[at-l] Psychology 101

[yumitori@montana.com (Ron Martino)]

> Get this straight... The AT was not built for the exclusive use of
> thru-hikers.  Thru-hikers will never be anymore than a tiny fraction of the
> people who use the AT and all the others have as much right to be there and
> love the AT as thru-hikers do.  Being a thru-hiker does *not* make you
> anybody special but attacks like the above do make you a JERK!  Grow up.
> 
> sAunTerer

	For those interested in specific numbers, the NPS did a use study a
couple of years back. The links to the documents are here -
http://www.nps.gov/appa/pphtml/facts.html - along with the Trail's
strategic plan. (I imagine this is old news to some folks, but since the
discussion has turned to usage...)

	Day users made up 38%, overnight/short trips 32%, section hikers 15%,
thru-hikers 18%. (I rounded, see the study for more exact numbers. The
methodology of this report seems on par with other recreational studies.
(Among my many sins, I study recreational management at one time.)

	Over all, the information gathered is quite interesting. I'd recommend
it to anyone interested in AT use, which obviously includes most
everyone on this list.

	Ron
-- 

yumitori(AT)montana(DOT)com