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Thu-hiking trails
Hikers are beginning to experience the impact of a deadly virus that has shut down restaurants, public events, and movie theaters and forced widespread lockdowns around the globe. (Photo: JeffGoulden/iStock)

Coronavirus Has Devastated the Thru-Hiking Season

Hostels are closing, volunteers are staying home, and trail organizations are advising hikers to cancel their plans

Published: 
Thu-hiking trails
(Photo: JeffGoulden/iStock)

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Sandra Visentin woke up to a nightmare in Paris. Just two weeks before she was supposed to fly to the U.S. and begin her thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail, President Trump imposed a ban on travelers from European countries in response to the novel coronavirus. She spent all day in denial. She would have to delay the hike that she鈥檇听quit her job for and spent more than a year planning.

鈥淚鈥檓 extremely disappointed,鈥 Visentin听said from France,听where all residents听 to stay home for 15 days to prevent the spread of听COVID-19. 鈥淚 hadpacked all my stuff in boxes and moved in with my parents until departure.鈥

Hikers almost听everywhere听are beginning to experience the impact of the听deadly virus that has forced widespread lockdowns around the globe. Many backpackers have canceled their adventures. Others have decided to go ahead with their journey, excited for added solitude. However, officials at the nation鈥檚 top scenic-trail conservation groups are听 thru-hikers to postpone their trips this year.听

鈥淲e are asking hikers who haven鈥檛 started to reconsider hiking this year,鈥 says Sandra Marra, president and CEO of the .听鈥淚t鈥檚 not about you and the hike. It鈥檚 about us belonging to a global community.鈥 The ATC鈥檚 guidance听听with the worsening situation听in the U.S. While the organization听initially pushed simply social distancing and good hygiene practices, evolving听听forced the conservancy to expand its听warning to hikers. The ATC, 听(CDTC), and the听听(PCTA) have since asked hikers to cancel or postpone their trips this year.听

鈥淵ou鈥檙e out in these remote areas, but you rely on civilization. It鈥檚 almost impossible to avoid any social contact in a thru-hike. You can do it for a few days, but you鈥檒l have to get back.鈥

Hikers are not isolated wanderers.They interact with fellow hikers, drivers who offer rides听into town, and members of the communities adjacent to trails. In any of these settings, they risk spreading the highly infectious virus, says Scott Wilkinson, director of communications and marketing at the (PCTA).听鈥淚t鈥檚 a paradox,鈥 he says. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e out in these remote areas, but you rely on civilization. It鈥檚 almost impossible to avoid any social contact in a thru-hike. You can do it for a few days, but you鈥檒l have to get back.鈥澨

If they were to contract the virus, hikers need to be ready to self-quarantine in a motel for two weeks, while also relying on a rural health care system that听 by the influx of coronavirus cases, says Amanda Wheelock, policy and communications manager at the CDTC. (In a worst-case scenario, hikers might have听to be prepared to pay for a medevac to a larger community with better health care options.) The coalition has already stopped its southern-terminus shuttle听and New Mexico water-caching services for the next month.

鈥淲e want people to think of the effects on trailside communities,鈥 Wheelock听says. 鈥淲e rely on rural, small communities that back up right to the trail. We very much care about the folks who live and work there.鈥

These communities are already reacting to the global pandemic. On Monday, public-health officials in Summit County, Colorado, which surrounds a section of the Continental Divide Trail,听 of restaurants, bars, hotels, and bus services due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Officials in Inyo County, California, which encompasses a large part of the Sierra Nevada section of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT),听 to stay home in order to protect its听small-town populations, which are substantially elderly and have limied resources. An outbreak there, they said, could be devastating.听

Meanwhile, leaders from the听major scenic-trail organizations are keeping in close contact throughout this global crisis. Like they did last week, they听will hold another working group call on Friday to share ways they are handling the ever evolving situation. All are in the same boat, staff from听the organizations听say, struggling with the same questions, cancelling their annual events, and taking volunteer work crews off the trails for the foreseeable future.

鈥淓veryone has got to consider the impacts that they have on others. We鈥檝e all got to act together.鈥

A reduced number of volunteers could also have tremendous consequences on this thru-hiking season. Hikers depend on the kindness of strangers鈥攁n unofficial network of trail angels. Many of these volunteers, however, have had to rethink their plans. For the last 15 years, Barney 鈥淪cout鈥 Mann and Sandy 鈥淔rodo鈥 Mann have welcomed thru-hikers into their San Diego home, allowing it to be used it as a launchpad for a northbound PCT hike.听

But this week, the Manns听 to cancel their services in the name of safety. 鈥淭hings with the virus have continued to cascade,鈥 says Scout, who is also board president of the ,听a group that brings together individual organizations and federal agencies听for the benefit of the country鈥檚 trails. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 open this season. We just can鈥檛.鈥 The decision has gutted the couple, who look forward to meeting hundreds of hikers from around the world each year听andmentoring a new generation of long-distance backpackers.

Other volunteers have tried to fill in some of the gaps left by the virus. In San Diego, Ashley Cushing has begun offering thru-hikers rides from the city to the PCT鈥檚 southern terminus in Campo, California, helping up to six听people a day.听She asks that hikers load their own packs into her car, which she wipes down thoroughly with disinfectant. Still, she remains cautious; she doesn鈥檛 want to be responsible for spreading the virus. 鈥淚 knew I needed to take precautions if people are carriers,鈥 she says.

Businesses along the trail have also had to make changes due to听the epidemic. Along the AT, Taft Ring, owner of the Nature鈥檚 Inn Hostel in Flag Pond, Tennessee, decided to shut down out of an abundance of caution, despite the losses he鈥檇 sustain. He鈥檚 used to dealing with hygiene issues with thru-hikers鈥攅very year he cleans his hostel thoroughly to prevent the passing of a norovirus. But this year felt different. 鈥淚 hated doing it,鈥 he says. 鈥淭he truth is, if I got sick, then that鈥檚 not only going to cut out the hostel, but it would limit my ability to make a living elsewhere.鈥

On the opposite side of the country, Larry Smith, owner of the Canyon Creek Inn in Wrightwood, California, decided to stay open this year for PCT hikers. If businesses close听in his community, he says, that not only impacts the local economy, but it hurts hikers looking for groceries, a place to stay, or other essential services. 鈥淲e are coronavirus ready,鈥 he says. 鈥淲e are making all the necessary precautions that we can do to be ready for hikers.鈥

Trail organizations听can鈥檛 force hikers off the trail. But the PCTA鈥檚 Wilkinson听says听this time calls for self-sacrifice. Talking to hikers who have had to cancel their trips, even after quitting jobs or letting go of apartments, has moved him to tears. It鈥檚 heartbreaking, he says, but challenges like this happen.

鈥淓veryone has got to consider the impacts that they have on others,鈥 he says. 鈥淲e鈥檝e all got to act together.鈥

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