View Full Version : Am I still a (potential) thru-hiker?
Made it more than 1/3 of the way this year before an injury kept me from the trail. Have been off-trail for a month now but am returning Saturday to continue.
It's my opinion that as long as I finish within the season I would qualify as a thru-hiker... but I'm curious whether other TH's would agree or disagree considering the length of time off.
Also, I'm at mile 835. Opinions on whether it is still feasible this year?
SawnieRobertson
07-01-2010, 16:23
Made it more than 1/3 of the way this year before an injury kept me from the trail. Have been off-trail for a month now but am returning Saturday to continue.
It's my opinion that as long as I finish within the season I would qualify as a thru-hiker... but I'm curious whether other TH's would agree or disagree considering the length of time off.
Also, I'm at mile 835. Opinions on whether it is still feasible this year?
Of course, you are still a thru-hiker unless and until you throw in the towel.--Kinnickinic
Your opinion is the only one that matters.
As for finishing, you've got roughly 105 days from today to go 1345 miles - just under 13 mpd. You could easily finish with time to spare.
Pedaling Fool
07-01-2010, 16:30
Made it more than 1/3 of the way this year before an injury kept me from the trail. Have been off-trail for a month now but am returning Saturday to continue.
It's my opinion that as long as I finish within the season I would qualify as a thru-hiker... but I'm curious whether other TH's would agree or disagree considering the length of time off.
Also, I'm at mile 835. Opinions on whether it is still feasible this year?
Some will say yes, others will say no. I say, who cares, it's not like you can get a certificate or anything for being thru-hiker.
You have 365 days to be a "real" thru hiker, not from Jan 1st to Dec 31st.
AND, as posted above, "Who cares!" When I thru hike, I'm going to hike from start to finish, if it takes me 370 days to go from wherever I start to wherever I finish* I am still going to consider it a Thru Hike! It is MY hike, I am not going to do it for anyone else, so I'm not going to hurry or risk injury cause someone else says I "Have to, for it to count!".
If the ATC doesn't like it, they already know my opinion of them so shouldn't be surprised by my 1 finger response.
*I'm still torn between doing a NOBO or a SOBO or a flip flop.
If the ATC doesn't like it, they already know my opinion of them so shouldn't be surprised by my 1 finger response.
Haha!
Nice.
Dude, I took 42 zeros. You took 30 in a row. No biggie. You are a thru-hiker. If anyone says otherwise, take it as a gift. They will have identified themselves as someone so uptight they will be no fun to hang around. Chuckle and move on.
BTW, good luck. Maine in Sept/Oct is glorious!
Point of clarification: You'll be a thru hiker when you finish... :) Until then, you're trying to become a thru hiker.
At least that's how I understand it.
Met lots of hikes who skipped PA to make up time so they would be in Baxter before early October. Then they hiked PA in late October, which is a great time to do it with the cool weather and leaves changing.
You have 365 days to be a "real" thru hiker, not from Jan 1st to Dec 31st.
AND, as posted above, "Who cares!" When I thru hike, I'm going to hike from start to finish, if it takes me 370 days to go from wherever I start to wherever I finish* I am still going to consider it a Thru Hike! It is MY hike, I am not going to do it for anyone else, so I'm not going to hurry or risk injury cause someone else says I "Have to, for it to count!".
If the ATC doesn't like it, they already know my opinion of them so shouldn't be surprised by my 1 finger response.
*I'm still torn between doing a NOBO or a SOBO or a flip flop.
One finger responses are not needed. ATC has what I consider silly guidelines for giving out 2000-miler certificates. But it is their certificates. They can impose whatever guidelines they want. If you don't want to follow the guidelines, just don't apply. You don't have to get all huffy about it.
If you want all your friends and neighbors to know you walked all the distance between Springer Mountain and Katahdin, just tell them sometime over coffee or beers.
Or if that seems too blatant, just post a photograph with a caption that says Doctari on XXX mountain, on his 2,175-mile walk on the Appalachian Trail. They are far more apt to look at a photo than a certificate, anyway.
Weary
Lone Wolf
07-01-2010, 21:14
if you're concerned about bein' a "thru-hiker" than you ain't gettin' it. it's walkin' is all.
