I’ve never hiked the AT but I am a Western WA native currently residing in Nashville TN. The majority of my hiking has been in WA state in the Cascades. I’ve also hiked in the Olypmics. According to NOAA the Olympic Peninsula, Specifically, near Hoh Rainforest in Olympic National park in WA is the wettest place in the US. and it is unbelievably beautiful! The WA section of the PCT is notorious for wet ,soggy weather. It rains a lot in TN too but not as regularly as it does in WA. There are more sunny days here in the South east per year than in WA where it is overcast 9 out of 12 months.Not seeing the sun for 9 months can drain your soul.

I too am apprehensive to hike the AT for several of the same reasons you listed. But I haven’t ruled it out. There are several reasons I am still considering it.

TN is beautiful and the Smokies are amazing in both spring and fall. This past April I was visiting Gatlinburg with my family from WA and the trees were frozen. We were in awe over what the landscape looked like with ice covered limbs. Last fall visited them and the colors were amazing. It was like a kaleidoscope of colors. You won’t see that type of thing the the West.

The summer sounds. I had never heard the cicadas or bug sounds of summer until I moved to the South East. It is music to my ears and I love it. I’d also never seen firefly’s. On summer nights it looks like the forest is twinkling with little lights and it’s magical.

The Limsestone stream beds are different from those in the west. Sometimes the stream beds looks like steps or shelves and it is interesting.

Like you I am not excited about ticks, shelters, or crowds. I’ve learned to deal with the humidity. The green tunnel is a blessing in humid weather because hiking in direct sunlight in humidity intensifies the effects of the humidity. I would take direct sun light in the desert over direct sunlight in humidity any day.

I am currently planning a 2020 Thru hike of the PCT. I love desert hiking and am really excited about that section. If the permit situation doesn’t work out I may decide to hike the AT instead. I’m so close it would be easy logistically. I’m a west coaster and have been planning the PCT long before I moved to TN.

Not trying to convince you to hike the AT just sharing my observations as a west coast transplant living in Tn for the last year.

Seems its a matter of taste. I know a few guys from the local Mazamas climb / hike organization turn their thru-hiking adventures into penis measuring contests similar to peak bagging. It’s funny to hear from the sidelines. If I could choose only one, my personal choice would be whatever hike affords me as much alpine zone trekking possible. I enjoy the expansive views typical to alpine (or near) trekking, while many close friends prefer those dark, green tunnels. The latter isn’t my preferred. My only exception to preferring alpine hiking are the Olympics. Those old growth forests with giant trees, elk herds, and black bears are pretty cool. The presence of those few remaining old growth ecosystems with healthy populations of native animals (goats are not Olympic native) provides another dimension, and validates the signature of wild, as opposed to just pretty scenery.

The AT was my first thru-hike. I think a lot of what you say is true, and some of what you think is not.
There is certainly a lot of humidity and lack of views. It can be a suffer fest with little reward. That just makes it more of a mental game than other thru hikes.
I don’t think it’s overcrowded or full of homeless people. I only met one guy who was living in the shelter on Trail the whole time. Georgia in spring is the only time I would consider the trail crowded.
I’ve hiked all over out west, did the GHT in Nepal, hiked in the Andes and Europe; and even I would consider doing the AT again. There’s just something special about it. It feels like home.
You could hike off season Sobo. Idc, do what you want. I do think you will miss out on a lot of the magic of the AT if you’re going against the current.

Halfway Anywhere, I laughed through the entire article. I thru-hiked the AT last year and am glad I did. It was a wonderful and miserable experience. Wonderful in many ways, while nearly any amount of misery could be traced back to the relentless rain, fog and mud I encountered. Even though I would never trade my experience last year – even if I could – I have no plans to repeat the full AT. PCT 2020, here I come.

The PCT is an engineered trail through young mountains along switch-backed cattle paths. The AT follows old mountain bootlegger trails directly up old creek beds and brutal head walls with much more elevation gain and loss than the PCT. You have to use your knees. Maybe you’re just scared that it’s too hard for you?

The west has some spectacular vistas and a lot to offer long distance backpackers, but your pompous attitude about the AT says more about you, than the trail. Most who have done it, view it as a great experience and adventure. A couple comments on your gripes. Shelters are pretty popular on rainy nights and great areas to meet and socialize with other hikers. The humidity is tough if you hike in July and August in the lower 2/3, but with a small bit of brain power you can plan a hike to avoid most of the humidity. Some really neat sections in Smokies, E. Tenn, VA triple crown, Shenandoah, Whites and ME.

You sound like a lot of fun to be around and very open minded. Most long distance hikers on the AT are great fun, good thing we didn’t have to rub shoulders with a “downer” like you. Different trails, different cultures. HYOH.

My only real take away from this article, especially after reading the comments and noticing how intensely this author feels he needs to come back at people after every perceived slight, is that his guy has issues. And Appalachian trail, it’s not you it’s him. We still love you, minor flaws and all.

