[at-l] cummulative elavation gain question

[bullard@northnet.org (James Bullard)]

At 08:40 PM 5/11/01 -0400, WHHAWKINS@aol.com wrote:
>In a message dated 5/11/2001 4:22:42 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
>lvb@mindspring.com writes:
>
> > Thanks for the info.  Do you know what year this was done???
> >
>He thru-hiked in 1989. After the hike he sent questionnaires to other AT
>thru-hikers, who hiked that year.
>
>A few sent the questionnaires back.

A pretty fair number actually.  136 to be exact.  He sent out 190 
questionnaires so he got a response that was considerably better than 
50%.  Statisticians would be ecstatic with a response rate that high.

The questionnaires were 11 pages long with 265 topics and questions, a 
rather intimidating survey. He notes in the book that not all hikers who 
responded answered all the questions (I'm not surprised).  There were 
various groups included in the survey, Thru-hikers - 87, Section-hikers - 
15, Incomplete (stopped without completing a thru) - 22 and Long distance 
hikers (on the AT for several weeks) - 12.

Roland Mueser's book is unique in the world of AT literature for it's 
detailed analysis of nearly every aspect of trail life.  While not a 
journal, it is interesting reading. At least if you're hooked on anything 
AT like I am.

Saunterer