Speer Carrier
07-01-2010, 21:20
Doesn't the ATC just recognize 2000 milers no matter how long it took to complete? I'm not aware that they specify what any guide lines are regarding doing it all in one season.
Anyway, the world in general couldn't give a rat's ass if you thru hiked or not. If you complete the whole thing, most of it, or just part of it, it only has to satisfy you.
Thanks everybody for your input
sheepdog
07-01-2010, 22:45
everyone is a potential thru hiker
Cookerhiker
07-02-2010, 06:22
Doesn't the ATC just recognize 2000 milers no matter how long it took to complete? I'm not aware that they specify what any guide lines are regarding doing it all in one season....
Each year they keep stats to track how many prospective thrus start at each end, how many of said thrus get to such-and-such point, how many stop in Harpers Ferry.
But as far as "recognition," they make no distinction. One quirk is that when you apply for the certificate, they ask whether you want it to read "Maine to Georgia" or "Georgia to Maine." As a section hiker who took 28 years to finish and who hiked some north, some south, some long, some short, it didn't matter to me at all. Since my longest section hike was finishing the Trail hiking Gorham-to-Katahdin, I chose "Georgia to Maine."
Made it more than 1/3 of the way this year before an injury kept me from the trail. Have been off-trail for a month now but am returning Saturday to continue.
It's my opinion that as long as I finish within the season I would qualify as a thru-hiker... but I'm curious whether other TH's would agree or disagree considering the length of time off.
Also, I'm at mile 835. Opinions on whether it is still feasible this year?
the definition of a thru hiker is one who completes the trail in one hiking season. Doesn't matter how much time you take off.
You can still do it!
David
sherrill
07-02-2010, 10:06
We're all "potential" thru hikers.
Even my 80 year old mom. She has absolutely no interest. But the potential is there.
skinewmexico
07-02-2010, 10:11
It's a journey, not a destination.
You can call yourself whatever you want to. You have little control over what others call you.
Whether you make it in this calendar year, 365 days from your start, or you come back some other year to finish--you've finished. If you in fact hiked the entire white-blazed AT then you qualify to apply for a patch, a certificate, and published recognition via ATC. But you get the same recognition no matter how you hike past all the white blazes (or emergency relos if you encounter any).
You can also get the gratification of knowing you hiked from Georgia to Maine (or vice versa) without passing every white blaze, but ATC expects you to do the actual white-blazed trail in order to put your signature on the application for its recognition. It's an honor-system thing, tho, not a Federal law. Your original post indicates you are an honorable person, I think.
Is this a purist way of scaring hikers:-?Hike your own hike and enjoy it.ky
the definition of a thru hiker is one who completes the trail in one hiking season. Doesn't matter how much time you take off. ....
That's generally true. But it did to my father-in-law who I cared for during much of his final illness. Whenever anyone called me a thru hiker, he would remind them that I had sat "here in this living room for 10 days." I had been forced to take two weeks off, because an irritated nerve made walking difficult and sleeping almost impossible.
Actually, I never claimed to be a thru hiker, delays from the pinched nerve, (or whatever it was, The docs disagreed) too much exploring in the south, general slowness, and an 11-year-old grandson who needed a walk in the woods more than I needed a piece of paper from ATC, made a purist walk impossible.
However some folks persist in spreading the myth. Even ATC. The Conservancy never gave me a certificate, but claimed I was a thru hiker in the citation that made me an honorable member a few years ago.
Weary
2nd part of youir question: Is it still feasible this year.
It depends on the three S's... your stamina, stubborness, and speed.
Most LD hikers would probably advise you to flip-flop at some point, but only you would know for sure your three S's. If you flip-flop, yeah, it is still very feasible. If you don't, it's possible but your odds go down.
That's generally true. But it did to my father-in-law who I cared for during much of his final illness. Whenever anyone called me a thru hiker, he would remind them that I had sat "here in this living room for 10 days." I had been forced to take two weeks off, because an irritated nerve made walking difficult and sleeping almost impossible.
Actually, I never claimed to be a thru hiker, delays from the pinched nerve, (or whatever it was, The docs disagreed) too much exploring in the south, general slowness, and an 11-year-old grandson who needed a walk in the woods more than I needed a piece of paper from ATC, made a purist walk impossible.
