Article: Trail Slang for the Appalachian Trail

[TJ aka Teej]

You can view the page at http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/content.php?217-As-of-April-7th

[Cookerhiker]

Good idea Teej. A few comments:

1. The ATC definition uses the term "Conference" and "Conservancy" in the same sentence.

2. I'm not sure I'd refer to "Bald" as "low elevation" since many of them are higher than Katahdin and all the Whites except Washington. Low elevation by Rockies/Sierra standards but not for the AT

3. Black flies are not limited to Maine

4. BMT - I thought it was more than 90 miles

5. Fall Line is repeated

6. Handbook - Wingfoot's last guide was years ago - you may want to make this clear or just drop it.

7. Pink Blazing - "there" should be "their"

8. Maintainer - the PATC calls them "Overseers" a term which may be unique to the PATC but that brings up another question: the list includes some of the maintaining clubs but not all of them. If you want to confine the list to the larger ones, PATC should still be listed since they maintain about 250 miles of the AT. And speaking of PATC land, I like your clear and accurate of Shenandoah (if not the spelling:)) since so many hikers and WBers refer to "the Shenandoahs" which doesn't exist.

9. Trail Magic - trying to get away from regarding organized hiker feeds as one-and-the-same with Trail Magic, I've come up with the following: When good things happen to hikers, usually spontaneous and unexpected. It might be a ride offer from a passing stranger, free food courtesy of tourists, having a lost piece of gear found by a fellow hiker, or any other acts of serendipity.

[TJ aka Teej]

Thanks for the response, Cooker.
That's a really old, collectively written, submission. It was started way on the at-l, the original AT email list from back before WF even had a website.
What I'd like to do is give it up to someone who could throw some energy at updating it.

[Odd Man Out]

A few to get started?

Base Weight: The weight of your pack and it's contents, not including consumable items (food, water, fuel).

Big Three: Your backpack, shelter, and sleep system. These are typically the heaviest, most expensive, and most critical categories of items carried, and thus tend to get the most attention during gear discussions.

Aqua Blazing: By-passing a section of the trail in favor of floating along a waterway that parallels the trail.

[oldbear]

Postholing can also happen when you're hiking on rocky trail that is covered with snow .
If you're unfortunate your foot / leg will get wedged between two rocks and you'll be able to extract it w/ no harm done
If you're really unfortunate you'll be heading downhill when that happens and your forward fall will cause body parts to break and or tear

[greywolf1974]

stump bear - an old tree stump of the trail that on first glimpse looks like a bear
stick snake - those pesty sticks that jump up and bite you on the leg when you step on it

[BostonSun]

Thanks for the response, Cooker.
That's a really old, collectively written, submission. It was started way on the at-l, the original AT email list from back before WF even had a website.
What I'd like to do is give it up to someone who could throw some energy at updating it.


Hi Teej, Cooker, et. al.
I'd be more than happy to 'throw some energy' at updating this list! My qualifications? A) food & lifestyle freelance writer for 8 years. B) hiker/camper/backpacker for 28 yrs. C) imaginary president of the Grammar Nazis OCD-Perfectionist club. lol

Anyway, I'd love to do it... The WhiteBlaze.net community has given me much, and I'd love to give back. Plus, it will give me a nice little 'project' while enthusiastically planning my 2014 NOBO thru-hike (timed to coincide with my 50th birthday). I promise it will be done long before 2014! haha

Let me know if you'll give me the green light. Thanks in advance for the opportunity.

[cocoonboy]

Crotch Rot - The lathering and painful annoying sensitivity of ones butt crack due to a long hot day of hiking.

[Camping_Steve]

This is really useful for the newbies like myself. I've hiked sections of the trail, but not in any meaningful distance. I didn't know that the blue blaze could signify an alternative route for bad weather! :)

[melaniebk]

What is HDHMI?

[Another Kevin]

What is HDHMI?

A typo for HMHDI ? That's Mags's "Hike My Hike, Damn It!" - the opposite of HYOH.

[hoppy from GA]

Here's some funny ones I heard recently (not meant to be taken seriously):

Bear Burrito: Hammock
Bear Fortune Cookie: Tent

[shelb]

"Brown Blazing" - funny!

