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View Full Version : What do you consider a thru-hike?



lobster
10-26-2005, 21:17
Your own definition?

weary
10-26-2005, 22:02
Some one who hikes all the trail between Springer and Katahdin in one 12-month period.

CynJ
10-26-2005, 22:44
I think anyone that does the whole trail in one shot is a thru-hiker. But I have some mixed feelings about the folks that "thru" but take 2weeks off in the middle to go home or something. I don't consider taking the few occasional days off as bad but a two week stretch then coming back can almost make you a big section hiker.

Just the opinion of someone who hasn't hike the trail yet, either in sections or a thru.

Lone Wolf
10-27-2005, 04:18
End to end. No days off. No motels or hostels.

the goat
10-27-2005, 09:02
I think anyone that does the whole trail in one shot is a thru-hiker. But I have some mixed feelings about the folks that "thru" but take 2weeks off in the middle to go home or something. I don't consider taking the few occasional days off as bad but a two week stretch then coming back can almost make you a big section hiker.

Just the opinion of someone who hasn't hike the trail yet, either in sections or a thru.
i used to think the same thing. that is, before i actually thru'ed.

Blue Jay
10-27-2005, 09:34
Your own definition?

OK, we get it. You are the most wonderful, supreme thruhiker of all time. All hail the great Lobster. He thruhiked the AT past every white blaze. Big Whooop.

Gray Blazer
10-27-2005, 09:39
Obviously, a thru hike is the whole AT hiked in one shot. I'd like to address what is a thru-hiker. You folks can add to this list....A thru-hiker is someone who.......1. ...has planned and thought about the trek for a long time (for the most part, Lone Wolf probably woke up one morning and said to himself, "Self, I'm going to hike the whole AT today") 2....doesn't leave pots and pans and canned food along the trail at Springer or Katahdin (Because he/she has planned and prepared). 3...Writes in the journal at Tray Mountain "I hiked 15 miles today. I'm going to pick up my mileage tomorrow". 4...gets up and goes every morning with or without Ibuprofin. 5......has leg muscles the size of a t-rex by the end of the first few weeks. 6.....sees someone like me hiking in the woods and says," I must be near a highway." 7....writes in the Davenport Gap Shelter journal "Tomorrow I'm getting a big cheese (veggie) burger at Moutain Moma's. 8...has permanent jungle rot on their feet because it rained every day of their hike. 9....has the immense satisfaction that they have accomplished something that very few people can do.

Lone Wolf
10-27-2005, 09:46
You're right Bear Bait. It was July 1985, I was riding on the back of a garbage truck and the thought hit me to hike the AT. Started saving that day. 8 months later I was at Amicalola Park scared to death. Hoisted the pack, took a few steps and knew I'd done the right thing. Ever since I've been nothin but a drunken, blue-blazin, hiker trash hobo from hell! :D

The Old Fhart
10-27-2005, 09:53
L. Wolf-"It was July 1985, I was riding on the back of a garbage truck...." Sorry Lone Wolf, but I've just gotta ask-Were you working or were you cargo! :D Gives a whole new meaning to hiker trash!

Almost There
10-27-2005, 10:03
Lobster, always starting a thread to get someone going, my props to you man, you sure can pick'em...and I don't mean boogers!

If we all believe in a HYOH mentality then there is no one definition for what constitutes a thru hike. It depends on the individual. If I get sick and have to get off for a month, but return and finish, does that mean I am no longer a thru hiker? According to some here...yes. Personally, I am impressed by the perserverence that particular person showed to overcome illness and get back out there. If an old pioneer had contracted an illness traveling to Oregon and has to take a month to heal, does that mean he didn't make it to Oregon(Making a point for absurdity's sake)? In order to maintain a HYOH philosophy the ATC has set "Guidelines" for completing a thru hike.


