View Full Version : Hike Your Own Hike
Moose2001
01-10-2003, 20:20
Just no real interesting discussions going on. So, here's one. What does "Hike your own hike" really mean? To me, it's one of the most abused and least understood terms used on the trail. Anyone want to take a go at explaining what it really means?
Hikerhead
01-10-2003, 20:24
It means to do your hike in your own way, on your own terms. Do the miles you want to do, camp where you want to camp, pull a townie when and for as long as you want.
That's what it means to me.
Lone Wolf
01-10-2003, 20:36
Hmmm. Good question. IMO? Most hikers that use that term are hypocrites. They'll say it to your face but when they get to the next shelter they'll tell everybody how you're blue-blazing and cheating. Always concerned about what others are doing.
Redbeard
01-10-2003, 20:57
But a REAL thruhiker is only supposed to...
mongstad
01-10-2003, 21:50
It means live your on life and don't intrude upon other's.
That saying has 2 parts. Hike your own hike, but don't force anyone else to hike yours.
So, when you critisize someone for doing something that doesn't conform with your idea of a thru-hike, such as blue blazing, then you are in effect, forcing them to hike your hike.
Blue Jay
01-11-2003, 09:48
This is just another way of saying "mind your own business. The problem is we humans hate doing that. Minding someone else's business is ever sooo much more fun. We are competitive creatures, we, like chickens, love a pecking order. I think the key to hiking your own hike is to use another phrase, let it slide off you like water off a duck's back.
Moose2001
01-11-2003, 09:51
So if I say, pitch my tent somewhere that I shouldn't and someone says something to me. Then I just have to tell them "Hike your own hike" and it's cool?
Footslogger
01-11-2003, 12:42
Kinda obvious that this means different things to different people so I'll throw in my .02. To me ...."hike your own hike" means to make decisions concerning your journey based on what rings your bell (keeping within sociably acceptable margins) and NOT imposing those standards on others or outwardly judging others on those standards. I guess to me it's sort of a "mind your own business" approach to hiking the trail.
Lone Wolf
04-08-2010, 01:10
Hmmm. Good question. IMO? Most hikers that use that term are hypocrites. They'll say it to your face but when they get to the next shelter they'll tell everybody how you're blue-blazing and cheating. Always concerned about what others are doing.
i still feel the same
So if I say, pitch my tent somewhere that I shouldn't and someone says something to me. Then I just have to tell them "Hike your own hike" and it's cool?
Yes:sun.........
I think a major aspect of this little saying for me is don't give me advice if I didn't ask for it first. It's extremely irritating to meet a hiker going in the opposite direction that acts as if it's their personal duty to turn around, catch up with me, and suggest a different pack, or for the love of God, a different way to walk. ;)HYOH!:D
Plodderman
04-08-2010, 10:05
Your own pace, food, and likes and dislikes.
When I hiked the southern half of the Superior Hiking Trail, I walked into the town of Finland to re-supply and call my wife. I didn't hike back to the same place I left the trail, just walked down the road to the next place the trail crossed it.
To some, I should therefore not say I "thru-hiked" the SHT. I say, "HYOH". Their opinion of my hike means nothing to me, because in the grand scheme of things, neither of our opinions is worth a pinch of *****. No one could (or should) possibly care about such trivial nonsense.
I have seen the light, however, and now I hike Mags' way.
lloyd528
04-08-2010, 11:20
Just no real interesting discussions going on. So, here's one. What does "Hike your own hike" really mean? To me, it's one of the most abused and least understood terms used on the trail. Anyone want to take a go at explaining what it really means??
Moose, actually there is a discussion about this very topic called..."Are there no standards?"......I started the thread and the question I raised looks like this............As I read through all the books about thru hiking along with the trail journals found online, I get the impression that there are no real standards for a thru hike...it seems like the philosophy out there is to "Hike Your Own Hike"....slack pack, blue blaze, flip flop, yellow blaze. What I am curious about is this....are white blazers who avoid slack packing and flip flopping in the minority? Are the white blazers usually older hikers? Does anyone have a problem with these alternative ways of hiking to avoid the demands of weather, trail and weight? Are there no overiding ethics out there?
I'd love to hear from you... Lloyd
"Hike your own hike" seems to bring out the a lot of interesting opinions about what and what is not a "thru hike". Since the ATC does not define it, only a "2000 miler", it is defined by the person who takes this journey and no one has the right to define it for someone else.
"A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do."
-Bob Dylan
I'm with DYLAN!...
thanks for posting the quote, "Walkin Dude"!:D
fredmugs
04-08-2010, 11:37
With respect to this website it should mean offer advice but not mandates. Lots of newbies come here (like me once upon a time) looking for advice and they get a lot of moronic feedback. Some things I have seen on here include.....
1. Force yourself to drink a liter of water every hour. Force? Stupid and potentially dangerous. You should never force yourself to do anything.
2. You are not eating enough fat, calories, carbs, whatever. I can hike 25 mile days and eat 3,000 calories/day with less fat and carbs than a standard 2,000 calorie a day diet while drinking roughly 3 liters of water a day. No way I'm going to tell somebody else to do this.
3. You need some type of gear (tent, pack, etc) that costs way too much. I own 3 packs and my favorite one is a $50 Swiss Gear pack I bought from Sam's Club.
4. Footwear. I can't count how many blisters I have earned over the years because I thought I needed merino wool socks, sock liners, boots, etc. I wear wide width trail runners or cross trainers with the cheap gray socks you get in a 6 pack from Wal Mart. No more blisters. No more foot pain.