However some folks persist in spreading the myth. Even ATC. The Conservancy never gave me a certificate, but claimed I was a thru hiker in the citation that made me an honorable member a few years ago.
Weary
Congatulations on your citation and your recognition.
As you know, ATC does not differentiate between dayhikers, section hikers, and thru-hikers in the approval of an application for what they now refer to as a Certificate of Congratulations. All one needs to do is hike the entire actual AT as it exists at the time of hiking to qualify.
Heck you get an extra month away from the rat race. That qualifies for something!
....As you know, ATC does not differentiate between dayhikers, section hikers, and thru-hikers in the approval of an application for what they now refer to as a Certificate of Congratulations. All one needs to do is hike the entire actual AT as it exists at the time of hiking to qualify.
Which is what I did not do. I think these decisions are pretty basic. Follow the ATC guidelines. If not do not claim otherwise.
My license plate reads: "GA-Me93." Very few comment or question what the message means. But the guy who delivered my midsummer supply of fuel oil today commented when I came out, check book in hand, to ask, "Are you the guy who did the Appalachian Trail in 93." I said, that's me. No I didn't explain the details. I've learned most people could care less.
Regardless, my oil delivery person commented, "I've done a lot of the trail, but I haven't had time to do it all."
My message is simple. Most of those who give a crap about what you have done think walking from Georgia to Maine is an accomplishment. No body else cares one way of the other. I've chosen to have these pleasant 20 second conversations, rather than 2 minute boring conversations about the details.
As for the ATC guidelines. Follow them or ignore them. Just don't lie. I say that even though only a few trail buddies will know, anyway. You will.
jersey joe
07-07-2010, 09:55
... Follow the ATC guidelines. If not do not claim otherwise.
Very well said. If you meet the guidelines for a thru hike, then claim that you thru hiked. If you do not meet the guidelines for a thru hike, do not claim otherwise.
Pedaling Fool
07-07-2010, 10:00
There are no official guidelines for a thru-hike; only personal guidelines which vary. Whose guidelines shall we adopt.
jersey joe
07-07-2010, 10:17
I see the ATC doesn't define a "thru-hike" now. Didn't the ATC used to define a thru-hike as completing the whole trail in less than 365 days? Regardless, this seems like an acceptable guideline.
Pedaling Fool
07-07-2010, 10:24
I see the ATC doesn't define a "thru-hike" now. Didn't the ATC used to define a thru-hike as completing the whole trail in less than 365 days? Regardless, this seems like an acceptable guideline.
It's not that simple. Some say you can't be a thru-hiker, if you:
* Flipflop
* Slackpack
* Take x-amount of time off
* Miss one yard of trail
* Ford the Kennebec
* Not ford the Kennebec
Etc...
I don't blame the ATC for not defining the term, if they did it'll open a can of worms.
jersey joe
07-07-2010, 10:43
It's not that simple. Some say you can't be a thru-hiker, if you:
* Flipflop
* Slackpack
* Take x-amount of time off
* Miss one yard of trail
* Ford the Kennebec
* Not ford the Kennebec
Etc...
I don't blame the ATC for not defining the term, if they did it'll open a can of worms.
Well, the ATC does define a 2,000 miler. If you apply less than 365 days to the 2,000 miler rule, i think you have a pretty solid definition of a thru-hiker. I especially like how they say..."made an honest effort to walk the entire Trail".
You know something? I did not thru-hike the PCT by any accepted definition of the term. But I thru-hiked portions of it. To me, thru-hiking means you walk continuously from one end to the other. Even though I didn't do that for the whole trail, I'm very proud of the portions of it that I thru-hiked. The longest portion was from Castle Crags to Canada. One of the portions I thru-hiked that gets the most comments wasn't even on the PCT. It was the portion I hiked from my front door to the PCT. I'm proud of that one, too, even though it was only 100 miles.
To my mind, whether someone walks the whole trail in a year, the whole trail continuously or just manages to spend a long time on the trail, you've accomplished something much better than whatever rigid definition of a thru-hike is in fashion. You have spent time away from this crazy commodotized, monetized world that fools us into believing that everything it demands of us is real.