The Appalachian Trail is very heavily traveled. It transverses one of the most densely populated areas of the country and is within easy driving distance of tens of millions of people. While many areas, particularly in the northeast are crowded there are still areas where solitude can be found.

Many hikers are day hikers. They drive to a trailhead, park their car and hike for a few miles. They then walk back to their car and return to either their campsite or home. Some are weekend backpackers who will hike for the weekend before returning home.Others are section hikers. The difference between a section hiker and a weekend backer is vague and generally involves distance. A weekender may have a goal of hiking 10 to 20 miles while section hikers generally set their sites from about 40 to several hundred miles on a hike.

The smallest group of hikers are the long distance hikers that sometimes refer to themselves as through hikers. These are hikers that attempt to hike the entire 2,000 plus miles in one continuous trip that generally takes 5 to 6 months.

The planning, food, equipment, and gear needed for weekend outings, section hikes, and through hikes are similar and are explored in these pages.