What is a Section Hike?

[Teacher & Snacktime]

She knows I'm a butthead, you still just think so.

If memory serves, I qualified that label by pointing out it was the action and not the person that was "buttheaded".....again, with the greatest respect and affection!

[Teacher & Snacktime]

If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck.

Via duck? Vy not a chicken?

[bamboo bob]

It all starts with titles and definitions, next comes credentials, and then licenses, and commissions, and inspectors, and fees, and . . .
Why can't everybody just walk without making such a big %$^#*@! deal about it.

I definitely agree with you. Eventually they'll be a fee for every camp site and a "caretaker" to enforce it. They already started a passport that you get stamped along the way.

[MDSection12]

If memory serves, I qualified that label by pointing out it was the action and not the person that was "buttheaded".....again, with the greatest respect and affection!

I've been called a lot worse, and rightly so.

[bfayer]

I definitely agree with you. Eventually they'll be a fee for every camp site and a "caretaker" to enforce it. They already started a passport that you get stamped along the way.

You have me seeing visions of a guy in a long black overcoat meeting everyone that shows up at a shelter with a scowl on his face demanding to see their papers...

Maybe someone needs to write the "little red book" of hiking (for those under 35, just Google "little red book"). That way we can all memorize it and report hikers that fail to follow the code

On a serious note, all that matters is we all have a love of hiking and the outdoors. Feel free to call me anything you would like, because in the end I'm just a guy on a walk.

[Hill Ape]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qLzQ4uOvio

[Teacher & Snacktime]

I've been called a lot worse, and rightly so.

Me too! .....

[canoe]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qLzQ4uOvio

Yep, thats about right. btw what's the name of the movie

[bfayer]

Yep, thats about right. btw what's the name of the movie

Volunteers

[canoe]

I never heard of it. Looks like its pretty old. John Candy looks about 20

[bfayer]

Volunteers

I guess it make me old to know that

I think I saw it on 16mm. Friday movie might on the messdeck.

[HikerMom58]

If you intend to thru-hike or section hike, and you don't finish, are their valuable parting gifts?

This is funny! What do you do with the passport if it's missing stamps? I hate that!

[likeahike]

This is funny! What do you do with the passport if it's missing stamps? I hate that!

you will be deported

[Alligator]

If a hiker is not on a thru the only alternative is they are on a section.

As best we have there is the ATC for a definition of a section hiker and this does have an intent to complete the whole trail. This a classification, not a qualification.

Do you ever ask a hiker if they are a thru? If you do, why?

I know in the past I may have had an elevated view of thru hikers but that has passed. I do respect 2000 mile completions but this does not lead me to elevate one hiker over any other. We are all equal.

I still may ask people this question but it simply is a conversation driver. If you know what someone is attempting you may find areas of common experience.

[Teacher & Snacktime]

We always ask as we hand out the bags. Not that it matters; we're just interested in each hiker's story. We've definitely met more sectioners....and quite often they're surprised to receive anything because they aren't "thrus"

[WingedMonkey]

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/content.php?217
Trail Slang for the Appalachian Trail

Section hiker is a person who is attempting to become a 2,000-Miler by doing a series of section hikes over a period of time.

[Hill Ape]

can i just be a hiker? sometimes i wear a backpack, i guess then i'm a backpacker. no matter what (and i'm stealing this) its just walking. its what i like to do. i'm not a very competitive person, its one of the things that drew me to backpacking. just me, and a trail. these days its become a olympic event it seems.

[Sarcasm the elf]

If a hiker is not on a thru the only alternative is they are on a section.

As best we have there is the ATC for a definition of a section hiker and this does have an intent to complete the whole trail. This a classification, not a qualification.

Do you ever ask a hiker if they are a thru? If you do, why?

I know in the past I may have had an elevated view of thru hikers but that has passed. I do respect 2000 mile completions but this does not lead me to elevate one hiker over any other. We are all equal.

I still may ask people this question but it simply is a conversation driver. If you know what someone is attempting you may find areas of common experience.

I classify myself as a section hiker and completely agree with the definition above. It will probably take me 15-20 years to complete the trail, but I am slowly and steadily working in it. The hardest part is that the more miles I finish, the farther I have to travel to get to new sections.


With regard to thru hikers, I live in Connecticut and a lot of my A.T hiking is around the 1400-1500 Nobo mile mark. When I meet hikers I often ask them if they are on a thru since I'm interested in what the trail conditions are like each year and because they almost always have a few good stories about their hikes.

Thru hiker is a funny term when used in the present tense. If you have completed a thru hike and call yourself a thru hiker then clearly that is a title that you deserve. If you are currently attempting a thru hike and call yourself a thru hiker then there is a lot of room for interpretation. When I meet a hiker in CT/MA that says they are thru hiking then I usually have a lot of respect for their accomplishment, in comparison, the NoBos I have met in Georgia that call themselves thru hikers don't generate the same sense of awe.

[Alligator]

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/content.php?217
Trail Slang for the Appalachian Trail

Section hiker is a person who is attempting to become a 2,000-Miler by doing a series of section hikes over a period of time.

That's gathered from the AT-listserv you do know that? I just think if the ATC has defined a term it's usually reasonable neutral, perhaps not original. I've also felt their definition of thru hiker is reasonable as well.

[rocketsocks]

alrighty, I've thought about it, and have come to the conclusion that...

I'm just a hiker

These things are good...
cake and ice cream
a ride on a Harley
seeing monkeys in the trees
rain on my tongue
and the Sun shinning down on my face

these things are a drag...
dust in my hair
holes in my shoes
no money in my pocket
and the Sun shinning down on my face.