Hike it. Don’t hike it. I agree with you on a lot of your comments concerning the AT. But none of them are reasons not to hike the AT. You can find a wilderness experience if you want to. You don’t have to camp at the official sites or stay in a shelter. Believe it or not, you can find solitude on the AT. Like you, I prefer a wilderness experience, but the AT is a combination of experiences. And you can take alternate routes in many place to get that experience, unless of course you are a purist and want to hike every inch of the white-blazed AT.

The AT is a very tough hike for all the reasons you mentioned. And more. There are very few switchbacks as there are in the west, which make climbing many of the western hills and mountains easier. The AT is all up and down in the rain and in the humidity and in the snow and in the good weather. Of course the best times to hike the AT is in the early spring and fall. But that is not ideal for everyone, particularly long-distance thru hikers.

There are similar reasons and different reasons not to hike any trail. One can be negative about anything. I can write an article about why I wouldn’t want to hike the PCT (actually I’ve hiked parts of it.)

You can put obstacles in your way about doing anything — whether it be hiking or getting up in the morning.

The one point I disagree with you on is about the views. I lived in the west for eight years and loved hiking above tree line. But there is something inspiring about hiking the AT through the green tunnel and climbing up to some of those incredible vistas on the east coast. You are rewarded for your hard work with a magnificent gift of an incredible view at the top of many mountains. These are the places where I stop to eat or rest or nap and enjoy. The sudden appearance of a breathtaking view after hiking through the trees is incredibly gratifying to spirit and the soul. And makes you actually appreciate the AT – and pushes you on to the next vista. The contrasts of walking in dense forests and then having the unanticipated beauty of a panorama hit your eyes is a marvelous experience. There are green tunnels that also occur in parts of the PCT. Zen masters, if you are into that and I am not but I respect their philosophy, would say that having a view all day long, though delightful, is not as fulfilling spiritually as having achieved the view after miles of intense hiking.

So, many of your reasons for not hiking the AT could actually be reasons for accepting the challenge. Ticks are everywhere. I’ve had deer ticks in me on the PCT in Oregon. I’ve fought humidity and incredible rain on the Coast Trail of British Columbia. And I fought loneliness on an incredible 35 day off-trail trek in the Alaskan Brooks Range with a heavy pack where I didn’t see a soul. The AT is unique in that the east coast has a much more diverse habitat and abundance of species than the west coast. Of course there are no deserts on the East Coast. And you can find solitude on the East Coast if you search and want it. Most of the hikers on the AT seem to like to group up into close-knit friends. Although I like people, hiking with a group is not for me. If I hike alone or with one other partner, I can hike the AT with as much solitude I crave. That is truly hiking my own hike. And as I said, if I want to take less-travelled alternative routes from Springer to Katahdin, that is possible in some places.

But again, you can put as many obstacles in your way, or you can choose to conquer those obstacles. It’s your choice. Good luck.

As a West Virginian, I resent that the AT barely goes through the edge of WV, even though the state is arguably the heart of Appalachia. Because of that and for all the reasons you mention, I’m not too interested in the AT.

For seeing WV, I recommend Dolly Sods Wilderness, Cranberry Wilderness, and New River Gorge National Park.

I probably have a different perspective on the AT than many. Nearly every reason listed weren’t issues because of the way I hiked the AT. I hiked the southern half of the AT going SOBO in the fall of 2015 and then the northern half SOBO in the fall of 2016.

I had plenty of solitude, but still made a few friends. Several days I didn’t see a single person. I got to follow the fall colors which turned the green tunnel into a vibrant red/orange/yellow tunnel. Afterwards the leaves fell and there were many more views. I encountered a few storms, but it was rare. There was also no noticeable humidity by the end of September. I only slept in shelters maybe four times over the entire AT. I set up my tent near them a bit more often. Given the time of year, I usually had these areas to myself or shared them with one or two other hikers. I don’t remember ever encountering a bum (admittedly it can sometimes be hard to tell the difference between a hiker and bum).

Certain sections, particularly in the New England area, there are an abundance of towns.

From what I heard, the experience is very different if you start NOBO in peak season. The reasons you listed are probably much more applicable then. Either a fall SOBO or a fall flip flop are probably th. I hiked the southern half of the AT going SOBO in the fall of 2015 and then the northern half SOBO in the fall of 2016.

I had plenty of solitude, but still made a few friends. I got to follow the fall colors which turned the green tunnel into a vibrant red/orange/yellow tunnel. Afterwards the leaves fell and there were many more views. I encountered a few storms, but it was rare. There was also no noticeable humidity by the end of September. I only slept in shelters maybe four times over the entire AT. I set up my tent near them a bit more often. Given the time of year, I usually had these areas to myself or shared them with one or two other hikers. I don’t remember ever encountering a bum (admittedly it can sometimes be hard to tell the difference between a hiker and bum).

Certain sections, particularly in the New England area, there are an abundance of towns.

From what I heard, the experience is very different if you start NOBO in peak season. The reasons you listed are certainly much more applicable then. My experience is also five years old. Maybe the numbers have exploded to such an extent even the fall is overcrowded. If you change your mind a fall SOBO or a fall flip flop are probably the best times to start. I don’t know how the PCT or CDT compares, but I’ll find out in a month when I start my SOBO PCT L.A.S.H.!

Boy it sounds like your Life SUCKS. Get outside and enjoy what you can while you can !!!