View Full Version : hike vs trek ??
What is the difference between HIKE and TREK ???
Or is there a difference ??
I was reading Backpacker and they keep talking about Treks.
Rockhound
02-05-2009, 12:28
Hike, trek, sojourn, journey, walkabout..... It's all semantics. When all is said and done it's still just walking.
Lone Wolf
02-05-2009, 12:34
What is the difference between HIKE and TREK ???
Or is there a difference ??
I was reading Backpacker and they keep talking about Treks.
nothin'. it's all walkin'
sbennett
02-05-2009, 13:20
I think "trek" is the new, cooler, more improved way of saying "hike"
It's like climate change and global warming
sbennett
02-05-2009, 13:22
and it's also because Backpacker gets hooked on new, trendy words like this...the word "beta" is another...they can't just say "information" or "data"
flemdawg1
02-05-2009, 13:25
There is on such thing as "Star Hike".
Trekkers use trekking poles, hikers use sticks, or nothing.
flemdawg1
02-05-2009, 13:38
I meant NO not ON.
trek is to hike as gorp is to trail mix
Smartwool sells hiking socks and they also sell treking socks from the same rack. Maybe I'm dumb, (no agreements please), but the medium weight treking socks feel thicker than the medium weight hiking socks. Is is just me?
Go ahead, let me have it.
Happy hiking.....I mean treking...?
:sun
bigmac_in
02-05-2009, 16:20
SERIOUSLY?
A little story - Tinactin sells goop for athletes foot, and goop for jock itch. Read the ingredients - same stuff.
Why? Because they are both getting rid of a fungus.
Funny thing is - the goop for jock itch costs more.
Why? Because people will pay more to get rid of jock itch.
People will also pay more for trekking equipment because it sounds better than hiking equipment. Oh, and Backpacker is only in business to sell advertisments.
Wonder why they prefer "Trek"?
Lone Wolf's right - they are both just walking.
YoungMoose
02-05-2009, 16:22
all the same to me
sbennett
02-05-2009, 16:50
all this being said, I think I'll go trekking this weekend
I do applaud flemdawg1 for the Star Trek reference...well played
bigmac_in
02-05-2009, 16:52
I do applaud flemdawg1 for the Star Trek reference...well played
Agreed. :D
drastic_quench
02-05-2009, 17:12
Appalachian Trail, the final frontier? These are the voyages of the hiker trash. Their five month mission: to explore strange new smells. To seek out new gear and new blisters. To boldly go where 3000 (annually) have gone before.
rpenczek
02-05-2009, 19:06
I tell my Boy Scouts, we don't hike. Hiking brings visions of ALICE packs and rifles and big blisters from crummy boots. We just walk in the woods.
Lone Wolf
02-05-2009, 19:07
We just walk in the woods....
....with some extra weight. that's all it is
"Trekking" is hiking with a manicure. :D
TrippinBTM
02-05-2009, 19:21
Trek is used by wannabe elitists who buy every new piece of gear, especially the most expensive stuff, yet who actually do little hiking.
Lone Wolf
02-05-2009, 19:24
i prefer tramping. it sounds like the hobo hiker trash that i am
Being a rugged, outdoorsy kinda dude, I prefer glamping. (http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2007-03-06-glamorous-camping_N.htm) It is what all us real hikers do...
buckwheat
02-05-2009, 20:19
I'm sorry, but you're all wrong.
James T. Kirk was not on a "Star Hike."
Ergo ... a trek and a hike are not the same thing. A trek is more of an adventure (in my mind) than a hike.
buckwheat
02-05-2009, 20:21
Being a rugged, outdoorsy kinda dude, I prefer glamping. (http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2007-03-06-glamorous-camping_N.htm) It is what all us real hikers do...
I think we have another contender for Backcracker Magazine's "Tent of the Year."
http://i.usatoday.net/travel/_photos/2007/03/06/campingx-large.jpg
fiddlehead
02-05-2009, 20:27
It is my opinion that worldwide: TREK means to hike with a backpack on to differentiate it from the term "Backpacking"
Because most of the rest of the world considers "backpacking" to mean traveling internationally with a backpack on your back and staying in hostels and often dorm rooms with other like-minded people. Usually college age but not always.
If i am showing my videos here in Thailand or talking about my adventures hiking long distance, i have learned to say "trekking" rather than "backpacking" so the wrong assumption is not made. (if i say backpacking, then most everyone assumes i took trains/buses/hitchiked/and flew from point a to b) (called yellow-blazing to us whiteblazers, but backpacking to others)
TrippinBTM
02-05-2009, 20:37
Being a rugged, outdoorsy kinda dude, I prefer glamping. (http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2007-03-06-glamorous-camping_N.htm) It is what all us real hikers do...
...sends a cold shiver down my spine.
fiddlehead makes a good point. I think of a 'hike' as a 'day hike' with minimal gear & no overnights, but going on a 'trek' implies a lengthy journey with backpack etc. I also call it 'backpacking'. No, I don't subscribe to Backpacker mag ;-)
Being a rugged, outdoorsy kinda dude, I prefer glamping. (http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2007-03-06-glamorous-camping_N.htm) It is what all us real hikers do...
where do I sign up
Without looking at the dictionary hike would be a shorter walk, trek would be longer.
