Life is so much simple when one has no knowledge of science, no self responsibility, and no regard for anyone else. I'm tired of hearing about the businesses along the trail as if they are only ones suffering impact. Most of the people saying this just don't have the courage to admit that this argument is a red herring - they just want to go play in the woods. There are businesses all over the US that are hurting - and will continue to do so until this virus is controlled. Short-sighted mass spreader events like this will only prolong it.
Please don't tell me how responsible thru hikers will be. I was on the AT in NY and NJ almost every weekend once it reopened last Spring and Summer. I encountered a surprisingly large number of thru hikers - none of which used a mask when coming across other hikers on a narrow trail corridor. It evidently hasn't gotten better. Most of the YT thrus that I've been watching this season post videos of themselves hitching a ride in stranger's cars and shopping in stores in town - and none have a mask. A particularly egregious one is Andrew Live Life. He's from NJ - where while the rest of the US was in COVID denial last Spring, we were stacking COVID victims in refrigerated trucks in hospital loading docks and digging mass graves in NYC's Hart Island due to mortuaries not being able to keep up.
If you think Trail Days is a good idea, go do some research on how the Sturgis Rally worked out - and grow up.