Best-Of Surveys
Appalachian Trail Thru-Hiker Trends: Examining Gear, Budget, and Resources Over the Past 5 Years
In 2014, we began conducting annual surveys about AT thru-hikers and attempting thru-hikers. Starting these surveys soon after my own thru-hike has been a really meaningful way for me to...
Reader’s Choice: The Best Thru-Hiking Documentaries
Most of us can’t spend our entire lives thru-hiking. Oftentimes these grand adventures are mere six-month highlights in a world of 9-5 jobs and bumper-to-bumper traffic. However, there are ways...
2018 Appalachian Trail Thru-Hiker Survey: Top Stoves and Water Treatments
We surveyed over 300 section or thru-hikers about their stove, food, and water preferences and their experience of illnesses on the Appalachian Trail in 2018. This year, enough hikers with...
Top Backpacks on the Appalachian Trail: 2018 Thru-Hiker Survey
In this installment of The Trek’s 2018 Hiker Survey, we cover backpacks and base weight. We asked hikers about the frame type, capacity, brand, and model of their backpacks. In...
Top Sleeping Bags and Sleeping Pads on the Appalachian Trail: 2018 Thru-Hiker Survey
We surveyed 310 section and thru-hikers who were on the Appalachian Trail (AT) in 2018. They shared about the sleeping bags they used, hammock quilts/underquilts, and sleeping pads. We also...
The Top Tents, Hammocks, and Tarps on the Appalachian Trail: 2018 Thru-Hiker Survey
Each year, The Trek surveys long-distance hikers on the Appalachian Trail (AT) regarding the shelter systems they use, such as tents and hammocks. In this post we cover the types...
The Top Footwear on the Appalachian Trail: 2018 AT Thru-Hiker Survey
Each year as part of The Trek’s annual thru-hiker survey, we ask hikers about the footwear they used, and this footwear data remains my favorite to analyze and write about....
The 2018 Appalachian Trail Thru-Hiker Survey: General Information
Two years ago, The Trek expanded our annual Appalachian Trail thru-hiker survey to include questions not only about main gear items, but also more detailed demographics, the timeline of AT
Top Footwear of 2017: Results from the Annual Hiker Survey
I should start with an apology for the long delay in writing this post. We typically try to get the survey results out before the next class of thru-hikers begins,...
Best Restaurants on the Pacific Crest Trail
Anyone who thru-hikes can probably regurgitate information about their favorite food locations along the trail. Thru-hikes are, in their purest essence, jaunts from town to town to eat food.
