View Full Version : Is it really a walk?
SlowLightTrek
04-17-2009, 08:44
I always considered putting on a backpack and traveling x amount of miles was called a 'hike'. I found the new term for 'hiking' when I arrived on the AT in 2007 called 'walking'.
I'm unsure of where the term comes from, but I have a few ideas. Maybe it came from the book published by the walker who wrote 'A Walk in the Woods'. Or perhaps it gives people who come out for the day to the mountains to walk around a term to feel they are actually hiking.
Ok, I really didn't like it when people would say to me on my 'hike'. Have a nice walk. Oh excuse me while I hike to mailbox to check the mail.
Definitions of hike:
noun: a long walk usually for exercise or pleasure
noun: an increase in cost
noun: the amount (http://rhymezone.com/r/d?u=amount&loc=fdef) a salary is increased (http://rhymezone.com/r/d?u=increased&loc=fdef)
Example: "He got a wage hike"
verb: walk a long way, as for pleasure or physical exercise
Example: "Hike the Rockies"
verb: increase
Example: "The landlord hiked up the rents"
I like the term hiking also, but I also like walking, trudging, tramping.
I don't like the term backpacking as I think it puts too much emphasis on backpacks and gear.
EverydayJourneyman
04-17-2009, 09:07
Walking is what you do around the house. Backpacking is what you do across Europe.
I prefer tramping and hiking.
Two Tents
04-17-2009, 09:25
Call it whatever you want. The important thing is to do it! Happy trails!-- Two Tents.
modiyooch
04-17-2009, 09:35
wyow......
Lone Wolf
04-17-2009, 11:34
I always considered putting on a backpack and traveling x amount of miles was called a 'hike'. I found the new term for 'hiking' when I arrived on the AT in 2007 called 'walking'.
I'm unsure of where the term comes from, but I have a few ideas. Maybe it came from the book published by the walker who wrote 'A Walk in the Woods'. Or perhaps it gives people who come out for the day to the mountains to walk around a term to feel they are actually hiking.
Ok, I really didn't like it when people would say to me on my 'hike'. Have a nice walk. Oh excuse me while I hike to mailbox to check the mail.
it's just walkin'
bulldog49
04-17-2009, 11:41
I always considered putting on a backpack and traveling x amount of miles was called a 'hike'. I found the new term for 'hiking' when I arrived on the AT in 2007 called 'walking'.
I'm unsure of where the term comes from, but I have a few ideas. Maybe it came from the book published by the walker who wrote 'A Walk in the Woods'. Or perhaps it gives people who come out for the day to the mountains to walk around a term to feel they are actually hiking.
Ok, I really didn't like it when people would say to me on my 'hike'. Have a nice walk. Oh excuse me while I hike to mailbox to check the mail.
Colin Fletcher popularized the term "walking" with his classic book "The Complete Walker". Please, it's insulting to confuse this work with the fictional "A Walk in the Woods". :eek:
Lone Wolf
04-17-2009, 11:42
Colin Fletcher popularized the term "walking" with his classic book "The Complete Walker". Please, it's insulting to confuse this work with the fictional "A Walk in the Woods". :eek:
Walk in the Woods is a good book
EverydayJourneyman
04-17-2009, 11:47
Walking seems to lack the going up and down and over and across. How much climbing and descending is there on the AT?
leeki pole
04-17-2009, 11:48
Walk in the Woods is a good book
I agree with LW on this, a lot of facts, some novelty, but Bryson got it pretty right and a great laugh all the way through. Read it.
splash1986
04-17-2009, 11:55
Walk in the Woods is a good book
yep its a great book.
vamelungeon
04-17-2009, 11:58
Walking seems to lack the going up and down and over and across. How much climbing and descending is there on the AT?
I live in the mountains. Walking includes all that stuff. A hike is just a longer walk to me.
Don't really care whether I'm walking or hiking - same thing.
I do make a distinction for backpacking though and do not mind the term. Backpacking is much more involved, so it needs it's own term.
Most all backpacking is also hiking or walking, but most hiking or walking is NOT backpacking.
Get out, carry what you need, enjoy. Who really cares what it's called?
I think that sounds about right.
Hiking to me implies a little bit more of a stretch, cross country or at least country roads if not trails.
