What is an unsupported hike..??

[Nature Boy]

OK guys,

What is the definition of an unsupported hike.

Food drops mail to yourself OK, but what about when they are mailed to you by other people.....

Hitch-hiking....yes / no Shuttles into town...??

I understand my hike will be under the microscope so lets get this stuff out in the open....

[Torch09]

As long as you don't have an RV waiting for you at every road crossing, its fine by me

[nitegaunt]

If you feel like your hike will be under a microscope then maybe you should re-think your reasons for it. Do what you think will meet your comfort/financial/logistical needs and abilities and don't worry about what other people think. Unsupported, to me, would mean that you have no one backing you up by sending supplies, etc. But if you have someone who is willing to help you out at home by sending you drops then why not?

[couscous]

What is an unsupported hike..?? This is just my thoughts.. Unsupported = Someone may have sent you mail drops, but you still have to leave the trail and walk - hitchhike - or get a shuttle to go pick them up. You might have some slackpacking opportunities, but for the most part you are carrying all your supplies and gear. Off-trail tasks can greatly influence your hiking. ~ Supported = having someone with a vehicle dedicated to carry most of the supplies and gear for your entire trip. They meet you at road crossings so you can resupply, camp or get shuttled to/from town. They handle the off-trail tasks so you can just day hike and focus on covering miles.

[neighbor dave]

no nuthin' you walk from a to b, no cars, no hotels/hostels, you cache all your food.

[4eyedbuzzard]

In regard to the "record attempts"?
Mail drops to P.O.'s or other places that you pick up yourself are okay, but no one else carrying any of your gear or food. No one setting up camps for you or preparing all your meals, or bringing you food / resupply items at road crossings or shelters, etc, drawing / treating water, caching supplies, etc. I don't know about having people hike/run with you to pace you - I think that is okay. Those who are into monitoring these "events" can offer more. LW can likely spell out most of it if he's willing as he's been "support" to some of the record setters.

[Nature Boy]

In regard to the "record attempts"?
Mail drops to P.O.'s or other places that you pick up yourself are okay, but no one else carrying any of your gear or food. No one setting up camps for you or preparing all your meals, or bringing you food / resupply items at road crossings or shelters, etc, drawing / treating water, caching supplies, etc. I don't know about having people hike/run with you to pace you - I think that is okay. Those who are into monitoring these "events" can offer more. LW can likely spell out most of it if he's willing as he's been "support" to some of the record setters

so how about it Lone Wolf, are you willing to give some advise..??

[Sly]

Whatever guidelines you come up with some are going to disagree. Normally, hikers have stuff mailed to them along the way, hitch into town, or get rides from friends arranged in advanced to get into town, slackpack etc and it's still considered an unsupported hike. Some anal retentives may disagree.

[10-K]

The only hard-core thing I can think of would be not skip any of the trail when you declare you're finished.

Most everything else that people would get hung up on are personal preferences. For instance, I wouldn't care if you slackpacked as often as possible and didn't hike the entire trail in the same direction.

Let me ask you - what is your definition of an unsupported thru hike?

[CrumbSnatcher]

IMO big difference between unsupported thruhiking
and unsupported thruhiking with the intentions of setting the record!
slackpacking on a unsupported attempt at the record, i don't like that idea IMO.
maybe on big K with a daypack since most hikes are this way? anyhow.
don't have a opionion on maildrops or who sends them? i wouldn't be cooking my own burgers in town either!
you would still be hiking the miles!
and for 10-k's question about bouncing around, to me it seems like it would be best to keep moving in one direction?
you would have to add all the travel time in too, if you flip-flopped around or something right?

[Sly]

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What if a guy normally hikes 25 miles with his pack and one day slacks 10 miles?

Of course, don't take their gear to the top of Katahdin either...

[CrumbSnatcher]

SLY, are we talking record attempt, because either way that 10 mile day would put you behind!
not saying theres anything wrong with slacking just not on a UNSUPPORTED record attempt? i could be wrong! im open to everyone else's thoughts too

[Sly]

SLY, are we talking record attempt, because either way that 10 mile day would put you behind!
not saying theres anything wrong with slacking just not on a UNSUPPORTED record attempt? i could be wrong! im open to everyone else's thoughts too

Yeah, I know and I tend to agree, I was just comparing it to normal, what's basically considered unsupported thru-hiker.

The record we speak of is kind of vague. Most here will say Ward Leonard holds it but does anyone seriously know of how he actually hiked the trail and in how many days? Did he hitch at all? What about food drops. If he holds the standard one should comply with how he did the trail.

[CrumbSnatcher]

i don't see a problem with the day pack on big k though, only because 99% of thru's do this. and it seems to be the way

[Hoot]

im going with the idea that an "unsupported hike" could be defined diffrently by just about everyone.. its an easy term to leave open for argument.

Naitch... what part of Ohio?

[jersey joe]

Unsupported hike means that you don't have someone following you and giving you food and setting up camp for you.
You can send yourself maildrops.
You can have someone else send mail drops.
You can hitchhike into towns and eat all the food you want in town.
You must hike the whole entire trail.
Slackpacking is not allowed.
Carry your pack up Katahdin...just because, I don't even care if it is empty.
You can accept trail magic, just don't plan it.
No one should be carrying any of your stuff.
Good luck dude.

[4eyedbuzzard]

And you can't wear one of these

[CrumbSnatcher]

And you can't wear one of these

whats wrong with a face shield?

[CrumbSnatcher]

Unsupported hike means that you don't have someone following you and giving you food and setting up camp for you.
You can send yourself maildrops.
You can have someone else send mail drops.
You can hitchhike into towns and eat all the food you want in town.
You must hike the whole entire trail.
Slackpacking is not allowed.
Carry your pack up Katahdin...just because, I don't even care if it is empty.
You can accept trail magic, just don't plan it.
No one should be carrying any of your stuff.
Good luck dude.

joe, how about friends meeting up with & hiking a section with you, thats ok but what about them giving you a ride into town& it was planned ahead of time? or someone from WB following your trek, going out to meet you and offer a ride? should all rides to town not be pre planned or arranged?
by the way i completely agree with your thoughts on this issue.

[jersey joe]

joe, how about friends meeting up with & hiking a section with you, thats ok but what about them giving you a ride into town& it was planned ahead of time? or someone from WB following your trek, going out to meet you and offer a ride? should all rides to town not be pre planned or arranged?
by the way i completely agree with your thoughts on this issue.

Friends can meet up and hike with you, just can't carry your stuff for you. The rides into town is interesting...i guess it is a matter of how much, if it happens one or two times where they happen to be hiking with you one day and drive you to town at a road crossing, i can live with that...if they do it for a month, that's support.