Thousands of people will attempt to thru-hike the 2,160-mile Appalachian Trail this year, starting right around now. Who are these people? Where do they come from? How can they afford six months off from work?
To paint a portrait of the average AT hiker, we analyzed data from a published by hiking website聽The Trek, which collects numbers like聽hiker demographics and聽time on trail. Then we filled in the blank spots with empirical observations鈥攐r at least anecdotal ones. Now, we present聽your typical Appalachian Trail thru-hiker: young, idealistic, deprived of hygiene, and sporting rock-solid calves. We call him Tom Walker.聽
Age: 25
搁补肠别:听White
厂别虫:听Male
搁别蝉颈诲别苍肠别:听Albany, New York. For the past year, he鈥檚 been living with his parents to save for his thru-hike.
贰诲耻肠补迟颈辞苍:听Bachelor鈥檚 degree in international studies with a plans of graduate school looming ahead.
翱肠肠耻辫补迟颈辞苍:听Barista
Backpacking Experience
A handful of overnights in the Catskills while in college.
Reasons for Hiking
He鈥檚 read and reread A Walk in the Woods聽a dozen times, and always felt a certain romantic disdain toward contemporary society, thanks to Thoreau. He figured he鈥檇 gain some perspective about himself and the world while walking in the mountains for a half-year.
Trail Start Date
April 6, going northbound from Springer Mountain鈥攖he most popular time to start, ensuring聽the opportunity to make friends as quickly as possible. Camaraderie聽is just as important as solitary reflection.
Shower Frequency
At least once a week.
Physical Description
Tom is five foot eight inches with shoulder-length, brown hair. He keeps it in a bun most days to prevent it from sticking to his neck. Back in Georgia, he was pushing 165 pounds, but he鈥檚 now slimmed down to a lean 150. His calves and thighs are rock solid and his skin is sun-kissed, save what鈥檚 under his shirt, giving him a flawless farmer鈥檚 tan. A burly beard covers his face, though he makes sure it鈥檚 kempt when he goes to resupply in town every few days. It makes him look slightly less homeless.
Trail Name
No Filter. Tom learned the hard way to always have his Sawyer filter handy when taking a drink. After sipping from a spring or two in Georgia without treating the water, he spent a long night on the can at a motel, thus earning the聽moniker from his fellow hikers.
Average Miles Per Day
Sixteen. While most days he keeps this steady pace, he鈥檒l push 25 or 30 miles in a day if the terrain is conducive. Since it鈥檚 so hot and muggy in mid-summer, some mornings he鈥檒l start walking a couple hours before daylight with a few other hikers and relax under a shade tree to wait out midday.
Clothes
He wears a polyester shirt he snagged for free at the in Damascus, Virginia, back in May 2016. He opts for a $5 bathing suit from Walmart that鈥檚 a size too small, so thus聽fits like Daisy Dukes' cutoffs. It鈥檚 okay, though鈥攈is thighs are brawny enough.
Shoes
His hikers wore out a few hundred miles ago, so he switched to a pair of Salomon trail runners. With his light summer weight, they鈥檝e handled the Northeast terrain quite well.
Gear
While he wouldn鈥檛 consider himself an ultra-light hiker, his base weight is around 20 pounds. So far, his hasn鈥檛 let him down, proving to be lightweight and durable. His serves as his home base at night, though he鈥檚 getting fonder of sleeping in shelters lately, where, when the bugs aren鈥檛 swarming, he curls up on a . While he started from Springer Mountain with a three-season mummy from REI, he shipped it back home until he gets to New Hampshire, and currently聽uses a blanket. He couldn鈥檛 do without a warm meal, which makes the and 750-milliliter聽titanium pot an invaluable combination.
Instead of rain gear, he hikes with an umbrella. It鈥檚 lightweight and waterproof shells just make you damp with sweat, anyway. A Smartwater bottle has long replaced his Nalgene because it鈥檚 lighter鈥攁s a bonus, it鈥檚 one liter and a Sawyer filter screws right on top. When one of his trekking poles snapped in Virginia, he replaced them with a pair of old ski poles that have worked like a charm.
Food
An assortment of Little Debbie cakes is a priority. So are tortillas, pepperonis and peanut butter鈥攁nd yes, at times they all three go together. For breakfast, it鈥檚 usually Poptarts or oatmeal. Lunch consists of tuna鈥攍ots of tuna. Nuts, Snickers and Clif bars offer easy snacking food. Zatarain鈥檚 dinner mixes and Knorr pasta sides offer plenty of calories at the end of a grueling day, though he still adds olive oil for good measure. Of course, he always keeps a pack of Ramen noodles handy.
Must Have
by David 鈥淎WOL鈥 Miller, listing everything you鈥檒l need to know on an AT thru-hike. It includes information on hostels, shelters, location of water sources, elevation profiles, trail town maps and more. A new version is published each year with updated trail information.
Social Media Presence
Instagram is by far his favorite social media outlet, with every sweet sunset photo or must-see along the trail getting tagged with . In town, when he鈥檚 not stuffing his face with Golden Corral, he鈥檚 cruising the 鈥楪ram to catch up with other hikers and send his best wishes to family.聽