Trudging implies something a bit slower and more grueling, and all day if not days on end.
Love a good trudge now and then, especially in winter.
Tramping I haven't used that term much, but I think it implies a modest budget or at least a more humble attitude, which sounds right by me.
It's all walking though, except nordic walking. Hate that sort of stuff. I don't really mind people using hiking sticks but I don't like people marketing the heck out of it and calling it some sort of a new sport that requires special gear. It's still just walking.
Rendezvous01
04-17-2009, 12:27
'Hiking'? 'Walking'? How about 'trailing'? Seems like I'm always trailing behind whoever I'm hiking with!
Whatever you want to call it, we tend to over-complicate it. Just follow these simple instructions: Left. Right. Repeat.
'Hiking'? 'Walking'? How about 'trailing'? Seems like I'm always trailing behind whoever I'm hiking with!
Whatever you want to call it, we tend to over-complicate it. Just follow these simple instructions: Left. Right. Repeat.Now see, THAT is trudging.
I agree with LW on this, a lot of facts, some novelty, but Bryson got it pretty right and a great laugh all the way through. Read it.
I know a couple of people who said they hated the book because Bryson didn't actually complete the attempted thru hike. I explained that it was probably more representative of the average attempted thru hike than anything else out there.
That's a very good point. It's not meant to be a how-to book, which is really pointless for a personal adventure when you think about it. The best books are look what happened to me books, by a great story teller, which he is I understand. Haven't read it yet.
bulldog49
04-17-2009, 12:50
Walk in the Woods is a good book
It's nothing but a cliche' about hiking.
Who really cares what it's called?
Maybe those who are looking to impress others? Or those who let other people define them?
SlowLightTrek
04-17-2009, 12:53
Walking on a trail with a backpack = a walk?
or:
Walking on a trail with a backpack = a hike?
Which one makes more sense in the english vocabulary?
Lone Wolf
04-17-2009, 12:55
Walking on a trail with a backpack = a walk?
or:
Walking on a trail with a backpack = a hike?
Which one makes more sense in the english vocabulary?
walk..........
Lone Wolf
04-17-2009, 12:56
It's nothing but a cliche' about hiking.
that's just your little opinion.
bulldog49
04-17-2009, 12:58
that's just your little opinion.
Back at ya.
both work
With or without a backpack it is still a walk. The pack doesn't change that anymore than a packed canoe trip is still a paddle. The best case for using hike rather than walk might be if you were mixing in a little trail running. Such a trip as that might be better described for example as a 60km hike rather than a 60km walk. Hiking can include some running. The pack, if carried, is immaterial, unless you describe something as packing.
I don't like using the term 'packing' unless the essential purpose of the trip is to pack stuff from one place to another, as in packing stuff in to setup a basecamp or do some trail repairs or to pack furs or game meat or firewood back in from the woods. I don't like the term backpacking because to me it implies carrying a backpack primarily to justify its purchase, and the purchase of the stuff carried in it. If the purpose of a trip is recreational travel through nature, it is best described as hiking or tramping or trudging or simply as walking. Walking describes it very well. Hiking is a little more specific. Backpacking simply misses the point, as do many backpackers.
Get out, carry what you need, enjoy. Who really cares what it's called?
Best summary yet...
Glebbber
04-17-2009, 13:14
"Do ya wanna walk to wendys?"
"Oooooo, thats a hike......"
See, they are different.
I think it is very important to have more than one word to describe the same thing.
The differences are often subtle.
"Hey my wife and I just got some new nordic walking sticks and matching backpacks, windshirts, and trail runners."
"Yeah right buddy. Enjoy your backpacking trip."
buff_jeff
04-17-2009, 13:59
I honestly couldn't care less. This is a self perpetuating argument that has no end. Call it what you want. It's totally subjective.
FlyPaper
04-17-2009, 14:00
Definitions of hike:
noun: a long walk usually for exercise or pleasure
noun: an increase in cost
noun: the amount (http://rhymezone.com/r/d?u=amount&loc=fdef) a salary is increased (http://rhymezone.com/r/d?u=increased&loc=fdef)
Example: "He got a wage hike"
verb: walk a long way, as for pleasure or physical exercise
Example: "Hike the Rockies"
verb: increase
Example: "The landlord hiked up the rents"
You forgot one more:
verb: to pass a football between ones legs at the start of a football play from scimmage.
