+++
title = "Hiking, the Appalachian Trail, Health and Choices"
author = ["George Jones"]
publishDate = 2020-05-03
lastmod = 2022-02-26T08:17:08-05:00
tags = ["hiking", "AppalachianTrail", "ATC", "PATC", "Katahdin", "outdoors"]
categories = ["blog"]
draft = false
+++
I've section-hiked over 1000 miles on the Appalachian Trail.
Through-hikes have been shut down this year, upsetting plans
people have made for years. I'm headed out today to do maintenance
today. Not sure what I'll find. I will be good to be out.
{{< figure src="/ox-hugo/katahdin-abol.jpg" caption="Figure 1: Mt. Katahdin from Abol Bridge, 2018" >}}
Day 05 of #100DaysToOffload.
I like to hike. The Appalachian Trail is near my house.
Literally the day before the [Appalachian Trail Conservancy](http://www.appalachiantrail.org/) (ATC)
recommended EVERYONE stay off the trail (180 degrees against its
primary mission), I accepted the responsibility of maintaining a 3
mile section for the [Potomac Appalachian Trail Club](https://www.patc.net/) (PATC). Just
yesterday I got word that trail maintainers have a local exception
and are allowed to be on the trail. I'm going out this afternoon
to see how much underbrush needs cut, if there are any trees that
need chainsaw work, if any work is needed on erosion control, etc.
It will be a joy to "be out" again.
A couple weeks before the cronavirus lockdown started, I went for
a hike on the [Tuscarora Trail](https://www.hikethetuscarora.org/). It was going to be a quick day
hike. Up 900 feet, along a ridge, back down. Maybe 8 miles.
Going up the hill I fell on a rock and sliced my forearm open and
wound up going the ER in Romney, WV with 21 stitches. I accept some
risk when I choose to hike (there are bears too). With the
potential strain on the medical system and emergency care being
uncertain, I'm choosing not taking risks now.
I am a "section hiker". I go out when I can, usually 2 weeks or
so a year. I have over half the Appalachian Trail done (1000+
miles) and had plans to go out Memorial Day (May 25) for two
weeks. That's probably not happening. I'm not young. I only
have so many years to get this done. Health is never a given.
The ATC asked all hikers this year to call it off: through hikers,
section hikers as well as day hikers. Through hikers are people
who have re-arranged their life, their finances, their work and
family life to spend 6 months on the trail. For many, it may be a
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But for most, through-hiking
involves staying together in shelters on rainy nights, sleeping in
bunk-houses in hostels, getting rides with local shuttle drivers,
going into trail towns to shop for re-supply, etc. These all make
social-distancing hard. And there is the assumption that there
will be _some_ local medical care available, like that which I
needed when I fell. So the ATC _asked_ people to shut it down
this year.
The last time I was out hiking, the day after my initial
trail-maintainer training, the parking lot at the trail-head was
**packed**. Not sure what I'll find today. Crowds? Empty Trails?
A persistent through-hiker? People make their own choices.
{{< figure src="/ox-hugo/on-katahdin.jpg" caption="Figure 2: me, on top of old smokey, 2018" >}}