The Appalachian Trail Conservancy is asking people who plan to hike the whole trail to register in advance. The registration system is voluntary; it's intended to avoid overcrowding at popular start times for through hikers.
"The numbers have been growing by about 10 percent a year for the last several years," says Laurie Potteiger, who is with the conservancy. "Last year, about 2,500 started, most of those in a six-week window between March 1 and April 15, and if you just do the math, that's quite a few people starting each day. And the hikers tend to clump on certain dates, so that you've got big numbers, maybe even more than 100 on some days, starting on other days, particularly midweek, much lower numbers."
Only about 25 percent of people who plan to hike the whole 2,185 miles of the trail, which ends in Maine, do so, so overcrowding mostly happens at its beginning. But when it happens, overcrowding can mean trampled vegetation, lots of trash, and unsanitary conditions.
Potteiger says it can also mean a less rewarding experience for hikers. She says the voluntary registry isn't a first step to regulating the trail; the conservancy is just trying to give hikers the information they need to make sure they won't be closer together than they'd like.
"We're able to generate charts showing which days are most popular, and allow people to select days that are less popular, and therefore spread themselves out voluntarily," she says.
With the release of the hiking-themed film "Wild" late last year, the conservancy is expecting the numbers of people starting the trail to increase this year; and "A Walk In The Woods," a film about hiking the Appalachian Trail, is due out this May.
Potteiger says that's a big part of the reason it's releasing the registry now - to get ready for what she says will likely be a really big increase.
Check out the Appalachian Trail's registration page.