We do expect that persons applying for inclusion in our 2,000-miler records have made an honest effort to walk the entire Trail.
Honest effort is the key! If for you it means walking by every white blaze...good for you. If someone happens to walk a blue blaze trail because of a view they want to see, etc. Let'em they're still doing the miles. The thru hike is hiking 4+ months, and perservering. It's a personal journey, so why categorize it or try and define it. It's spiritual as well as physical. To define a thru hike is sorta like trying to define "Love", and people have been trying to do that with no true success ever since there were people. If you start on Springer and end on Katahdin, or vice versa, and you have hiked 2000+ miles...then you have my respect as a thru hiker, and for those of you who wish to police the community, hold to your high standards but leave the rest of us alone, trust me it isn't mine or most of our dream to hike the trail "your" way, but for each to find his own.

Ender
10-27-2005, 10:07
Your own definition?

For me, it's getting from Georgia to Maine on foot through the woods.

The Solemates
10-27-2005, 10:18
Your own definition?

who cares.

the goat
10-27-2005, 10:24
the lobster's just castin' out the old fishin' line.......... again.

SMASH
10-27-2005, 10:32
a hiker starts at springer, walks 2047 miles passing every white blaze but due to extreme weather and impassable river fords skips up to katahdin to find that the mountain has been closed. the hiker has hiked everything he/she possibly could without putting themselves in serious danger, is this a thru?

Spartan Hiker
10-27-2005, 10:40
Your own definition?
When I take my boots off.

The Old Fhart
10-27-2005, 10:44
In 1998 I talked to a jogger I met at the Peters Mountain shelter in PA. It turned out he had hiked all but 5.2 miles of the A.T. the year before. He had made arrangements to be picked up at Baxter and planned for some leeway but the weather was so bad that the mountain was closed for 3 days. He couldn't, and he couldn't have his driver, wait any longer, so he had to go home. As far as I'm concerned, he thru hiked the A.T..

lobster
10-27-2005, 10:50
My next hike is going to be a no hotel, hike at least a few miles every day, northbound ( no flipping) hike.

You folks think every post I make is a "baiter", but I actually was curious what folks thought about this topic. It's not my fault you bicker between each other!

Moxie00
10-27-2005, 10:58
What trail? You can thru hike The Long Trail in a month. The AT can take about 6 for a average hiker. Ditto the CDT and the PCT may take longer. The term thru hike has somehow been associated with the AT but any long distance trail where you start at one end and end at the other is considered by many who hike it a thru hike.

Ender
10-27-2005, 11:04
the lobster's just castin' out the old fishin' line.......... again.

Even if he is, at least he's asking questions and polling instead of just arguing. Gets the ideas out there. I don't mind.

Mags
10-27-2005, 11:10
..and the discussions on his threads have been good ones. If it is trolling, it is trolling for good discussions!

Nean
10-27-2005, 11:19
I'll bite. Someone who walks all the way betwween point A and point B in one go. Doesn't matter if you flip, slack, blue, take a side trip or 3. Met a guy once who did half the trail in the spring, worked all summer and did the second half in the fall. I don't consider that a thru but don't mind if he does.

I always got a kick out of those "thrus" who "cheated a little bit" or "did 98% of the trail", read: yellowblaze. I like to say there is no cheating in thru hiking, just lying. Some tell what they consider little white lies, others I'd consider big yellow ones.
IMHO, if the reason you hike is to follow a color or reach point B- I'd try again... to find a better reason.

Gray Blazer
10-27-2005, 11:45
It's not my fault you bicker between each other!
Amen to that.

Almost There
10-27-2005, 11:48
You folks think every post I make is a "baiter"
Alright the child in me has to do this!:

Some might say, Lobster that you are a Master "baiter"

Ender
10-27-2005, 11:51
Alright the child in me has to do this!:

Some might say, Lobster that you are a Master "baiter"

I was wondering who was going to post that :) :clap

weary
10-27-2005, 11:51
Met a guy once who did half the trail in the spring, worked all summer and did the second half in the fall. I don't consider that a thru ....
How does that guy differ from the thru hiker who takes a zero day to rest up -- or 20 zero days. How many zero days in your opinion makes it not a thru, or is it the fact that this guy worked to earn money to complete his journey that destroys his thru hike.


I always got a kick out of those "thrus" who "cheated a little bit" or "did 98% of the trail", read: yellowblaze. I like to say there is no cheating in thru hiking, just lying. ....
I think the lying only occurs when one signs the ATC form claiming 2,000 miler status. I find that most people who ask about my 1993 walk could care less about the details. For those who ask I tell them I started on Springer and ended on Katahdin six months and three days later, but that I wasn't a purist.

