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’dquit her job for and spent more than a year planning.
“I’m extremely disappointed,” Visentinsaid from France,where all residents to stay home for 15 days to prevent the spread ofCOVID-19. “I hadpacked all my stuff in boxes and moved in with my parents until departure.”
Hikers almosteverywhereare beginning to experience the impact of thedeadly 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’s top scenic-trail conservation groups are thru-hikers to postpone their trips this year.
“We are asking hikers who haven’t started to reconsider hiking this year,” says Sandra Marra, president and CEO of the .“It’s not about you and the hike. It’s about us belonging to a global community.” The ATC’s guidancewith the worsening situationin the U.S. While the organizationinitially pushed simply social distancing and good hygiene practices, evolvingforced the conservancy to expand itswarning to hikers. The ATC, (CDTC), and the(PCTA) have since asked hikers to cancel or postpone their trips this year.
“You’re out in these remote areas, but you rely on civilization. It’s almost impossible to avoid any social contact in a thru-hike. You can do it for a few days, but you’ll have to get back.”
Hikers are not isolated wanderers.They interact with fellow hikers, drivers who offer ridesinto 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).“It’s a paradox,” he says. “You’re out in these remote areas, but you rely on civilization. It’s almost impossible to avoid any social contact in a thru-hike. You can do it for a few days, but you’ll have to get back.”
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 by the influx of coronavirus cases, says Amanda Wheelock, policy and communications manager at the CDTC. (In a worst-case scenario, hikers might haveto be prepared to pay for a medevac to a larger community with better health care options.) The coalition has already stopped its southern-terminus shuttleand New Mexico water-caching services for the next month.
“We want people to think of the effects on trailside communities,” Wheelocksays. “We rely on rural, small communities that back up right to the trail. We very much care about the folks who live and work there.”
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, 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), to stay home in order to protect itssmall-town populations, which are substantially elderly and have limied resources. An outbreak there, they said, could be devastating.
Meanwhile, leaders from themajor scenic-trail organizations are keeping in close contact throughout this global crisis. Like they did last week, theywill hold another working group call on Friday to share ways they are handling the ever evolving situation. All are in the same boat, staff fromthe organizationssay, struggling with the same questions, cancelling their annual events, and taking volunteer work crews off the trails for the foreseeable future.
“Everyone has got to consider the impacts that they have on others. We’ve all got to act together.”
A reduced number of volunteers could also have tremendous consequences on this thru-hiking season. Hikers depend on the kindness of strangers—an unofficial network of trail angels. Many of these volunteers, however, have had to rethink their plans. For the last 15 years, Barney “Scout” Mann and Sandy “Frodo” Mann have welcomed thru-hikers into their San Diego home, allowing it to be used it as a launchpad for a northbound PCT hike.
But this week, the Manns to cancel their services in the name of safety. “Things with the virus have continued to cascade,” says Scout, who is also board president of the ,a group that brings together individual organizations and federal agenciesfor the benefit of the country’s trails. “We can’t open this season. We just can’t.” The decision has gutted the couple, who look forward to meeting hundreds of hikers from around the world each yearandmentoring 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’s southern terminus in Campo, California, helping up to sixpeople a day.She asks that hikers load their own packs into her car, which she wipes down thoroughly with disinfectant. Still, she remains cautious; she doesn’t want to be responsible for spreading the virus. “I knew I needed to take precautions if people are carriers,” she says.
Businesses along the trail have also had to make changes due tothe epidemic. Along the AT, Taft Ring, owner of the Nature’s Inn Hostel in Flag Pond, Tennessee, decided to shut down out of an abundance of caution, despite the losses he’d sustain. He’s used to dealing with hygiene issues with thru-hikers—every year he cleans his hostel thoroughly to prevent the passing of a norovirus. But this year felt different. “I hated doing it,” he says. “The truth is, if I got sick, then that’s not only going to cut out the hostel, but it would limit my ability to make a living elsewhere.”
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 closein 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. “We are coronavirus ready,” he says. “We are making all the necessary precautions that we can do to be ready for hikers.”
Trail organizationscan’t force hikers off the trail. But the PCTA’s Wilkinsonsaysthis 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’s heartbreaking, he says, but challenges like this happen.
“Everyone has got to consider the impacts that they have on others,” he says. “We’ve all got to act together.”