KRT SPORTS STORY SLUGGED: OTD-APPTRAIL KRT PHOTOGRAPH BY JACK HORAN/CHARLOTTE OBSERVER (March 2) Veteran hiker Lee Barry, of Shelby, North Carolina, right, hikes with Andy Hough of Lebanon, Missouri, on the Appalachian Trail east of Roan Mountain. (Photo by mvw) 2005
KRT SPORTS STORY SLUGGED: OTD-APPTRAIL KRT PHOTOGRAPH BY JAC
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Hikers are being told to postpone plans to hike the entire length of the Appalachian Trail this year due to COVID-19.
The Asheville Citizen Times reports the Appalachian Trail Conservancy made the suggestion because it feels the pandemic makes long-distance hikes unsafe.
Morgan Sommerville, regional director for the conservancy, says 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 on the trail.
The Appalachian Trail runs through 14 states from Georgia to Maine and covers 2,193 miles.
