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I found out the Appalachian Trail is actually 2,198 miles but everyone I hike with rounds it to 2,200 and it bugs me more than it should
Last week I was reading the Appalachian Trail Conservancy's site before my section hike in Shenandoah and they list the official length as 2,198.2 miles. I brought it up at a shelter in Grayson Highlands and three thru hikers told me to stop being that guy, but I feel like if we're gonna brag about finishing it we should at least say the real number. It's a small thing, but 1.8 miles is basically an extra hour of walking and I've seen people quit over less. Does anyone else correct people on the actual mileage or am I just being annoying about this?
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casey3939h ago
This drives me nuts too. I thru hiked in 2019 and the official number back then was 2,190.9 and everyone still said 2,190 or 2,200 depending on who you asked. The ATC re-measures it every few years because the trail actually changes when they reroute sections, so the number moves around, but that does not mean we should just make up a round number. There was a guy in my trail family who kept a little notebook and he updated the total every time we crossed a state line, and honestly he was the most accurate one of all of us. When you spend five months out there, every single mile matters, and those last two miles at the end of a 20 mile day feel like ten. The people telling you to stop being that guy are just mad they got caught rounding.
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