Example:"The center did not hike the ball on the right snap count"
Hiking is also what they call hanging off the side of a sailboat, usually with hiking straps, or suicide straps, but not with a trapeze wire. That's called hanging.
Hiking pants are also a term for pads that some sailors wear with battens or pads under their thighs. The original ones were made my a fellow named Mike France I think, for the Laser class, and were also of a design called crotchless panties. True story.
Marching. Another good one. Not always done lock-step.
Margaret and I use this one alot.
(with enthusiasm) "Margaret! What do we do in the French Foriegn Legion."
(less enthusiastic, with a hint of irony and contempt) "March or die Daddy. March or die."
modiyooch
04-17-2009, 14:42
to me, backpacking is when the layout of your day is 10-12 hours of walking, 10-12 hours of sleeping and 2 hours of eating.
other terms would be plodding, and my favorite: SLACKPACKING.
Rockhound
04-17-2009, 14:54
Walking, hiking, ambling, strolling, plodding, trudging, etc.... whatever you call it, it sure beats surfing. on the net that is.
Jester2000
04-17-2009, 15:39
. . .Ok, I really didn't like it when people would say to me on my 'hike'. Have a nice walk. Oh excuse me while I hike to mailbox to check the mail.
I kind of like it when people wish me well, regardless of any sort of semantical argument I've got going on in my head. I'm sure it would have been more distressing to you had they said, "screw you and your hike."
Demetri Martin says:
"Hiking is just walking where it's OK to pee. Sometimes old people hike accidentally."
I'm unsure of where the term comes from...
Seriously? It's because hiking is walking.
Walking on a trail with a backpack = a walk?
or:
Walking on a trail with a backpack = a hike?
Which one makes more sense in the english vocabulary?
Backpacking? :rolleyes:
The term 'backpacking' 82 years old, dating back to 1927. Probably Abercrobie & Fitch, the bastards.
Trek (verb and noun) 160 years to 1849, but perhaps to 1821.
Hike (verb) 200 years old, dating back to 1809.
Trudge (verb), 462 years to 1547. noun only since 1835.
Tramp (verb), 621 years to 1388.
Walk (noun 'act of walking'), 623 years to 1386.
Walk(verb as in current usage), only 549 years since 1460
Before then, in old English, it meant more to toss roll curl, perhaps nead as in bread, from Old Norse etc. to drag about, so it came into use, like trudging, as more of a metaphor for travelling a difficult way, perhaps after horses became more common.
In Old English etc, the term for 'to walk' was simply the more generic 'to go'.
Similarly 'travel' dates to 1375. Voyage to 1297.
Journey, the noun, 1225, but the verb only since 1330.
'go' is truly ancient, as is 'wend', which means 'to proceed onward'.
I like wend. I think wend is way cool. This summer I believe I shall wend, God willing.
'to walk a path' is 'to pad' dating to 1553, originally criminals slang.
'Path' is more ancient, but in Scotland and Northern England meant more specifically a steep ascent.
Modern ultralighters might choose to 'pad', especially when stealth camping.
Trail, noun meaning path or track worn in the wilderness, only dates from 1807.
Trail, noun meaning track or smell of a person or animal, dates from 1590.
Trail, noun meaning train of a robe, dates from 1300. Orginal verb is from drag behind.
Before 1807 the Appalachian Trail, had it existed, would have been the Appalachian Path, or if it was even further back in time, the Appalachian Way.
Hence, to Hike the Appalachian Trail, would have been...
To Wend Our Appalachian Way
I was waiting for someone to bring up 'that book'.... I wonder how often Mr Bryson gets eager hikers (or walkers if you prefer) coming up to him and saying " I actually finished the trail Bill"... don't care what anyone says, it's a great read (well, it was when I read it a dozen years ago) and probably helped sow the seeds for my upcoming July Southbound Thru Hike (not walk)... happy wending all!
Some words and phrases go back a long way,
though the spelling and pronounciation has changed considerably...
"What's it to you?" as in ""Huæd is ðec ðæs?" dates to 950.
