Therefore if you havent LICKED every white blaze, AND every blue blaze, you havent walked the entire trail.
there-------I fixed it for ya....
No definition specifies that you can't leave the trail.Originally Posted by fastfoxengineering
Lonehiker (MRT '22)
not the trail, the logistics! The AT has the 100 mile wilderness. PCT has more like 2600 miles of it. Off trail is what makes it a bunny slope compared to long distance adventures virtually anywhere else. on trail, it's no different than any other path you might choose. But with all the infrastructure, like right there, it eases the challenge to what the trail alone throws at you, whereas everywhere else the path is only part of the problem. Trail angels, trail magic, crazy amounts of infrastructure, your path going through an outfitter building... lol That is some pampered packer **** right there. So again, I got nothing to say against the AT or the challenge it bears, but the whole scene surrounding survival otherwise is cush as ****. you got red carpets rolled out for you here for things you have to fight for elsewhere, is what i'm saying.
"Study hard what interests you the most in the most undisciplined, irreverent and original manner possible." -Feynman
as for leaving the trail... most appreciate you not ****ting on it, so by all means leave the trial for that. we'll let it slide.
"Study hard what interests you the most in the most undisciplined, irreverent and original manner possible." -Feynman
Because people leave the trail, a thru becomes just sections hiked back to back.
Much of the bickering of what is a real thru hike between some people, is concerned with how much time between sections is "ok"
. Which is totally arbitrary and pointless really
I don't judge or even care what others do, but I've gone from being a "purist" to having a standard of continuous footprints from start to finish for any hike. I've missed cool things on some hikes due to being a purist and I don't do that anymore. If there are worthwhile alternates, I'll take them. But I won't take shortcuts just to cut miles. Hyoh.
Indeed. Seeing your allowed one calendar year to be classified as a "thru hiker", that allows for some significant time off. I could see taking a month or two off at the peak of summer just to rest up and beat the heat of the mid Atlantic.
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I believe in following the spirit of the trail. You take what the trail gives you and you learn from it...adapt...figure it out. If that means getting lost and having to skip a few miles to find your way again, so be it. Hiking isn’t about putting one foot in front of another on a pre-ordained path, it’s about learning who you are and becoming a better person.
"There are no rules" (was spoken to me by a famous hiker Kantishna Bush Pilot, on my second thru-hike, back in '96, I've always accepted his quote as gospel)
Don't let your fears stand in the way of your dreams
Can you provide a source on that?
The term “yellow blaze” in the context of a they hike typically means hitching or otherwise getting a ride down the Trail, right?
Correct, resulting in a significant distance being skipped over. Earl has to be given some slack as the AT effectively didn't exist in some areas.
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Been a while since i read walking with spring
My recollection, is earl got lost a bit
Some areas of trail had fallen into neglect
Who gets rides from people back to trail to exact place they got lost?
Its highly likely earl missed a bit here and there due to this.
But probably not as much as Emma Gatewood. Who got lost ....a lot.
The modern discussions over thru hike criteria, are simply people wanting to claim their hike is "better" than someone elses, because they did "X". People do this......to feel better about themselves, compared to others. Thats it.
Last edited by MuddyWaters; 12-26-2018 at 07:39.
When I set out on my NOBO thru hike I had developed some personal guidelines that were to govern my hike. First, I had decided that I wanted to spend more time on the trail than in town. So I defied common practice and carried more food and resupplied less often than most folks attempting a thru hike. Second, I wanted to hike in a continuous northern direction following the white blazes. Third, I wanted to carry my pack and not slack pack. On my first thru hike attempt I slack packed. I followed a blue blaze trail when I was suffering from dysentery. I flipped and flopped. On my second thru hike attempt I wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail and experience the entire trail, taking the good with the bad. When I was in Statton, ME some hikers were arranging a slack pack and asked if I wanted to come along. I declined and they asked why. I told them I had nothing against slack packing but had hiked almost 2000 miles without slack packing. I told them I thought slack packing was like hitting the easy button. This was a personal choice and how I wanted to hike the trail. Some may call me a purist but I didn't obsess over walking past every white blaze. In fact I know I missed some like the time I couldn't find the trail in TN, got out my map and headed in the direction of the trail which I eventually intersected
I believe that there is a "right way" to hike the trail and that is the way YOU want to hike it. I hold nothing against others who rainbow blaze the trail or slack pack. The important thing is that they are out hiking and enjoying what the trail offers. How boring the world would be if we were all the same.
