Appalachian Trail Map
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After my wife died in 2021, I had to deal with that whole “mortality” thing and I did not like what I was seeing. I hadn’t done any exercise in 6 years and I got winded walking up one flight of stairs. I looked back on the past 30 years and realized that I had a lot of regrets. Add to all that the trauma of loosing my partner of 35 years and general depression around trying to figure out what the hell do I do with my life, and I decided that I needed to make some major changes. […]
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I am attempting to walk continuously for 2,200 miles North Bound (NOBO) from Northern Georgia to North Central Maine along the Appalachian Trail (AT) over the course of roughly 170 days or five and a half months. This type of hike is called a thru-hike. […]
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I get a lot of questions about how this entire thru-hiking thing works and what have I done to prepare for it. As for how I have physically prepared, I have been trying to hike two to four times a week, moderate to difficult terrain, 10+ miles each hike and carrying my full pack for the last twelve months. The remainder of this post is a mini-FAQ.
Appalachian Trail Overview
The Appalachian Trail, also called the AT, is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost 2,200 miles (3,540 km) between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy claims the Appalachian Trail to be the world’s longest hiking-only trail.
Approximately three million people visit the Trail every year. Approximately 4,000 people attempt a thru-hike of the entire AT each year. Thru-hikers walk the entire trail in a single season. Historically about 25% of those who attempt to thru-hike the AT are successful. In fact, the completion rate appears to be dropping. Since 2016, only about one in five have finished the whole trail. Of those hikers that do drop-out for any number of reasons, 60% of them drop-out before they reach Damascus, Virginia (NOBO mile 471). There is anecdotal evidence that a significant amount of the drop-outs occur within the first 100 miles or roughly 10 days.
Here is a great little article on why 75% of AT thru-hikers won’t make it.
The largest age group of thru-hikers by far are under 30, but there is a significant amount of people in their late 50s and early 60s.
Here is a nice easy read on a lot of interesting AT thru-hiker statistics for 2023.
Appalachian Trail Resources
- AT Interactive Map
- Appalachian Trail Conservancy
- Thru-Hiking the AT: Everything You Need to Know
- How to Thru Hike the AT: A 101 Guide
- Postholer.Com – Resources for Hikers
- WhiteBlaze.net – Community for AT Enthusiasts
- WhiteBlaze.net – AT Shuttles 2026
- WhiteBlaze.net – Hostels 2026
- SectionHiker.com – hiking info
- The Trek – AT Blogs and Advice
- Appalachian and Pacific Crest Trail Weather