Advice for all potential thru hikers

[soilman]

Here are some thoughts based on 35 years of hiking on the AT. (not continuously)

1. Hikers attempting to thru hike are not rock stars. Don't expect/demand special treatment on the trail or in town. Your actions and behavior will impact all hikers who come after you.
2. You are not a thru hiker until you walk your last mile. Until then you are nothing more or less than a hiker, section hiker, or what ever other classification you want to put on it. So don't treat others who have not declared themselves as thru hikers any differently. Statistically the odds are not in your favor to be successful in completing your thru hike.
3. Long distance hiking is not easy. If it was everyone would/could do it.
4. Respect and love the trail. Stay on the footpath, don't cut switchbacks, LNT, etc. Thank any trail maintainers or trail clubs you see. Without them there would be no trail. Don't bitch about the PUD's, trail conditions, etc. The clubs and maintainers are volunteers and doing the best they can. After you get off the trail, join the ATC or local club if you are not already a member. Do some trail work.
5. Enjoy yourself. Everyday will not be filled with sunshine and spectacular vistas, but after you get off the trail you will treasure every day spent on it. Several years ago while doing some trail maintenance on White Cap MT in ME I ran into a 60 something thru hiker. I asked him how his hike went and if he was excited to be almost finished. He said he could not wait to finish and hated every day he hiked. I asked him why he continued and he said he was military and he always finished something he started.
6. Don't believe half of what you read on this site. Many of these posters are right and they know it.

[Zigzag]

Thank you, very well said.

[RodentWhisperer]

Thanks for the advice!

[CrumbSnatcher]

1. pick up some trash along the way( make up for that candy wrapper that blew out of your hand, up on some windy ridge) :-)
2. be respectful
3. tip your waiter!

[Shadowalker]

Wow , I thought I was out of School , Well Said , Well Meant , Hoo,s Yu,re Babysitter , Leave the Trash Behind , Do Your Homework , Dont Fart In A Shelter , Leave your Dog at Home , Dont Where them Trail Erosion Shoes , Dont Piss Into the Wind !! Did I Miss Anything ??

[4shot]

good advice. One other thing I would add - quit worrying about what you have or don't have for gear. This can be adjusted/corrected very easily along the way so you don't have to arrive at Springer or K with everything in exact order. So take your best educated guess (pick thru this site for info) and adjust as nes=cdessary along the way.

[ekeverette]

you mentioned you met a 60 something thru hiker...... you said they were not a thru hiker until they finished.

[Lone Wolf]

you mentioned you met a 60 something thru hiker...... you said they were not a thru hiker until they finished.

hahahahaha. awesome

[CrumbSnatcher]

im thruhiking to become a 2,000 miler
im section hiking to become a 2,000 miler

[Lone Wolf]

last time i was springer someone asked me if i was thru hikin'. i said hell no, i just started

[Storm]

last time i was springer someone asked me if i was thru hikin'. i said hell no, i just started

Can I borrow that line?

[coppertex]

2. You are not a thru hiker until you walk your last mile. Until then you are nothing more or less than a hiker, section hiker, or what ever other classification you want to put on it. So don't treat others who have not declared themselves as thru hikers any differently. Statistically the odds are not in your favor to be successful in completing your thru hike.

Although I have not thru hiked, my opinion differs slightly on this. While I agree that you should not be on your high horse about being a thru hiker, you should start at Springer knowing you are hiking to Maine - a thru hiker. Saying "I'll be a thru hiker after I reach Katahdin" seems self defeating. After the trail and you are home, if you completed the trail you are still a thru hiker, but if did not complete the trail, you stopped being a thru hiker as soon as you stepped off.

