Economic devestation has created a thru-hiker population that has increased significantly...

are sort of choosing this situation (or something like it) voluntarily. I know some here in northern MI who have no use for society as we know it and I don't blame them one bit.

Julie

Dream is a joke and are fed up with the propaganda. If young today, I would try to seek out an alternative life and just say F it to the crap programmed into ones head from birth. Also, if none buy the crap pushed on us that's going to rattle the pilings some. A bad situation today, I think, is getting married and working ones ass off to strive for the American Dream delusion. What a joke, begging like a good little lamb for some crumbs.

I see more and more college age kids here making choices to disengage. The common view seems to be "Who wants to win a rat race anyway?"

I say more power to 'em!

Julie

ruts deeper and then wander in them sometimes digging them deeper. Subliminal programming + rationalization and intermittent reinforcement is sooo powerful. And the profiteers know that ever so well, the stick and the carrot so many strive for.

I do my best to listen and learn from these kids. I have been working on changing my own ways because I agree with them! Fighting the dreaded "rut syndrome", as it were.

Just my little way of stickin' it to the man.

Julie

...spring up along these trails.

I wonder if more folks thrown out of jobs and homes are going to pack into trails like the Appalachian Trail or the Pacific Crest Trail, and find areas to "camp" indefinitely.

Having packed into California's ranges several times, I know they are clean and beautiful, and could prove to be a good alternative to "civilization."

is in her early 20's.....
she got tired of working 3 part time jobs after college (I don't know what she studied)
I know she was working coffee shop, valet, and was also doing massage therapy.

so here is this college educated young woman with also a massage license...
who can't find solid work....

saved up a little bit, moved in with some people she knew in Pennsylvania, and
has been posting pictures of their hike there on the trail.

perhaps there is something to what you are saying

although I have my own "screw it" plan in place, if what I'm trying to do doesn't fall into place soon.
there is only so much one can take. I'm almost 40, though...so I can't just drop everything anymore...
but you know what I mean.

I am guessing that a thru-hiker is someone who is traveling for entertainment / exercise?

...sometimes in segments, sometimes not sequentially. But a simple thru-hiker starts at one end and hikes to the other.

Camping regulations along the AT allow only thru-hikers to camp in some places along the trail. Regulations can differ from state-to-state and within states, but, for example, in some places a thru-hiker can camp anywhere at least 20 yards off the trail. Printed trail guides (also available online) detail just about every water source and campsite along the trail, and nearby towns, stores and motels along the way. Many, but not all, thru-hikers stay one or two nights a week in a motel, getting a hot shower, and stocking up at a local store, or picking up supplies that have been mailed ahead of time to post offices and other places along the way.

Edited to add: Resourceful hikers can do it pretty cheap. Most important thing is good shoes. : )

in Georgia. When I was hiking there years ago, the shelters would be filled with stuff that people got tired of carrying. Some of it was truly ridiculous like cast-iron fry pans, gallon jugs of stove fuel and machetes. Also lots of spare clothes, nature books and canned food.