I sort of felt like I'd accomplished something when I reached that sign on Katahdin, though I'll never register as a 2,000 miler. But neither do I necessarily feel obligated to explain their error when someone introduces me as a thru hiker.

Weary

Almost There
10-27-2005, 11:55
Jester isn't around, so as his self annointed capering monkey...I had to do it!

tlbj6142
10-27-2005, 12:06
Not sure if it was in BP'er or some other outdoor magazine I read...

But a recent issue had an article about Andy Skurka (http://www.golite.com/team/athletes/andrew_skurka/index.asp) completing the first ever thru-hike of the C2C route. Someone wrote in to the editor to state that Andy didn't do a thru-hike becuase it took a couple of weeks off for Xmas. If you hike 7700 miles in 11 months, taking 2 weeks off still makes it a thru-hike in my book.

CynJ;

You find that many folks take multi-day breaks from the trail for weddings, graduations, family reunions, family vacations(!), child birth (by a family/friend), illness, etc. Sometimes, I think those folks actually have it a bit more difficult than those that never leave. As it has to be "too easy" to think, damn it sure is nice to be home. My brother took several multi-day breaks on his '04 thru-hike for all of the reasons I listed above.

rickb
10-27-2005, 12:10
But neither do I necessarily feel obligated to explain their error when someone introduces me as a thru hiker.

I think there was a time when the only argument was about how to spell it. Thru or through.

The rest was just understood. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

What constituted being "2,000 Miler" was different, though. For those new to this, that is a distinction conferred by an organization that sees every link in the unbroken chain of footpath from Springer to Katahdin as being significant. Whether its a magnificent stretch over Franconia Ridge, or an ugly stretch down a town road. To my way of thinking, its logical for such an organization to confir their distinction on those who have walked it all, or really tried to. Others don't share this logic, but for some incomprehensible reason still covet the ATC's distinction.

Miss Janet
10-27-2005, 12:45
End to end. No days off. No motels or hostels.

L. Wolf, You are just a plain ole sourpuss and don't want anybody to have a fun hike!

You impressionable young wanna be thruhikers.... Do Not Listen To This
L. Wolf Guy! He will steer you to the dark side...

Ender
10-27-2005, 12:51
L. Wolf, You are just a plain ole sourpuss and don't want anybody to have a fun hike!

You impressionable young wanna be thruhikers.... Do Not Listen To This
L. Wolf Guy! He will steer you to the dark side...

We all know the dark side has the cooler powers... lightning bolts out of the fingers, strangling people without touching them... coooooool.

Mags
10-27-2005, 13:19
But a recent issue had an article about Andy Skurka (http://www.golite.com/team/athletes/andrew_skurka/index.asp) completing the first ever thru-hike of the C2C route. Someone wrote in to the editor to state that Andy didn't do a thru-hike becuase it took a couple of weeks off for Xmas. If you hike 7700 miles in 11 months, taking 2 weeks off still makes it a thru-hike in my book.


Wow..whoever said that statement has a case of sour grapes. Cripe...

Why is such a simple activity (walking) debated so much?

Spartan Hiker
10-27-2005, 14:28
Why is such a simple activity (walking) debated so much?Because we're the most powerful and affluent nation on the planet with plenty of time on our hands...ain't it great?!

One Leg
10-27-2005, 14:44
Your own definition?

A person who chooses a route (North-South; South-North; Flipping; whatever)

Also a person who can have fun while doing it, hikes their own hike over the objections of others who think they have or know of a better way to do it.

Not a thruhiker,
Scott

Blue Jay
10-27-2005, 20:43
a recent issue had an article about Andy Skurka (http://www.golite.com/team/athletes/andrew_skurka/index.asp) completing the first ever thru-hike of the C2C route. Someone wrote in to the editor to state that Andy didn't do a thru-hike becuase it took a couple of weeks off for Xmas.

That Lobster, he seeks out slackers on all trails at all times. I don't know how he keeps track of us all.

betic4lyf
10-27-2005, 20:59
i define them as those lucky fellows that can take the time of and hike for a while.