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php
Apparenty the next big change to the English Language will come from China, where a new dialect called Chinglish is already evolving, because it has alot of speakers that are isolated from the rest of the English speaking world. So American English and British English will be considered somewhat more formal, but perhaps outnumbered by Chinglish, just as American English current outnmbers British English, and Brazilian Portuguese outnumbers Portuguese Portuguese.
Ironically, the best hope for the survival of English as we know it,
might be if Mandarin, rather than Chinglish, became more International.
This isn't really likely though, as I think even the future Chinese speakers of English might be outnumbered by the combined International speakers of English, including those of India, many of whom already speak it, and different than American/British even when taught formally. I think there are many dialects of English that just haven't been recognized as such yet, even though there might be more of them than say Scots.
Numbers of English Language speakers in the world appears uncertain...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language
First Language Speaker: 300-400 million
Second Language Speakers: 200-1400 million ???
Overall Total English Speaker: 500-1800 million = 8% to 25% of world population
I think those 1.3 billion people of uncertainty is where the language might be changing most dramatically, both in grammatical structure as well as vocabulary and spelling and pronounciation. English has gone through many similar grammatical changes in the past.
The word 'hello' only came into use with the telephone.
Pedaling Fool
04-17-2009, 19:07
None of these fools know the answer, you need to ask this babe http://www.hotforwords.com/wordrequest/
Hello Hello Ahoy Ahoy
http://www.hotforwords.com/2007/06/12/hello-hello-ahoy-ahoy/
If you are secure in what you are doing you won't waste time being offended by what someone else labels it.
But when you boil it down it is just walking.
If you are secure in what you are doing you won't waste time being offended by what someone else labels it.
Exactly, it's just a word.
It's walking. Use any other word and you are totally going to hell... :rolleyes:
More generally, it's not walking, it's going,
and yes, more specifically, ultimately, going to hell. :)
kayak karl
04-17-2009, 20:00
going to hell... :rolleyes:
what?
i just got back and read this:confused:
had to hike the dogs:D
you might be safe
all dogs go to heaven
though some go on fire hydrants
cowboy nichols
04-17-2009, 20:14
I'm gopng for a stroll in the woods .
cowboy nichols
04-17-2009, 20:15
OOPS That was going!!
Stroll eh. I missed that one. It must have sauntered off someplace.
Stroll is from 1603, from Strolch, meaning vagabond or vagrant.
Saunter is from 1475, from 1667 with current meaning, originally to muse, be in reverie.
Troll is a verb from 1377, originally from an old French hunting word meaning to wander,
to go in quest of game without purpose. Perhaps the noun Troll, the beast, came latter.
Wander is also a good one, as is Walk-about.
Walkabout is from 1828, though of course the act of going walkabout is ancient.
Wander is from Old English wandrian, and originates from older base word wend.
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=stroll&searchmode=none
Wander is a good one, similar in meaning to Walkabout as in no fixed direction, but perhaps less of a spiritual quest, but perhaps not.
Snowy Owls go on Wandering Years and fly south in years after arctic hare and snowshoe hare become scarce, and can be seen further South than usual, even as far as the Southern States. A wander might be a good term for a SOBO from Canada.
kayak karl
04-17-2009, 21:04
Stroll is from 1603,
can't believe you know the history of trolling.... sorry i mean strolling.:D
From the medical terminology standpoint, Idon't forget ambulate and it's derivitives, ambulation or ambulatory. Of course it rolls off the tounge like a ball of hot fishhooks and you end up sounding like a nerd....:p
"I'm going to ambulate the AT..."
fiddlehead
04-17-2009, 21:43
NO one mentioned trekking, which is what most of my foreign friends generally call what we do. (to differentiate it from backpacking which means to travel around the world living out of a backpack, or walking which is what they do to get up off their butts to take a leak)
aaronthebugbuffet
04-17-2009, 22:16
I call it happy terrestrial locomotion super adventure.
Not that it matters but how about Hillwalking.
I always considered putting on a backpack and traveling x amount of miles was called a 'hike'. I found the new term for 'hiking' when I arrived on the AT in 2007 called 'walking'.
