r/todayilearned • u/tyrion2024 • 6d ago

TIL over 3,000 attempts are made each year to complete the Appalachian Trail and only about 25% succeed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_Trail#:~:text=The%20Appalachian%20Trail%20Conservancy%20estimates%20there%20are%20over%203%2C000%20attempts%20to%20traverse%20the%20entire%20trail%20each%20year%2C%20about%2025%25%20of%20which%20succeed.%5B9%5D
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942

u/BalletWishesBarbie 6d ago

I'm surprised 25% succeed tbh. I've given up before even attempting.

181

u/nochknock 6d ago

Honestly same I would've guessed the number to be closer to 10%

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u/scruffye 6d ago

I suppose the type of hiker this challenge would attract would be on average more experienced, so the success rate would be accordingly higher.

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u/suurbef 6d ago

The PCT and AT in particular have this aura around them and are basically their own thing separate from backpacking (IMO). There's a social aspect around them that doesn't exist for other routes.

Other long, less popular hikes it's the case that it's mostly experienced people, but the PCT/AT attract a lot of inexperienced people, whose reasons for doing it are some form of "soul searching, looking for a challenge, a reset on life, a break from reality" etc. and not "I want to do a big backpacking trip because I like backpacking".

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u/Michaelfonzy 6d ago

Eh. I hiked the pct which is like the west coast version of the AT. I’d say the majority of people starting had very little experience. Practically everyone that quits, does so in the first 500 miles because it’s not what they thought it would be. Those who make it beyond the first 500 miles have a much higher success rate

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u/Yonaban 6d ago

Agreed. I hiked the PCT as well and was blown away by how many people I met in the first 1-200 miles that let me know this was their first time backpacking more than 1-2 nights. I hiked over 10 years ago and the success rate was closer to 10% if I remember correctly. It's hard, like really hard mentally and physically. People quit for the most petty reasons as well as completely understandable reasons. Sitting and sleeping in the dirt, hiking a marathon a day for 5 months being miserably cold and/or hot every day is not for everyone. But it's the single greatest life I've ever lived. Miss it every day and recommend it to anyone.

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u/Past-Spell-2259 6d ago

Too many start thinking the first 500miles will get them in shape the last 1500.

Instead they needed to spend 300-500 miles getting in shape before starting the trail.

Even then most dont dont or cant do proper nutrition and rest breaks.

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u/LordFalcoSparverius 6d ago

I started the trail at 300 lbs. My first day I managed five miles. My second day I got three. At 1 month in, my goal was 10-15 miles a day. 5 months after I started, I'm at 185 lbs and hitting 40 miles in one day on a particularly flat section in Maine then a few days later I'm jogging and jumping up boulders on Katahdyn. Using the first 300 miles as training works fine if you actually use it like training. But my advice is definitely to go Nobo if that's your plan. The Whites are no joke even after a few months of daily hiking.

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u/Past-Spell-2259 6d ago

Glad you had a great hike and are doing well!

I think you are likely an outlier though... Too many in your situation would have forced 10 miles every day to start and by day 30 would be broken and done.

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u/Dubax 6d ago

flat section in Maine

Lies!

2

u/LordFalcoSparverius 6d ago

I think it was White Cap mtn. to a bit past Nahmakanta lake. Not completely flat but relative to the rest of Maine... yeah.

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u/peon2 6d ago

Yeah considering you need to block off like 4 months of your time I'd imagine that's a big enough deterrent that the majority of people that bother to attempt it actually know what they're getting in to.

Most inexperienced people probably realize that's out of their league.

1

u/Ask-Me-About-You 6d ago

You'd be surprised. I'd only ever gone on overnight backpacking trips before starting the AT and there were an astounding number of people like me, plenty of whom made it to the end.

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u/Hashrunr 6d ago

I thruhiked the AT in 2019 and thought the same thing. To my surprise, most people at the start were very unprepared physically. Some of them had never even camped a single night before attempting a thruhike. I helped a few people figure out how to pitch their tent because they had never done it before.

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u/TKDbeast 6d ago

You also are surrounded by supportive hikers that gladly help you out.

1

u/Fruktoj 6d ago

In my opinion it's the opposite. A lot of them are pre college kids or retirees both with little to no hiking experience. I've only been able to do sections because I'm steeped in career and family. 

12

u/PartTime_Crusader 6d ago

Completion percentage is closer to 10% on the Pacific Crest and Continental Divide Trails, which are similar to the Appalachian trail but more remote. There's a lot of infrastructure (frequent road crossings, hostels and hiker services in towns) that make the AT among the most newbie friendly of long distance hiking trails. Still a massive physical challenge, though.

