Sangita Krishnamurthi

June 2023

For many Appalachian Trail (A.T.) volunteers like Sangita Krishnamurthi, A.T. volunteering does not always happen on the Trail. For the past year, Krishnamurthi has been collecting the hand-written, paper thru-hiker registrations from Amicalola Falls State Park, which is located at the southern terminus of the Trail in Georgia. Once the registrations are collected, Krishnamurthi volunteers her time to enter the data into a digital format. At the start of 2022, she entered over 1,000 rows of thru-hiker registration data over the course of a few months.

Thanks to Krishnamurthi’s dedication to this tedious task, the data that had been previously difficult to access is now readily available for analysis, providing valuable insights into thru-hiker trends and needs. “We hope that these data will help us better educate and inform A.T. thru-hikers to ensure the best possible experience on the Trail” explains Monica Mogilewsky, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s (ATC) Visitor Use Management Data Manager.

Data entry work happens behind the scenes and is often overlooked and underappreciated. Yet, having accurate and accessible data is one of the foundations of effective Trail management. Krishnamurthi has transformed a daunting task into one that is now progressing steadily thanks to her outstanding humor, grace, and self-starting commitment to the task.

“Thanks to Sangita’s contributions, we can share the information on thru-hikers registered at Amicalola Falls State Park not only at ATC but with our partners like Amicalola Falls State Park, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Appalachian Trail Club, and Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. The digitized data Sangita provides will be referenced for years to come as we compare visitor numbers to past and future years and make better informed decisions about visitor use on the Appalachian Trail” explains Sarah Adams ATC’s Regional Manager in Georgia and Nantahala.