More walking, less talking.
I didn't realize there was such a thing when I started section hiking the trail in 2016. It seemed natural to hike every part of the trail i could. I do exit from shelters the same way i came, and I don't take bad weather routes (and there were a few times when I should have). I don't judge others. If your thru hike includes aqua blazing then go for it, but be honest about it. I've noticed that many thru hikers skip 20 miles here and there, and most don't go back to finish the gaps. Personally that would drive me crazy but then again I've only hiked 1,750 miles of the trail, and not 2,190 (or 2,192).
Quote Originally Posted by fastfoxengineering View Post
In the end, everyones a section hiker anyways.
Idk anyone who walked from GA-ME and never left the trail.
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No definition specifies that you can't leave the trail.
I was referencing leaving the trail for "normal" resupply. Anyway a couple of additional thoughts on the subject.
1. There are rules if applying for the completion certificate through the ATC. If you didn't hike per these requirements you shouldn't apply for it. You can attempt to rationalize your hike anyway your want but if you don't meet the ATC "rules" you shouldn't apply and receive the certificate period. Now, if the little piece of paper is irrelevant to you then do what feels right for you.
2. Search this subject from 10-15 years ago. The tone was vastly different then as opposed to now (the posters were much more colorful then as well). It has always been my observation that as more people participate in an activity the traditions are diluted or abandoned. I suppose all things change; some for the bad, some for the good.
3. Had a third thought but seem to have forgotten what it was.
Lonehiker (MRT '22)
I'm a purist. Every white blaze along the way. I will take some side trails if time allows but I will be returning to the same blaze I left from.
I have a couple different reasons for this. For one, when I am finished and say I have walked the entire thing, I don't want the little voice on my shoulder reminding me of that 5 miles in SNP to get to a wayside, or the bump from Garenflo gap down into hot springs because it was 100* out. I want to be able to emphasize EVERy foot of the trail and be able to mean it.
My second reason is because I setout in the beginning of my obsession with the trail to thru hike it. And when the real world caught up to me overnight and I never even set out in an attempt to thru hike it, I told myself that in return I would section hike every mile of it, and in a way that resembled a thru hiker. I would put in the 20 mile days, and I would see every blaze. I pride myself in having seen a lot more blazes than many thru hikers I have met that seem to think its okay to call them self thru hikers when they stick a thumb out whenever its convenient. HYOH as a disclaimer.
Trail Miles: 4,980.5
AT Map 1: Complete 2013-2021
Sheltowee Trace: Complete 2020-2023
Pinhoti Trail: Complete 2023-2024
Foothills Trail: 47.9
AT Map 2: 279.4
BMT: 52.7
CDT: 85.4
I didn't hike every foot of the trail, but I did hike every mile.
The former is impossible, the latter is realistic.
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Please explain how so?
Good thing I had the patience to let the rattlesnake get off the trail when it did, instead of going around it through the bushes.
I'm blissfully impure. If you get from Georgia to Maine or vice-versa under your own power, that's good enough for me. White blazes, blue blazes, even some aqua blazes if you used your own muscles. You certainly won't find me caring whether or not someone leaves a shelter the same way he/she entered. Want to walk the VA Creeper trail instead of the AT (which is just a few feet away in the woods)? Go for it. Ford the Kennebec instead of using the white blazed route? I won't think less of your trip. Even if you take every possible blue-blazed "shortcut" (and not all are shorter or easier), you're still going to hike 2,000+ miles to get from one end to the other. Yellow blazing is a different story - that's not under your own power, but if the trail is a road walk, nobody is going to gain anything by treading asphalt for 10 miles, so go for it.
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