Yeah, I backpacked in Europe but did very little walking.
sbennett
02-06-2009, 00:45
I think we have another contender for Backcracker Magazine's "Tent of the Year."
http://i.usatoday.net/travel/_photos/2007/03/06/campingx-large.jpg
This weighs what, 7 maybe 8 pounds? That's just stupid heavy! I can think of a lot of things I'd trim off to make this tent lighter, like those dishes on the wall or that giant apron she's wearing....
and it's also because Backpacker gets hooked on new, trendy words like this...the word "beta" is another...they can't just say "information" or "data"
Dude, I was using the phrase "Beta" in 1985! It isn't new, or trendy. It's part of modern slang.
Don't know if "beta" as an idiom was "au currant" but it was used in the Southeast rockclimbing community and the backcountry telemark and snowboarding community in the Rockies.
So was "gnarly." And "heinous."
But the way that Backpacker uses the phrase "trekking" is a bit of a stretch, as it usually means a long, self-supported trip through whatever natural environments or countryside takes you to get to your destination...be it trail, bushwhack, or roadwalking.
sbennett
02-06-2009, 00:49
Hmm, I was 4 in 1985...didn't know the word was being used then. I get the magazine because, well, it's better than nothing and I like their Gear Guide in the spring but I've noticed they keep using the word "beta" more and more. It just irked me a couple months ago for some reason. I think I just hate the word beta and would be more pleased if people had used alpha instead.
I just hate the word beta and would be more pleased if people had used alpha instead.
You want a delta from beta to alpha? I think that takes irradiation with gamma rays.
Repetition of of words, phrases and phraseology is not only irksomely redundant, it is also repetitious. And that gets under my skin.
Interesting brief article.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_(climbing)
sbennett
02-06-2009, 01:15
[quote=BR360;772573]You want a delta from beta to alpha? I think that takes irradiation with gamma rays.
[quote]
took me a second to remember that delta can mean change (silly science and math)...in my current line of work a delta means "defendant"
thanks for the link of climbing history; it literally doubled my knowledge of rock climbing
Yeah, I backpacked in Europe but did very little walking.
I actually watched a program from the UK recently where they talked at length about "backpacking" in Ireland. The "backpackers" got their "backpacks" (what we might call "convertible packs") from the luggage hold of the bus, "hiked" into the motel, and were later seen on lounge chairs by the ocean.
So maybe "backpacking" and "trekking" DO differ from country to country.
Lone Wolf mentioned that "Tramping" is the most direct terminology that folks in the UK can understand our "backpacking" to be (I guess carrying only what you need to survive might be akin to being a "tramp" in the depression-era sense- but even they would hop a train from time to time).:-?
randyg45
02-06-2009, 16:08
Do they have a tramping stamp yet?
Do they have a tramping stamp yet?
I believe so... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lower_back_tattoo)
My buddy says he sees them all the time. Of course, he is the head nurse in a methadone clinic where quite a few of the clientele work in the ah, adult entertainment/service industry. :-?
Or maybe you meant something different? ;)
Rockhound
02-06-2009, 19:29
I believe so... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lower_back_tattoo)
My buddy says he sees them all the time. Of course, he is the head nurse in a methadone clinic where quite a few of the clientele work in the ah, adult entertainment/service industry. :-?
Or maybe you meant something different? ;)
And I suppose he hands out methadone patches to these people. Jeez Louise. It's always about the patch. Can't people just be junkies for the thrill and challenge of being junkies?
Are only purist junkies allowed to get the patch?
TrippinBTM
02-06-2009, 21:56
And I suppose he hands out methadone patches to these people. Jeez Louise. It's always about the patch. Can't people just be junkies for the thrill and challenge of being junkies?
took me a second, but good one :D
ac2rivers
02-09-2009, 03:18
No, a Trek has two wheels and a hike has two boots.
Surplusman
02-09-2009, 08:27
"Trekking" is something that Merrill's Marauders did in the jungles of Burma in World War II. Hiking is hiking...backpacking is backpacking. Very simple, very direct language. Yuppies are relentless when it comes to concocting big-sounding dishonest words for simple ideas, actions, and objects.
"Trekking"...what a load of crap. Kinda like grafting wings onto a jackass: No matter how good it looks, it still won't fly.
Whoever posted the comment re international usage is correct. I grew up in England and went:
hiking (= hill walking with a daypack between hostels),
trekking (= over the same terrain, but carrying tent, sleeping and cooking supplies, etc),
and
backpacking (= carrying several weeks worth of clothes and supplies, but no camping gear and travelling by a combination of trains, buses and walking, and staying in hostels).
it can be hard for those that have never been to the UK and Europe to understand the culture of countries where hostels are the norm in most towns or areas where walking and other outdoor pursuits are common. As a teenager in Europe, gaining my Youth Hostel Association membership in my own name at 12 years old was a "coming of age" rite as I had previously only traveled with my parents. It opened a whole new world of independent travel around the UK and Europe. Of course, back in the 70s, groups of teenagers travelling unaccompanied was much safer, and fairly commonplace.
Wow, I don't know why everyone is being so derisive. I always took it for granted that trekking was some sort of international hike that you took with a group, like people who go trekking in Nepal or something. You do a few miles a day, someone else feeds you, etc. It's like a long walking tour.