Nightwalker
10-27-2005, 22:49
Some one who hikes all the trail between Springer and Katahdin in one 12-month period.
That's about it.

fiddlehead
10-27-2005, 23:10
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it's any hike of more than a month. Because hiking the long trail, pyrenees high route, annapurna circuit, colorado trail, az trail, on and on and on would all be considered "thru hikes" in my book. Just because they're not as long as the AT doesn't mean they weren't as good as an adventure.
None of you would appreciate it if a CDT hiker said "it" had to be a hike of at least 2800 miles. (my cdt hikes were a bit less than that but .............well, hopefully you get my point)

Nean
10-28-2005, 00:07
Maybe a thru is completing the total distance of any trail in one go no matter how long. Just because I can jump off my porch doesn't make me an astronaut though. Not all trails are long although we all have our own perspective.
Thanks for asking Weary. It's different because that is how it feels to me. I'd like to think I'm a well rounded hiker and stated my opinion based on my travels. I don't care if everybody who walks a week on the trail calls themselves looong distance thru hikers... they do! Lobster asked for opinions, these are mine, all mine!:eek: Thank you for yours


Go ahead ground control, over

sierraDoug
10-28-2005, 01:00
My next hike is going to be a no hotel, hike at least a few miles every day, northbound ( no flipping) hike.
Why not take some zeroes now and then? I'd think taking a day to rest your feet, take in the sights and sounds, contemplate your navel, and just mix up the routine would be a great addition to the experience.

Youngblood
10-28-2005, 08:55
I have my own opinion and it is simply what one did-- hiking a trail, any trail, from one end to the other. The way one does it is simply descriptions of how one did their thru hike, whether it is as a purists, a blue blazer, a yellow blazer, an aqua blazer, continuous in one trip, hiked in sections over a period of years, always hiked in the same direction, always slept on the trail, hiked it in 3 months, hiked it in 7 months, etc.

Youngblood

Old Spice
10-28-2005, 23:43
when i was in kindergarden i was sitting on the bus with a friend of mine. he told me that he was on an innertube in the middle of the ocean once and it sunk, forcing him to walk to shore under water. surely this must qualify as a thru-hike? haha.

jeepcj258
10-29-2005, 10:21
When I take my boots off. This is the most true statement I have ever read!

KS_Rockstar
10-29-2005, 12:42
a hiker starts at springer, walks 2047 miles passing every white blaze but due to extreme weather and impassable river fords skips up to katahdin to find that the mountain has been closed. the hiker has hiked everything he/she possibly could without putting themselves in serious danger, is this a thru? imo, no. it's like saying, "i climbed everest..... well, i got almost to the top but had to turn around because of weather." THEN YOU DIDNT F*UKING CLIMB THE MOUNTIAN! the implyed meaning of the title "climbed everest" is that you climbed all the way to the top or sumited everest. not to take anything away from sombody that got almost to the top (other than the right to say they climbed the mountain). im not knocking hiking the trail in sections or hiking the trail in any way shape or form. just going from end to end in a life time is impressive. but, the whole point of having the title "through hike" implies that you did something other than just "hike" the trail. if it didnt, why bother to give a special name to it. saying, "i swam the english channel" doesnt mean you swam IN the channel, it means you crossed it with no flotation, no boat rest and in one shot (not a few hundred yards per day). since the topic starter asked for "your oppinion" im giving mine: "through hike" means (to me) that you started at one end and walked all the way to the other end in the span of one year. does taking 2 weeks off for christmas eliminate the title of through hiker??? i guess not although somehow it seems a bit less significant that way. maybe there should be an added title like "one shot through hike" or something like that. my 2 cents..........

KS_Rockstar
10-29-2005, 12:47
???????????????question, why don't the spaces between lines show up??????? I put a space between these two lines and im guessing they will be squished together once i hit submit reply........ also, why cant i edit the post after i have made it??????