5. Giving advice to people when you have no idea how old they are, size, weight, where and how long they are hiking, what shape they are in, etc.
6. Hippie type preachers. If you want to lounge around a shelter until noon and hike for 4 hours good for you. Don't dump on me because I set goals and objectives.
Tell people what you do - not what they should do.
"A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do."
-Bob Dylan
I'm with DYLAN!...
thanks for posting the quote, "Walkin Dude"!:D
I'm an extremely successful man. :)
Cookerhiker
04-08-2010, 14:34
Kinda obvious that this means different things to different people so I'll throw in my .02. To me ...."hike your own hike" means to make decisions concerning your journey based on what rings your bell (keeping within sociably acceptable margins) and NOT imposing those standards on others or outwardly judging others on those standards. I guess to me it's sort of a "mind your own business" approach to hiking the trail.
You've summed up my sentiments pretty well including the phrase that I emboldened. If one's "OH" means you crap on the middle of the Trail, throw trash in the woods, cut live trees for firewood, build fires where prohibited and/or in extremely dry conditions, take short cuts up steep erosion-prone slopes instead of using the switchbacks, then no, "YOH" is not cool.
To me, HYOH means:
•Hike the number of miles you want
•Carry the amount of weight you want
•Hike the trail(s) you want
•Go to bed, get up when you want
•Eat the food you want
•Go into towns when you want (or not)
To me, HYOH does not mean:
•Camping in illegal or environmentally fragile places
•Abusing the environment through littering, graffiti, fouling water supplies, etc.
•Claiming to have hiked the whole AT, and applying to ATC for recognition of same, if you in fact did not
•Intentionally starting trouble with other hikers
•Causing relations between the hiking communities and townspeople, service providers, etc. to deteriorate because of lazy/stupid/selfish actions
When I use the term, I mean, "Take care of yourself, have fun, be safe." More or less, I am wishing "bon voyage".
K2
When I use the term, I mean, "Take care of yourself, have fun, be safe." More or less, I am wishing "bon voyage".
K2
yup.........
stranger
04-08-2010, 20:48
The whole "Hike you own hike" thing is largely irrelevant in the scheme of things, as well as the concept of hiking every blaze, or blue blazing, yellow blazing, this, that, etc... is largely an Appalachian Trail thing...for whatever reason.
From what I've seen, hikers don't sit around on the PCT or CDT and question who took the correct "route", they just get on with it. In some places, there is no trail...there is here and there, and you figure out the rest. The idea of hiking a "correct" way, or direction, is laughable.
In other parts of the world, the concept may not even be discussed, I don't think I've ever heard this mentioned in Australia for example, a country of vast long distance hiking tracks, largely unmarked, or with very limited markings and very little information available. The same goes for New Zealand, it's not talked about.
But along the AT, or perhaps the Long Trail as well...it's a hot topic for some reason. I would highly recommend reading Mags's article about this topic, it's very well done...and very funny.
yes. and if you want the patch, even the ATC, the people who award 'the patch' and take your name down for posterity, don't insist on passing every white blaze...
WILLIAM HAYES
04-15-2010, 19:06
I have a magnet on my beer fridge that says hike your own hike to me it means dont help yourself unless you are asked -same with advice on the trail
Hillbilly
Lion King
04-18-2010, 16:28
It means if someone decides they want to see a peak or hike a trail that isnt on the 'Route according to the Book, God and some trail icon or whomever..." then they should be able to and to return to the trail when and if they choose where they choose with a smile without having to hear some self important jackass make a point of belittling them for living outside of someone elses idea of what a perfect step-by-step hike should be.
If someone decides they want to yellowblaze because they are financially unable to hike a stretch or the bugs suck so bad they bleed them dry or the rocks are ridiculous to the point of ankle breaking and the peaks are constant with zero views and you have to kill yourself to make it through a day and you find out that by listening to that voice in your head telling you Joy lies over there on that bike path, or in that Volkswagon with those pot smoking hippies or on a 110 mile river trip, then by god, go for it and love it.
It means living, it means experiancing with zero regrets all the more when some snide ass makes a point of telling you that because you didnt do it their way, you are wrong.
I hike to escape from people like that. I blue blaze, yellowblaze, pink blaze, aqua blaze, brown blaze, blaze up, blaze down, whatever the hell I like and when I hear others talking trash about people at shelters or in town I think less and less of the elitist and I lose respect for them since some of them are still 'living in the office' even while on a hike that should free the mind body and soul.
I think its great and applaud every purist, every blue blazer and every one else, as long as you can just be cool man, just be cool.
HYOH, or dont, whatever..;..
Windcatcher
04-18-2010, 16:45
HYOH - Means chill & enjoy. If you're a purist and want to pass every white blaze, then do it. If you're a section hiker and want to do the trail over time, then do it. If you're a tourist and want to only do a piece of one trail, then a piece of another, then do it. If you're an UL backpacker, then strip down. If you're a gear hog with a 60 lb. pack, then lug it. Welcome everyone that wants to experience the trail in whatever manner they can or want to, as ultimately, the more everyone enjoys their experience, the better off we will all be in the long run.
Breathe deep, the sky is blue, the grass is green, the sun is warm...
kayak karl
04-18-2010, 17:17
“Live your own life, for you will die your own death” i think came before "Hike your own hike" (knock off)
THIS ONE I LIKE
“Live life so completely that when death comes to you like a thief in the night, there will be nothing left for him to steal."
Just have fun and when it ain't fun......GO HOME :sun