From what I understand, the guy that committed the murder was a drifter and had been hanging around trails for some time waiting for a victim. Inthe past, communication about the AT and other hiking trails was not that widely avail and for years many people that live nearby to the AT and other trails were unaware. Cybertech is great in that we can communicate alot better now. Really, the solution may be to hike w others and if this is not feasible, do your hike but be more vigilant. Hiking trails will always be places for solitude and getting away from it all but the reality of potential violence,boundary violations and human incivility still exists-but at a much improbable level than throughout daily social interactions. In season, there could be a system wide ridgerunner program that could help. There is always strength in numbers!
mike