Old Spice
10-29-2005, 15:43
imo, no. it's like saying, "i climbed everest..... well, i got almost to the top but had to turn around because of weather." THEN YOU DIDNT F*UKING CLIMB THE MOUNTIAN! the implyed meaning of the title "climbed everest" is that you climbed all the way to the top or sumited everest. not to take anything away from sombody that got almost to the top (other than the right to say they climbed the mountain). im not knocking hiking the trail in sections or hiking the trail in any way shape or form. just going from end to end in a life time is impressive. but, the whole point of having the title "through hike" implies that you did something other than just "hike" the trail. if it didnt, why bother to give a special name to it. saying, "i swam the english channel" doesnt mean you swam IN the channel, it means you crossed it with no flotation, no boat rest and in one shot (not a few hundred yards per day). since the topic starter asked for "your oppinion" im giving mine: "through hike" means (to me) that you started at one end and walked all the way to the other end in the span of one year. does taking 2 weeks off for christmas eliminate the title of through hiker??? i guess not although somehow it seems a bit less significant that way. maybe there should be an added title like "one shot through hike" or something like that. my 2 cents..........

blah blah blah

KS_Rockstar
10-29-2005, 15:45
^so what your saying is that you dissagre???? care to elaborate?

rickb
10-30-2005, 16:02
"through hike" means (to me) that you started at one end and walked all the way to the other end in the span of one year.

A thru hiker is a person hiking the entire AT, right. So as soon as you reach Katahdin (or Springer if you SOBO) you are no longer a thru hiker. You were one once, but not anymore.

So basically anyone who walks the ENTIRE trail is not a thru hiker.

Hope that clears things up :D

Nightwalker
10-30-2005, 19:28
My next hike is going to be a no hotel, hike at least a few miles every day, northbound ( no flipping) hike.

You folks think every post I make is a "baiter", but I actually was curious what folks thought about this topic. It's not my fault you bicker between each other!
You'se okay kid. Don't sweat it.

Nightwalker
10-30-2005, 19:30
I sort of felt like I'd accomplished something when I reached that sign on Katahdin, though I'll never register as a 2,000 miler. But neither do I necessarily feel obligated to explain their error when someone introduces me as a thru hiker.

Weary
The way you explained it in another thread, however, you are a 2,ooo miler, just not a thru-hiker. You went back later and got the miles you missed.

Sly
10-30-2005, 19:37
I think all you anal retentives need to go for a hike. A long one at that. Who came up with "within a years time" anyway? What difference would it make if it took 367 days? You have to pass every white blaze? Sure buddy, HYOH.

So, what's a thru-hiker? Someone in Georgia can be a "thru-hiker" and not make it past Hot Springs. Yet someone that hikes all the way to Maine and doesn't complete, is a section hiker? Get a grip.

I hate hiking definitions.

KS_Rockstar
10-30-2005, 20:18
^yea, im down with the whole "let it be" concept. hiking is hiking and doesnt need any specific rules, regulations, titles and definitions...... However, if you are going to bother to put some kindof title on hiking from end to end (and im not the one who came up with this idea) the title needs to have permators.

if you dont care about titles, then dont use them. if you are going to use the title, use it for the right reason.

SavageLlama
10-30-2005, 20:58
Hike your own hike.

Youngblood
10-31-2005, 09:32
^yea, im down with the whole "let it be" concept. hiking is hiking and doesnt need any specific rules, regulations, titles and definitions...... However, if you are going to bother to put some kindof title on hiking from end to end (and im not the one who came up with this idea) the title needs to have permators.

if you dont care about titles, then dont use them. if you are going to use the title, use it for the right reason.

But, Lobster was asking for opinions and from the times this has been brought up before on this site, there is not going to be one definition that everyone will agree on. This is what ALDHA had it the 2005 Thru Hikers Companion, which is the closest thing to a certified definition for the overall AT:

"Thru-hiker—On the A.T., a hiker who is hiking from Maine
to Georgia or Georgia to Maine in one trip or, generally accepted,
a person who has done same."

As you can see, it is vague and does not list any detailed rules. I think that is intentional and not an oversight since it is a recreational activity. If it was a competitive event, then the rules that some folks want to apply would be more understandable. It doesn't mention Springer, Katahdin, entire, ENTIRE, entire where ENTIRE MEANS ENTIRE, etc.

Youngblood

Blue Jay
10-31-2005, 09:37
What difference would it make if it took 367 days?