My teenage son says the worst is the "swamp" (when sweat runs down the butt-crack, and pools at his testicles")

[Rolls Kanardly]

What is the WhiteBlaze definition of a lurker and/or a troll. Also what is someone called who talks a good talks but never does the walk as in 'Never back packs or hikes'
Rolls

[Damn Yankee]

Crotch Rot - The lathering and painful annoying sensitivity of ones butt crack due to a long hot day of hiking.
You also can't forget, "Swamp A**"

[bflorac]

stump bear - an old tree stump of the trail that on first glimpse looks like a bear
stick snake - those pesty sticks that jump up and bite you on the leg when you step on it

Now this is funny. All those time when hiking alone for hours, looked up at a black object and had my heart race only to find it was a stump. I though it was just me!

[bflorac]

"ATN The Appalachian Trailways News" - I believe the Appalachian Trail Conservancy news magazine is called "A.T. Journeys"

"Bald" - A bald is typically a peak of mountain that is lacking trees. However, these are localized terms and mean different things in different areas. As such it is the locals that use the term. Often you will find something called a "bald" that is full of trees. I was a bald at one time but over years the forest has moved in.

Great Smoky Mountain National Park - also called GSMNP
Blue Ridge Parkway - also called BRP
Shenandoha National Park (way) - also called SNP

Slackpacking - In AT terms, a slackpack does not mean they don't have a pack. It is just that they don' carry it with them while hiking. For example if they get someone to bring it where the are hiking to.

Yogi-ing - think of Yogi Bear....

[kayak karl]

WhiteBlaze definition of a lurker and/or a troll.
Rolls i think that would be "pack sniffer"

[tsgosnell]

Pack sniffer. Good one!

[TJ aka Teej]

Always fun to see this old thread come back to life!

[TJ aka Teej]

Bumping this up!

[woodguy]

Interesting stuff..

[shelb]

ACYE.... All you can eat! Too funny!

[Yankee15]

Rage hiking

[Lnj]

What is rage hiking?

[egilbe]

What is rage hiking?

In my experience, it's when my gf gets p.o'd at me and hikes off faster than I can keep up with her.

[TJ aka Teej]

Bumping this up - would really like to see someone take on an update!

[Maydog]

You also can't forget, "Swamp A**"

Not to be confused with "mud butt".

[windlion]

Freeblazing -- hiking wherever, whenever I want to, with no particular plan. Courtesy a log entry at the Ed Garvey shelter by Flower Child.

[Greenlight]

That is the beginning of the recipe for Fromunda Cheese.


"Brown Blazing" - funny!

My teenage son says the worst is the "swamp" (when sweat runs down the butt-crack, and pools at his testicles")

[Dogwood]

Zero Day - change the implication of what it means by changing the definition to a more empowering one

New Zero Day - a day of compromise where one makes themselves vulnerable to potentially a wider range of life experiences during a journey

The current definition suggests a Zero Day is to hike zero miles or is a day of rest in town or resupply when a Zero Day certainly does not have to be approached in such fashion. Zero Days can certainly include hiking that involves added hiking away from the AT or hiking through a city having worthy life experiences. To suggest my Zero Days going into Washington DC from Harpers Ferry on an AT thru-hike involved no hiking miles as I hiked around the city for 20+ miles each day is misleading and incorrect. I could give many examples of such Zero Days as they were experienced hiking possibly more miles than hiking the primary trail.

[StichBurly]

Zeak = zero week

[FIREWHATFIRE]

Thanks for the list. Learning here is going to be fun.

[gs8336]

I know I'm a geezer (my thru-hike was 39 years ago), but I was surprised not to see roadwalk and Maine Disease in here. Roadwalk is very self-explanatory, but it is a word we thru-hikers coined. Try running it through a spellchecker. Maybe it's seared into my mind because I did the 18-mile Cumberland Valley roadwalk on a 100+ degree day, and they've done a terrific job getting rid of those longer roadwalks since my day.

Maine Disease is what northbound thru-hikers called the condition which afflicts us in that state with a reluctance to speed the end which is now so near. We slow down to savor all of the sights, stop for the night early, and our daily mileage drops. Do they still use that one?

[Patrickjd9]

Here's some funny ones I heard recently (not meant to be taken seriously):
Bear Burrito: Hammock
Bear Fortune Cookie: Tent

Bear Piñata: Bear bag