I'm unsure of where the term comes from, but I have a few ideas. Maybe it came from the book published by the walker who wrote 'A Walk in the Woods'. Or perhaps it gives people who come out for the day to the mountains to walk around a term to feel they are actually hiking.
Ok, I really didn't like it when people would say to me on my 'hike'. Have a nice walk. Oh excuse me while I hike to mailbox to check the mail.
I never thought too much about it. I usually just say "Thanks", and walk on (I'm not much for skipping, hopping, jumping, etc.:D).
"Hiking" is just "walking" with a pack on your back which contains items necessary for survival, and, to an extent, comfort and happiness.
Now that you've sparked the thought in me, I'd like to forward the notion that the "Tour de France" isn't really a "tour", but a stage race.
Does it really matter that much?:confused:
Thought not.:)
I like perambulation.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/perambulation
I call it happy terrestrial locomotion super adventure.
Must be the Korean translation :p
From the medical terminology standpoint, Idon't forget ambulate and it's derivitives, ambulation or ambulatory. Of course it rolls off the tounge like a ball of hot fishhooks and you end up sounding like a nerd....:p
"I'm going to ambulate the AT..."
I gave up on medical terminology the day I was describing the patients occipital hematoma and the Doc looked at me and said "You mean he bonked his gourd"? :D
Jester2000
04-18-2009, 10:59
I call it happy terrestrial locomotion super adventure.
That's only because you're the host of a Japanese gameshow.
The Old Fhart
04-18-2009, 22:09
roam:
1 : to go from place to place without purpose or direction : wander
2 : to travel purposefully unhindered through a wide area <cattle roaming in search of water>
3 : to use a cellular phone outside one's local calling area <roaming charges>
All three could apply to hiking....:D
... or 'wander'
The Happy Wanderer
I love to go a-wandering,
Along the mountain track,
And as I go, I love to sing,
My knapsack on my back.
I can't stand when people say that hiking, or walking, in the way we do is not a sport. I can't really find a good defense.......but a distance hike even as short as a week or so requires alot of knowledge and alot of determination to stay comfortable IMO. Comfort levels vary. Is chess a sport? Is fishing a sport? How are the formulas for these sports any different than hiking? I think the large dispersion of outdoor destinations and the inherent use of general camping equipment has gotten some people confused about what hiking/trekking/creeping is.IMO.
freefall
04-19-2009, 02:02
What about stroll?
Date: 1668 intransitive verb
1 : to go from place to place in search of work or profit <strolling players> <strolling musicians>
2 : to walk in a leisurely or idle manner : ramble (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ramble)
Lone Wolf
04-19-2009, 06:50
I can't stand when people say that hiking, or walking, in the way we do is not a sport.
it ain't. it's just walkin'. golf is a sport. i can't wait to play again. NASCAR is a sport. gonna watch it today. go Kasey!
hey wolf hope you can get out on the course soon.i just played for the first time here in mass yesterday and man is my back sore.still a little snow holding on in places the greens were sketchy
TrippinBTM
04-19-2009, 11:55
unless you're a writer/poet going for some specific effect of words, it's the same thing. There's no difference between walking to the corner, and walking to Maine, besides duration and distance. You know, a journey of a thousand miles starts with one step, and all that jazz.
LW summarizes it best, as usual. It's just walkin'.
From the medical terminology standpoint, Idon't forget ambulate and it's derivitives, ambulation or ambulatory. Of course it rolls off the tounge like a ball of hot fishhooks and you end up sounding like a nerd....:p
"I'm going to ambulate the AT..."Amble is a good one, especially for those that walk like a bear.
I like perambulation.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/perambulationThat is pretty amazing that perambulate dates from 1560. I guess us nerds go back a long way eh.
I can't stand when people say that hiking, or walking, in the way we do is not a sport. I can't really find a good defense.......but a distance hike even as short as a week or so requires alot of knowledge and alot of determination to stay comfortable IMO. Comfort levels vary. Is chess a sport? Is fishing a sport? How are the formulas for these sports any different than hiking? I think the large dispersion of outdoor destinations and the inherent use of general camping equipment has gotten some people confused about what hiking/trekking/creeping is.IMO.I guess the real question there is what a sport is, and why it might be considered more worthy than some other activity which is not a sport. To some chess is a sport. There is the expression "Sports and Recreation", which implies that there is a difference. There is also the term Athletics. I've had people tell me that sailing doesn't require much fitness. Such people don't know squat.
