Here it is, the first day of summer. Those thru-hikers that set out in March/April should be in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania in substantial numbers now. Those hardy individuals setting out on a southbound (SOBO) hike from Maine should be showing up in New Hampshire.
By now a good portion of those that have decided that a thru-hike is not for them have dropped off the trail by now. The attrition rate will slow and most of those that leave the trail now do so because of physical injury, family problems back home, or, they just tire of hiking every day. What many don’t realize by looking at a map of the Appalachian Trail is that the hikers are not even halfway until they get up into Pennsylvania. A full quarter of the trail is contained within the Virginia border! This is a very long walk.
The individuals that are now continuing on their thru-hike are lean and mean. They’ve seen it all: harsh weather, cold, heat, insects, animal encounters and difficulties getting food resupply. The other welcome thing that they are starting to see more of are “trail angels”. Trail angels are a unique phenomenon, and I don’t know about other trails, but I would bet that the A.T. has more trail activity than any other on the planet. Please do comment if you know otherwise.
For those of you that don’t know, trail angels are common folk, ex-thru-hikers, friends of hikers, family, etc. that go out and help the hikers wherever they can. They leave stuff at road crossings like energy drinks and water in coolers, food and treats and even basics like toilet paper and hygiene materials. Some get really carried away and bring out hot dogs, hamburgs, salads, you name it. The really thoughtful ones even brought veggie burgers, that was really neat and considerate.
Another not so obvious service is hauling away trash for the hikers. I recall on a number of occasions being absolutely thrilled to find a trash bag to put my junk in; how thoughtful.
If you have a chance, and you’re in any of those states I mentioned above and you have a spare day, go out to the trail, take some treats and treat some hikers, they will appreciate it very much.