[Land_Shark]

The funny thing about doing this is when your in the company of a PROFESIONAL HIKER/OUTDORRS PERSON you know it there is no mistaking who and what they are the rest are just want a b's the fact that we.are all trying to better our lives is were we ar similar this is were the convosation needs to be focused. To many have this superior attitude and when you weigh and measure them they come up wanting. Hope to see all out there and be safe. Cheers :-)

[RWheeler]

Although I have not thru hiked, my opinion differs slightly on this. While I agree that you should not be on your high horse about being a thru hiker, you should start at Springer knowing you are hiking to Maine - a thru hiker. Saying "I'll be a thru hiker after I reach Katahdin" seems self defeating. After the trail and you are home, if you completed the trail you are still a thru hiker, but if did not complete the trail, you stopped being a thru hiker as soon as you stepped off.

I'm with you on the first part. I'll be starting my thru-hike in just under 2 months. Once Springer is south of me, I'll consider myself a thru-hiker as I intend to continue until I reach Katahdin. I'll by no means claim to be a 2,000 Miler until I reach Katahdin, but for the journey leading up to it, I'll be a thru-hiker. It's a very different experience than someone day hiking or section hiking parts of the Appalachian Trail.

For me (at this point in time, anyway), I feel that once I'm off the trail, regardless of success or failure, I'm no longer a thru-hiker. Why? I'm not thru-hiking anymore. I may have completed a thru-hike or not, but it's no longer what would currently be defining my hiking. I'd tell others that I had completed a thru-hike, or that I was a thru-hiker.

My take on it, anyway.

[Wise Old Owl]

Nice thread starter - what prompted this?

[rocketsocks]

I'm with you on the first part. I'll be starting my thru-hike in just under 2 months. Once Springer is south of me, I'll consider myself a thru-hiker as I intend to continue until I reach Katahdin. I'll by no means claim to be a 2,000 Miler until I reach Katahdin, but for the journey leading up to it, I'll be a thru-hiker. It's a very different experience than someone day hiking or section hiking parts of the Appalachian Trail.

For me (at this point in time, anyway), I feel that once I'm off the trail, regardless of success or failure, I'm no longer a thru-hiker. Why? I'm not thru-hiking anymore. I may have completed a thru-hike or not, but it's no longer what would currently be defining my hiking. I'd tell others that I had completed a thru-hike, or that I was a thru-hiker.

My take on it, anyway.

+1 on your(my)definition,with some comments.If you make it to the 2000 mile mark white line in the middle of the road,I would consider you a 2000 miler at least on the AT.As these terms seem to have originated on,for or from the AT? But outside of all that .I don't really care what you call yourself,not one tater tot.

[4shot]

. Once Springer is south of me, I'll consider myself a thru-hiker as I intend to continue until I reach Katahdin.

My take on it, anyway.

what worked for me...when i was on the trail, Ii had no idea whether I not I would actually finish. it was my strong desire to do so but I knew there where things outside of my control..injury, illness, things back at home, etc. I saw many capable hikers have to leave the trail for various reasons. So while I was on the trail, if asked by other hikers about my "hiker status"...I always told them that "I was attempting a thru-hike" because I did not know in Ga or Va or Pa or NH if I actually was a thru-hiker or not. That worked for me as I never wanted to claim to be something I wasn't.

[ekeverette]

no the op was grandiose and condescending...... who is he to dictate ones agenda. we all try, and that's the best we can do. i just want to hike to the best of my ability. i know how to be courteous to my fellow hikers and people.

[Blissful]

Here are some thoughts based on 35 years of hiking on the AT. (not continuously)


2. You are not a thru hiker until you walk your last mile. Until then you are nothing more or less than a hiker, section hiker, or what ever other classification you want to put on it. So don't treat others who have not declared themselves as thru hikers any differently. Statistically the odds are not in your favor to be successful in completing your thru hike.

They are 2,000 milers like sectioners who finish the whole trail, plain and simple.
Doesn't matter if it takes 30 years or six months

[Wise Old Owl]

Blissful comes thru with the Confucius and removes all the doubt - Bam! You GO! Awesome....