FILE PHOTO: In this March 30, 2020, photo, Alexandra Eagle, right, and Jonathan Hall stand in front of a waterfall on the Appalachian Trail in Cosby, Tenn. The couple planned the to hike from Georgia to Maryland until coronavirus concerns forced them off the trail.
Sarah Blake Morgan / AP Photo
Sarah Blake Morgan / AP Photo
FILE PHOTO: In this March 30, 2020, photo, Alexandra Eagle, right, and Jonathan Hall stand in front of a waterfall on the Appalachian Trail in Cosby, Tenn. The couple planned the to hike from Georgia to Maryland until coronavirus concerns forced them off the trail.
(Asheville, N.C.) — Hikers are being told by the agency that oversees the Appalachian Trail to postpone plans to cover the nearly 2,200-mile distance this year due to COVID-19.
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy made the suggestion because it feels the pandemic makes long-distance hikes unsafe, the Asheville Citizen Times reported Monday.
Morgan Sommerville, regional director for the conservancy, said that as long as the pandemic continues, while vaccines aren’t widely available and there’s been no all-clear signs from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the conservancy is recommending against long-distance hikes.
Sarah Blake Morgan / AP Photo
In this March 30, 2020, photo, a notice is nailed to a tree along a portion of the Appalachian Trail in Cosby, Tenn. Hikers have been asked to leave the trail immediately as trailheads continue to close due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Sommerville said some 2,000 thru-hikers have already registered. Those hikers come through the 71 miles of trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and reach western North Carolina trail towns like Franklin and Hot Springs, in March and April, when they gather in large numbers to rest, mend gear and resupply.
They also stay at shelters in close quarters along the trail. The shelters don’t allow for the CDC’s COVID-safety guidelines, which include maintaining social distance of at least 6 feet from those who don’t live in the same household and washing hands often with soap and water.
The Appalachian Trail runs 229 miles through 11 Pennsylvania counties and covers a total of 2,193 miles from Georgia to Maine.
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