Because if you are still hiking one second after 364 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes,and 59 seconds, a buzzer goes off and your a** explodes.

Nean
10-31-2005, 11:15
Thru hikers are a dime a dozen. Folks who love and live the trails are the exception and it has nothing to do with thruhikin by ANY definition! I don't mind follks with a honest opinion though. Liked yours Youngblood.

Sly
10-31-2005, 11:50
I think Beavis took 367 day on his southbound "thru-hike" and his azz didn't explode, but Kathy Ireland looked a little beat up.

rickb
10-31-2005, 12:26
What's in a name? That which we call a thruhiker
By any other word would smell as bad.

Bayou
11-05-2005, 15:59
I love hiking and I just "hike". Short and long, day trips, over night, weekend, 5 month trips. After backpacking trails for over 5 years, I have come to not like the term "thru-hiker".

I SOBO for a part of my '01 hike and meet al lot of NOBO thru-hikers in NH and a lot of them had a attitude, so good and a lot bad. If you hike for a week in PA in the summer and on a hot day you come "trail Majic" box labelled "thru-hiker only", it gives you a attitude. And finally a lot of thru-hikers take from the trail and never give back.

Just had to get this off my chest.

:-?

weary
11-05-2005, 16:30
"through hike" means (to me) that you started at one end and walked all the way to the other end in the span of one year.

A thru hiker is a person hiking the entire AT, right. So as soon as you reach Katahdin (or Springer if you SOBO) you are no longer a thru hiker. You were one once, but not anymore.

So basically anyone who walks the ENTIRE trail is not a thru hiker.

Hope that clears things up :D
Nope. What if I decide to hike a second time?

weary
11-05-2005, 16:45
What's in a name? That which we call a thruhiker
By any other word would smell as bad.
I certainly felt and smelled like a thru hiker when I reach the summit of Katahdin in 1993 -- even though it was 1995 before I hiked Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Essentially, a thru hiker is whatever one thinks it is. There are no "official" rules that I've seen and no "official" body to set those rules.

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy does have rules for issuing its 2,000=miler patch. They say the applicant has to make an honest effort to hike the entire trail.

Being a student of words, I don't interpret "honest effort" to mean that I can skip the "official" trail and hike blue blazed side trails instead, which is why I'll never apply for a 2,000-mile patch.

From time to time I suggest that the rules be changed to make blue-blazed side trails located within the AT corridor qualify for awarding the 2,000-miler patch. So far the rules are unchanged, though no one seems to enforce them.

Once in Monson I heard a guy on the phone calling Harpers Ferry to see if it was okay if he just walked down the road to pick up the AT after resupplying in town. I couldn't hear the other side of the conversation, but from the look on his face, I judged that he was told "We don't give a sh#t how you hike," or words to that effect.

Weary

rickb
11-05-2005, 16:57
To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to the ATC.

Moxie00
11-05-2005, 18:17
You can usually tell a true thru hiker by his or her smell. Best measure is your own nose.
:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :confused: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :confused: :bse :eek: :eek: ;) :eek: :D :p :p :eek:

kevinm
11-08-2005, 18:05
One who completes their journey from beginning to end.

lonehiker
11-18-2005, 11:39
Hmmmm....I'm not a thru-hiker.......yet.

Bjorkin
11-18-2005, 16:37
i haven't thru-hiked yet and though I do think hiking from one terminus to the other is a prerequisite, I like to see a thru-hike as a state of mind more than a method. Thru-hiking to me is going to be all about getting away from our present culture of more (work) more (money) more (problems) so that I can live in the woods with less for an unspecified time. As long as I can maintain that state of mind then I'll be thru hiking.

Sly
11-18-2005, 16:44
IMO, its more about the journey than the destination. There are no prerequisites.

HYOH.

Bjorkin
11-18-2005, 17:07
There are no prerequisites.

HYOH.

HYOH. What if my hike has the prerequisite of hiking from one end to the other? ;)

bfitz
11-19-2005, 07:55
See, what if your in the midlle of a hike, or even like in new hampshire or something, and someone asks you if you're thru-hiking? Do you say, "I dunno, I'm not through hiking!" ? Or do you say "Yeah, are you driving up to that all you can eat restaurant in town?...would you mind giving me a ride...? Thanks...you should probably roll down the windows."

