I saw this sign last weekend in the entryway of the Inn at Long Trail, a popular stopover for Appalachian Trail and Long Trail hikers at Sherburne Pass in Vermont.

It reminded me of a sad conversation I had with the owners of a popular AT hiker hostel in Maine this winter. Much to their dismay, after more than 20 years of providing overnight accomodations for hikers, they'd finally had enough. Enough of the rude and thoughtless few who've ruined it for the rest. The ones who think you owe them something because they're a "thru-hiker." The ones who skip out without paying. Or get loud or drunk or both and cause a host of problems.

That's a shame.

But I've heard it more and more in the last few years. As the AT experience has become more popular and use has skyrocketed, thru-hikers are often unwelcome in certain places because of increasing incidences of bad behavior. It's a common problem up and down the trail.

Let's be clear: The vast majority of thru-hikers are good folks who mind their manners. But the damage done by a few has been enough to cause some alarm in the trail community that many hiker services will be lost and local support for the trail will decline further. And a long distance trail system can't survive in such an environment.

So the good folks at ALDHA, the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association, started something awhile back called the Endangered Services Campaign in an attempt to re-establish goodwill between the hiking community and the local folks along the AT. And the "Hike in Harmony" message is the latest iteration in the PR effort.

I'm not sure how well it's working, but maybe as the AT hiking season progresses I can gather up some feedback and let you know.

In the meantime we hikers should remember that not only are we guests out in the wilderness, but guests in the towns we walk through along the way. All are deserving of our care and respect. It'll come back to us ten-fold.