Some walking is easy. Some walking ain't.
Of course hiking is about more than just walking, but doesn't neccessitate a pack. You can hike without a pack. I think the essential thing about long distance wilderness or outdoor hiking is the skills and knowledge and experience that go with it, and which are learned and developed by doing it.
'Walking' can imply that to. 'Hiking' is a little more implicit.
I think 'Backpacking' misses the point entirely.
I don't mind so much when people say, I am going on a backpacking trip, as that is at least helpful in conveying some of the planning and organizing that is going into the trip. Once they are involved in the act however, I would prefer that people call it and consider it to be 'walking' or 'hiking' or something like that, rather than 'backpacking'. It's not really about the pack. If the purpose of the trip is to pack stuff from A to B, that would be different. That is packing.
I think it was interesting that in Old English it was simply called going.
"So what are you planning on doing this summer?"
"I am going to Springer, and from there I am going all the way to Katahdin."
Very nicely put.
Pedaling Fool
04-19-2009, 19:22
Anyone ever notice people that walk with one or both of their feet at an angle? I've never noticed this with hikers, but I've never really looked. I would think hiking with feet at an angle would make injury more likely for most.
kolokolo
04-19-2009, 19:29
If you are well prepared, not too weighed down with stuff you don't really need, and in a proper frame of mind, it is just a walk. I think that's always my goal - to make it that easy. If it's much more than a walk, then maybe you are carrying too much stuff.
superman
04-19-2009, 19:35
I can't stand when people say that hiking, or walking, in the way we do is not a sport. I can't really find a good defense.......but a distance hike even as short as a week or so requires alot of knowledge and alot of determination to stay comfortable IMO. Comfort levels vary. Is chess a sport? Is fishing a sport? How are the formulas for these sports any different than hiking? I think the large dispersion of outdoor destinations and the inherent use of general camping equipment has gotten some people confused about what hiking/trekking/creeping is.IMO.
To me a sport is one where there is an offense and a defense. Hiking would be a sport if the other hikers could run up and trip you.
The Weasel
04-19-2009, 19:38
I like the term hiking also, but I also like walking, trudging, tramping.
I don't like the term backpacking as I think it puts too much emphasis on backpacks and gear.
In years long past, "Hiking" was generally a day-trip, with maybe a shoulder bag, with a return home at the end of the day. "Backpacking" referred to overnight trips, with the term differentiating from the shoulder bag used for day trips to indicate that more gear was being carried.
TW
SlowLightTrek
04-19-2009, 19:40
To me a sport is one where there is an offense and a defense. Hiking would be a sport if the other hikers could run up and trip you.
or kill the man with the backpack
I wonder it backpacking would be a proper term for all the gearhead hikers that talk about nothing but hiking gear.
AHHH! So all this I do, all the planning, all the training running up bleachers, studying maps and researching gear is just walking? I believe that if your goal is to finish A.T. then you are involved in a sport - long distance hiking.
AHHH! So all this I do, all the planning, all the training running up bleachers, studying maps and researching gear is just walking?
Yes.
FWalking in the woods, where you get to camp out every night. But just walking.
superman
04-19-2009, 19:46
AHHH! So all this I do, all the planning, all the training running up bleachers, studying maps and researching gear is just walking? I believe that if your goal is to finish A.T. then you are involved in a sport - long distance hiking.
If you finish the AT you will come down and sit under a tree and say "that was a hell of a walk.":)
The Weasel
04-19-2009, 19:48
AHHH! So all this I do, all the planning, all the training running up bleachers, studying maps and researching gear is just walking? I believe that if your goal is to finish A.T. then you are involved in a sport - long distance hiking.
Yep. It's just walking. It's not a "sport," or "activity" or "competition" or any of those other fancy names that people want to apply to make themselves feel "exclusive."
It's walking. Sometimes you stop, and look around. Other times, you're climbing. Sometimes you're munching something while moving forward. It's walking. Accept it for that, and enjoy it.
TW
AHHH! So all this I do, all the planning, all the training running up bleachers, studying maps and researching gear is just walking? I believe that if your goal is to finish A.T. then you are involved in a sport - long distance hiking.