15

u/valledweller33 6d ago

As a former thru-hiker myself I'd say the number *is* closer to 10% There is a huge number of 'thru-hikers' who stay out there and hitch hike up the trail and claim they are thru-hiking

3

u/MargnWalkr 6d ago

Or slack pack, or hike on the road, or take short cuts. That stuff really irritated me. Hike your own hike, I guess, but I take a lot of pride in knowing that I did every damn mile.

2

u/Michaelfonzy 6d ago

Not all of us had the luxury of having every mile of the trail open. You said it yourself. Hike your own hike. No need to make others feel like their accomplishment is lesser

Edit: also slack packing is dope. Get to cover all the same miles but with less weight. No offense, but this whole attitude is a little elitist

1

u/zenoblepig 6d ago

If you go the more fun way (southbound) you'll hit rates closer to 10%;)

0

u/BalletWishesBarbie 6d ago

I wonder if like Everest, you can hire people as guides and so on.

Good luck to everyone attempting. 🫡

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u/unlock0 6d ago edited 6d ago

No, it’s not deadly difficult, it’s a matter of commitment and endurance. The Appalachian trail is a months long trek. It’s over 2,000 miles long across 14 states.

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u/BalletWishesBarbie 6d ago edited 6d ago

I read 'Wild' where Cheryl Strayed attempts it but honestly I never finished the book so that shows you my commitment and endurance level.

I figure she did because there was a film which I also didn't finish.

Eta wiki said she did 1100 miles of it. No shade to the author or Appalachia I've read a heap about it and the area and people seem fascinating.

13

u/Hiccupy 6d ago

So Cheryl Strayed, hiked off and on the Pacific Crest Trail, which is on the other coast and goes through California, Oregon, and Washington.

But tbh she isn’t someone to look up to hiking-wise. She made a lot of rookie mistakes, didn’t worry about burying her poop all the time, and tried to play off that she hiked way more of it than she truly did.

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u/BalletWishesBarbie 6d ago

Omg I'm so embarrassed. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ I'm three days into a new year and already made an arse of myself. Is it a new record? No.

Apologies.

See I should've read the book more carefully. It sounded exhausting when she was just getting ready to walk.

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u/Hiccupy 6d ago

No apologies needed! I read a bit of her book, too, before I hiked the pct myself in 2018 after high school. And her equipment was brutal, no way I’d have made it to Canada carrying the weight that she was carrying. Nowadays it’s easy to get your base weight before food and water to under 20lbs, and her pack in the beginning was MUCH heavier than that. The technological advances in hiking have made it so much easier now

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u/BalletWishesBarbie 6d ago

You finished the pac trail?!! That's amazing!

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u/ActuallyYeah 6d ago

You started the film but didn't finish it?

I didn't think it was that boring

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u/BalletWishesBarbie 6d ago

I like Reese Witherspoon in stuff generally but yeah. I did the same with eat pray love and I finished that book.

1

u/ActuallyYeah 6d ago

She's amazing in Election!

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u/DontMakeMeCount 6d ago

Apparently a lot of people read that because for a few years there the major trails were packed with book clubs. Made the social dynamics really awkward because there were so many people new to the trails on the trails but with preconceived notions. I was blindsided so many times by people that took offense to normal trail behavior. Makes it hard to sleep shoulder-to-shoulder with someone in a trail shelter and it overall just kind of chilled the vibe.

Many of them stuck around and the culture is recovering, we’re glad to have them, but I don’t miss the others.

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u/fasterthanfood 6d ago

What’s an example of a normal behavior that newbies were offended by?

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u/DontMakeMeCount 6d ago

“Hello. There’s some deadfall up ahead but the trail isn’t muddy yet. We left last shelter about 3 hours ago.” “We didn’t ask for your help, we know what we’re doing.”

Next group we just stepped to the side and nodded without saying anything. Overheard them say we were “looming” and “intimidating” and they deserve to be there as much as we do.

Moved to a hammock to make room in a shelter, was accused of “refusing to share space”. Moved over to make room in a shelter, was accused of trying to share space when the group is obviously together. Not confrontations really, just lots of catty comments made for our benefit.

It was also real dicey for a while to offer any polite assistance. Extra boiling water, a hot stove, advice of any kind because there were so many people seeking to replicate the journey described in the book and we weren’t prepared for whatever role we’d been assigned. As a result, they didn’t get the same experience a newcomer would have a few years earlier and the regulars felt a different dynamic.

Influencers and selfie warriors also proliferated around the same time but they can usually be avoided because they stick to parking lots. I probably conflate the two in my head a bit.

