Solitude and sociability: Social processes among Appalachian Trail long-distance hikers

The Appalachian Trail is a 2,000-plus mile footpath running from Georgia to Maine. Each year roughly two thousand individuals attempt to hike this trail from end-to-end (about 20% are successful). While on the trail, "long distance hikers" become part of an elaborate social world characterized by strong in-group identification and intricate systems of communication and exchange. Several social processes that take place amongst Appalachian Trail long distance hikers will be examined in hopes of shedding light on processes that take place in a wider variety of social worlds.;First, I examine the defining features of the social world and its members using the social world perspective (Strauss 1978; Unruh 1980a). Second, I draw on the work of Kling and Gerson (1978) to examine processes of segmentation as they take place on the Appalachian Trail. It is argued that processes of intersection with outsiders play a large part in creating in-group/out-group boundaries. Interactions with outsiders also contribute to the segmentation of the social world whereby two subworlds of long distance hikers emerge. Third, I describe processes of socialization amongst long distance hikers, including the ways they anticipate their experiences before they actually get to the Appalachian Trail. I also investigate processes by which long distance hikers identify with different social groups on the trail, including the social world in general, one of the two subworlds, and as a "trail clique" member. An interesting finding here is that long distance hikers emphasize different social identities over time and move in and out of them with relative ease. Next, I look at processes of exchange between long distance hikers and with outsiders to the social world. These results address an important debate in this area regarding the association between exchange structure and social solidarity. In particular, restricted and network generalized exchanges are associated with greater solidarity than group generalized exchanges.;Multiple methods have been employed to accomplish this task including participant observations, archival methods, and an email questionnaire. I will conclude by discussing the theoretical implications of my findings, their limitations, and possible directions for future research.