Sandy B
11-19-2005, 11:05
I Like that. As I was starting a section hike, I met an older man called "ECHO or JUST ECHO" (sorry that I did not write his name down) He said that hiking was hiking and that he had met many hikers who were starting there hikes and calling themselves "Thru-hikers" even though most would not complete the trail. I told him that I wanted to do a thru hike some day. He told me that doing long sections had all the same problems as thru-hiking with the added problems of transportation to and from the trail.
So I'll be happy and continue to do sections till I retire from the Navy and then I plan on doing one long section hike to finish the AT. Until this post I have alwasy thought that my finishing long section would be a thru hike. But now I see by most that it would be called a section hike.
Sandy

Sly
11-19-2005, 11:22
HYOH. What if my hike has the prerequisite of hiking from one end to the other? ;)

1st, you have to make it out of Georgia.

Skeemer
11-20-2005, 10:00
Sandy, thanks for reviving my memory of one of the most likable characters I met on my '03 AT hike. An admitted alcoholic with a heart condition, very interesting indeed. When questioned by us naive beginners, he would smirk and come up with some profound philosophical response.

I tented next to him one night and it was worse than any night in a shelter. Not only did he snore loudly, but he talked out loud in his sleep.

On the subject of the "thru-hiker." I would often refer to someone as a "thru-hiker" in my journal over on Trailjournals. Once I received an anonymous message in my guest book asking, "aren't we all section hikers until we complete the hike." I took it as someone (I knew, but didn't want to reveal their identity) using my "guest book" trying to start a debate over the subject and replied with a rant...I don't know why I let that bother me or what it even mattered. I've long since "gotten over it."

SGT Rock
11-20-2005, 11:20
Wouldn't one in the process of trying to complete a thru-hike be a thru hiker?

You would call someone a bridge builder if they were building a their first bridge even though they haven't finished it yet, because they are doing the job of building the bridge. Same could be said for a thru-hiker.

Also, I "thru-hiked" the Pinhoti in 2000. Hiked it from one end to the other. Same for the Wild Azalea Trail in Louisiana. I don't think there was a Pinhoti or Wild Azalea trail Nazi to say if I qualified or not though. Like I would have given a **** anyway.

Personally I find the whole concept of someone else telling you what you are doing and what you qualify as asinine when it comes to hiking and backpacking. It isn't the Army or Marines where there are important standards set for a reason of importance. It is just hiking. Hike, have fun. And if someone asks you what you are doing, smile and give them whatever answer you like. If they have exception with it, screw 'em, they are wrapped around the axle on the nickle and dime details in a million dollar show.

Blue Jay
11-20-2005, 11:47
If they have exception with it, screw 'em, they are wrapped around the axle on the nickle and dime details in a million dollar show.

I love that one. Where did that quote come from or did you make it up? It kind of sounds like something you'd say.

SGT Rock
11-20-2005, 11:55
I made it up. It is a saying I sometimes use with my junior subordinates when they get to bogged down in the details of an operation. Just do it.

Come to think of it, there is always the possibility I heard something like it somewhere else, but who knows. Nothing in this world is original it seems.

justusryans
11-20-2005, 11:59
[quote=SGT Rock]I made it up. It is a saying I sometimes use with my junior subordinates when they get to bogged down in the details of an operation. Just do it. quote]

Sarge, were you a Bosun in a past life?:-?

SGT Rock
11-20-2005, 12:05
No, I was a First Sergeant in this life :D And right now I am the Sergeant Major for my unit even though I ain't getting paid for it.

For you Navy guys, that would be Senior Chief Petty Officer and a Master Chief Petty Officer (without the extra pay).

I had to get their from Private E1 through Buck Sergeant, all the way up every grade. You get a lot of stupid questions in 20 years.

Lilred
11-20-2005, 12:06
That is a great quote Sarge. I may be changing my signature.......

SGT Rock
11-20-2005, 12:09
You have my permission. LOL :D

justusryans
11-20-2005, 12:10
NCO,s run the military, ossifer's just think they do!!