Chapter 7: The Hollywood Way

With the release of the film version of Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods, many fear the number of thru-hikers will increase significantly. Some recent experiences on the 500-mile Camino de Santiago in Spain just might offer insight into making predictions about the increase of thru-hikers that might result from the Robert Redford movie.

Although popular with western Europeans, few Americans found their way onto the Camino de Santiago. Then, in 2011, Emilio Estevez produced a movie, starring his father, Martin Sheen, about the Camino called The Way. The movie had limited box-office success, but appears to have found a wider audience in the United States on Netflix and DVD. In 2005, there were 2,047 Camino hikers from the U.S. In 2012, the year after the release of The Way, the number of Americans on the Camino increased 89% increase.

The A.T. might see a similar percent increase in the number of thru-hikers beginning their trek towards Maine next year in the aftermath of A Walk in the Woods. Already, the number of people attempting an A.T. thru-hike doubled in 6 years, and last year, approximately 2,500 people started a thru-hike in Georgia. That means there may be another 1,000 – 2,000 hikers—or more—jockeying for spots at shelters in 2016.

CAMINO                               A.T.