Lots of us who have finished the AT will tell you. It's walking. Lots of it. But just walking.
However, by NH, many thru-hikers could become competitors in the sport of eating. Just go to an AYCE in Gorham, and you'll see.
superman
04-19-2009, 22:03
Lots of us who have finished the AT will tell you. It's walking. Lots of it. But just walking.
However, by NH, many thru-hikers could become competitors in the sport of eating. Just go to an AYCE in Gorham, and you'll see.
LMAO, in 2000 TUK ate 7 heaping plates at that Chinese AYCE in Gorham. They were not happy with him. He ate their profit margin. When you see those BIG people go into the AYCE buffets you think they can pack it away. They can't compete with a thru hiker. By the time many thru hikers get to Gorham, NH they need all they can eat.:)
Anyone ever notice people that walk with one or both of their feet at an angle? I've never noticed this with hikers, but I've never really looked. I would think hiking with feet at an angle would make injury more likely for most.I have somewhat wonky knees and feet. My feet are usually splayed out a little when I stand, and when I bend my knees my left knee goes outside of my foot line and my right knee goes inside of my foot line. I tend to run with my feet out a little but walk with them more straight. I think I run that way to prevent injury because I have turned my ankle alot, especially the left one, which is why it is wonky I think.
For the next while
I'm going to try and simply think of it as going.
I don't have a passion for walking. If I did I would be forrest gump or something. You see where I'm going with this?
I don't have a passion for walking. If I did I would be forrest gump or something. You see where I'm going with this?
Forrest Gump may not have been a smart man, but he was a very wise one.
I'd have never thought of that movie again if it wern't for that. Sparked images of Conan and short circuit and marble madness. whew.
TrippinBTM
04-20-2009, 11:03
Anyone ever notice people that walk with one or both of their feet at an angle? I've never noticed this with hikers, but I've never really looked. I would think hiking with feet at an angle would make injury more likely for most.
I notice fat people do it more than skinny people; like waddling, it probably has to do with balancing extra weight.
And no, it's not a healthy way to walk, bad posture, throws the joints out of optimum. Plus in the woods your feet can catch on stuff more, so it's less efficient.
I think its the body's way of doing what it needs to do to compensate for one thing or another. Walking doesn't come with an instruction manual. If you are walking funny it is not because you don't know how. It is for some other reason. Reasons vary.
Seriously, I think its bad for to criticize the way some people walk.
If they are walking, they are doing it right.
Omarwannahike
04-20-2009, 11:38
Hike, walk, tramp, amble, trudge, going walkabout, and trek. All the same really, you're still putting a foot in front of the other, or sometimes sliding back, or falling in water, or wildly throwing your arms around to grab at something. (That might be just me)
Walk In The Woods, was not fiction. Unless anyone wants to consider 'walking their own walk' fiction.
Complete Walker IV is great, btw, the gear section could have been more generic and not so much based on brands.
IMO
2008 Jan I started walking at 360 lbs today I'm 219 and finish 19 mile day hike on the AT this last Friday. To me it's exercise of the mind, body and soul. And if I live to 102 I will still be walking a trail somewhere. The best part on my walk was running into some wise hikers or walkers like Santa’s helper and a couple who was going to start the PCT next month.
2008 Jan I started walking at 360 lbs today I'm 219 and finish 19 mile day hike on the AT this last Friday. To me it's exercise of the mind, body and soul. And if I live to 102 I will still be walking a trail somewhere. The best part on my walk was running into some wise hikers or walkers like Santa’s helper and a couple who was going to start the PCT next month.
Awsome, congrats!
The Weasel
04-20-2009, 14:05
Seriously, I think its bad for to criticize the way some people walk.
Unless you are John Cleese.
If they are walking, they are doing it right.
Unless you are Michael Palin.
TW
TrippinBTM
04-20-2009, 20:46
Seriously, I think its bad for to criticize the way some people walk.
If they are walking, they are doing it right.
Are you referring to my post? I wasn't criticizing anyone. I was speaking in generalities; and in general, it's not a healthy way to walk. Just like slouching is not a healthy way to sit (even though I'm doing it right now!).