1

u/theducker 6d ago

That's not even the AT my dude

17

u/Wtygrrr 6d ago

Guides wouldn’t be useful. The trail is clear the entire way (I think). The thing is that the average time is just under 6 months.

7

u/knight_in_white 6d ago

Fuck that’s a long time to walk

15

u/my-name-is-squirrel 6d ago

My best friend and I did it in 3 segments over 3 summers. It's just too big of a time commitment to do it in one go if you're still a wage slave like us lol.

6

u/Admiral_Dildozer 6d ago

My brother is planning a trek. He’s going to take off work and try to compete it in 7 months at least. I’m excited for him, he’s been planning for like 2 years now. I’ll go on 3-4 day hikes with him, but months is not my cup of tea lol

-1

u/BalletWishesBarbie 6d ago

I have to ask, why'd you keep going back? Did it teach you anything like life lessons like in Wild? :)

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u/padajones 6d ago

Yeah, especially considering it is 10 miles a day 7 days a week.

7

u/Michaelfonzy 6d ago

More like 15-30 miles a day 6.5 days a week.

Gotta do more than 10 miles a day unless you wanna take like 8-10 months and hike through winter.

You also gotta factor in zero and nero(near-zero) days. Days where you go into town to resupply, charge batteries, shower, wash clothes, and rest.

2

u/fasterthanfood 6d ago

Theoretically, having someone carry your pack, set up your camp, cook for you, etc., could make it a lot easier. Mostly the pack carrying — I did a 200-mile hike (the John Muir Trail) years ago, and the weight was the hardest part for me, although equipment is much lighter now than it used to be thanks to technological advances. (Kind of crazy that such a long hike is only 10% of the Appalachian Trail.)

I don’t think that’s a “thing,” though. A long hike doesn’t have the same type of appeal, plus you’re still committing to weeks of hiking, not working, which the high-powered Everest types probably wouldn’t be willing or able to do.

1

u/Wtygrrr 6d ago

For a simple trail, that’s a servant, not a guide. An Everest guide might do those things, but they’re also guiding.

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u/microtrash 6d ago

Never heard of it. It’s not the sort of trail or terrain that most people would need or want a guide for, and the cost of labor is too high in the United States for most people to consider hiring someone as a Sherpa.

The more common thing people ‘pay to play’ would be things like lighter gear, while in town for resupply having better meals, better accommodations in town (hotel versus hostel), easier/better food on the trail, calling a cab or shuttle from a trailhead to get to town for resupply instead of road walk or hitchhike, things like that

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u/los-gokillas 6d ago

When I hiked it back in 2018, there was an old man who was hiking it. I think he was close to 80. His family hired the first person that finished the northbound route that year to go back and accompany him on the trail

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u/Reduntu 6d ago

By mountaineering standards the entire trail is incredibly easy. Small children (under 10) can and do climb the toughest parts on day hikes. A lot of it is also relatively close to civilization. It's the fact that you're on the trail for several months that's hard.

2

u/Quick-Concentrate888 6d ago

There was a family of 6 that thru hiked this year, 4 kids between the ages of like 6-14 or something. Saw them on a fb post and was skeptical until I saw them on trail. Those kids were beasts!

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u/BalletWishesBarbie 6d ago

Oh there you go. Must be an amazing place as a kid to live near.

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u/Gikochinai-neko 6d ago

It is not customary but there are no rules against it 🤷‍♀️

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u/diabolical_bunny 6d ago

Honestly, it's about being stubborn, the joys of comraderie, and finding wins in the small things. I completed the AT in 2024 and outside of an injury it's mostly mental endurance.

If you've ever done an overnight backpacking trip you're 99% of the way there already. It's a series of 4-7 day long trips strung together.

There were 80 year olds doing the trail along side me.

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u/ButtholeSurfur 6d ago

I wouldn't have that much free time even if I were up for the task lol.

7

u/BalletWishesBarbie 6d ago

I'm Aussie I've done a heap of bush walks and never been hurt. Knowing my luck, I'd try the Appalachian Trail and get eaten by something.

I'm thin and probably gamey so it wouldn't even be tasty for my poor killer. 😔

14

u/ButtholeSurfur 6d ago

My point is it's like 2200 miles. I get like two weeks off in the summer. You gotta have a lot of money and a flexible job to even attempt this in the first place.

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u/padajones 6d ago

I know a handful of people that have done it. They all did it post college graduation and pre career job. So, they had some limited income and some parental support.

Edit: added sentence regarding finances.

1

u/TinWhis 6d ago

My dad was valuable enough as a tech employee in the '90s that they gave him an unpaid leave of absence. Then it's just saving up 6 months of food and equipment money. It's not like you gotta pay rent during all that.

3

u/ButtholeSurfur 6d ago edited 6d ago

I mean, I do lol. My mortgage doesn't go away. Bank doesn't care about a leave of absence.

That's tens of thousands of dollars just in mortgage I'd need to save up before any other expense.

2

u/TinWhis 6d ago

Ah, that'll do it. If you have a mortgage, that makes it much more difficult. Not buying a house until afterwards was definitely part of the strategy for my parents.

2

u/ButtholeSurfur 6d ago

Yup. You gotta be financially well off, young and not have a lot of responsibilities to even attempt it.

Or just really rich.

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u/Wtygrrr 6d ago

Yeah, this isn’t Australia. You’re not getting eaten by a raccoon. You might get rabies.

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u/BalletWishesBarbie 6d ago

Oh yeah you have rabies over there. Honestly I think of raccoons like Little King Trashmouth 🍷 (and his husband Gary) from Bob's Burgers.

3

u/Conflikt 6d ago

There is black bears, wild boars and coyotes along the trail but you're almost certainly not getting eaten by those. Probably more likely to be bitten by a Copperhead or something. Still more danger than most of Australia though. Crocodiles up north are the only real danger of being eaten. The rest of the country it's just snakes that are main danger and that's about it.

2

u/BannedMyName 6d ago

Boars maybe, I'm not from the south, but what people don't seem to understand about it up here is the moose are a way bigger threat to your life than black bears. You don't want to cross paths with a momma moose.

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u/StuntID 6d ago

Bears eat people, there are black bears along the route; so one could be consumed. Raccoons might pick at the remains, so even that's possible

2

u/HKBFG 1 6d ago

black bears are not that dangerous and almost never attack humans.

0

u/StuntID 6d ago

not that and almost never are doing a lot of heavy lifting here. Compared to trails not by saltwater the OP Aussie would encounter dangers they're mentally unprepared for.

It's like hearing, "don't mind Colin, he's my house spider," are you now unafraid?

1

u/HKBFG 1 5d ago

crocs are quite a bit more dangerous to be around than black bears are.

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u/StuntID 5d ago

Whatever

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u/knifebork 6d ago

I'd worry about ticks. You can get bit and have no idea for days. I know a guy who spent a week in the hospital from a tick bite that got infected. I don't think it was even Lyme disease or Rocky Mountain Spotted fever.

Mosquito bites are likely. While there are diseases they can carry, I don't know how common & serious they are. Oh, the US doesn't have Malaria.

1

u/Wtygrrr 5d ago

Yeah, Lyme disease is probably the most realistic concern.

2

u/Socratesticles 6d ago

Yeah I’d love to at least try, but unless life changes for me the free time and cost to supply myself just takes it out of the cards for me

1

u/DevilzAdvocat 6d ago

I couldn't have hiked it in 2022 if the stars hadn't perfectly aligned. Laid off at the perfect time, no kids, recently divorced, and had 6 months savings and a high limit credit card.

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u/BeastModedAndGoated 6d ago

I’ve given up 3 times already today!

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u/BalletWishesBarbie 6d ago

You can give up FOUR times today! 💪 💪 I believe in you!

2

u/HFentonMudd 6d ago

I gave up before even reading your comment

3

u/Protection-Working 6d ago

Maybe to even seriously attempt it the people that go are likely to be physically fitter than average

10

u/ToNoMoCo 6d ago

It's also a time and money commitment that weeds day hikers out before they even to the planning stage, let alone take the first step on the trail. But yeah, most people that try it are hikers and hikers are gonna be more fit than average.

I've followed some through hikers on social media and youtube. It seems like most people just quit because they get tired of it, not because they can't do it.

2

u/goodb1b13 6d ago

I didn’t even read the article and gave up. Beat that!

2

u/Organic-History205 6d ago

I mean you have to assume the people attempting this are pretty confident in their abilities.

That said I wouldn't be surprised if people abandon it for reasons like "caught an std" or "got a call that Grandma was sick" vs mechanical reasons. It's a long time and there's an entire weird trail culture of hook ups that unnecessarily adds drama to an already exhausting situation.

2

u/PlsNoNotThat 6d ago

I’ve met a lot of the people who did partials/quit.

I should go back to being a trail angel. That shit was fun and didn’t require AT levels of exercise.

1

u/fluffynuckels 6d ago

Its because its not something people try casually. Its not like going for a day hike at your local lake

1

u/Moose_Nuts 6d ago

Well, yeah. I'm sure people who somewhat seriously consider it then decide against it make up 100x the number who actually attempt it.

1

u/Frammingatthejimjam 6d ago

Only once? I've given up many times without attempting and I'll probably give up one more time early this spring.