Gathering material

imported
#1

If you can or will finish the following:

You know you’re a thru-hiker when:
or
You know they are a thru-hiker because:

donald

#2

#1 you’ve forgotten how long it’s been since your last shower.

#2 you automatically pick up an M&M from the ground and eat it.

#3 hiker trash is not an insult.

swansong

#3

-you reach the point that a large pizza, three beers, a double cheeseburger, two sodas, and dessert is a regular meal…and then do it again a few hours later.

-when bodily functions become a part of normal conversation.

Snags

#4

good ones especially #2 thanks

Donald

#5

…body odor smells better than perfume.

…a Porta-toilet looks like a decent shelter option on a cold rainy night.

…you’re treated like a homeless vagrant & this no longer offends you.

…you fart or burp inappropriately in public & you’re not self-conscious about it.

…discarded food becomes ‘trail magic.’

…dumpsters are more of a curiosity than boutiques.

…you’re happy to pay $5 or more for a hot shower (N/A to all thru-hikers).

…you feel guilty if you hike less than 10 miles in day.

…a biology class could have a field day analyzing the microorganisms on your body.

freebird

#6

…you tell people with a straight face that you only have 700 miles (or X number miles) left :cheers

Wingin It

#7

…it’s 10AM and you’ve already gone 10 miles.

…you offer rides to real homeless because they’re probably just in town to resupply.

…your idea idea of a great campsite is a 1’ by 3’ spot on the trail that doesn’t have too many large rocks on it.

… you can tell the difference between shrimp-flavored Ramen noddles and pork-flavored Ramen noodles.

bowlegs

#8

Not to be a buzzkill, but i read this thread and none of them apply to me. I guess there was a reason i never felt like a “real” thru-hiker out there.

But for me:

You know you’re a thru-hiker stuck at work when:

  1. Someone at work asks you how long it takes to get someplace, and you answer them in trail days. (For example “how far is it from Bend to Portland?” gets the answer “about a week”.)

  2. In February you automatically start keeping tabs on the Sierra snowpack.

  3. You go out for a weekend backpack and you’re carrying 1/3 the weight that everyone else carries.

  4. Every time you pass a Sizzler, Golden Corral, or Sweet Tomatos you think of all the places along the trail that need one of those.

  5. You keep an emergency rain poncho in your desk…

even though you live in Arizona.

markv

#9

Evidently I was a thruhiker long before I hiked:)

Nimblefoot

#10

You consider Snickers to be one of the four major food groups

Wingin It

#11

You develop curious OCD behaviors like noting the frequency of intrusive jet noise overhead, and whether or not it’s commercial or military aircraft based on the pitch and timbre.

They get darker than that, too, generally in direct correlation with number of miles hiked and length of long distance hiking career. Who’s brave enough to go there… anyone?

blisterfree

#12

You know if a hiker is a day or weekend hiker by smell (dial, ivory soap) but you and other thru-hikers have no scent at all.

“Hammer”

#13

…southbound hikers tell you a section of trail is “impassable!” and you giggle.

markv

#14

when hiking is more about the smiles than the miles

stealthblew

#15

When you can ration your last pound of food the 3 days left to your next trail town (where you eat 3 lbs of food in the 1st hour).

gingerbreadman

#16

I don’t know about that, Stealthblew.

Swansong: The thing you said about the M&M actually popped in my head as soon as I read the first post, and then saw that you listed it! Must be something to that.

I’d like to propose this alternative:

You know you were once a thru-hiker when…

…someone asks you if something is “walking distance” and you answer, “Well, yeah. Even Georgia is walking distance if you have the time.”

…a white 2x6 rectangle gets you nostalgic.

…you don’t understand 6 months worth of pop-culture references.

Leki-Less

#17

You know your a thru-hiker, when you can use “Irritable Bowel Syndrome”… “Shower-less”… “Vitimin I”… “That’s not compost… it’s just me”… “What color are my shorts???”… “Oh no, that’s not you, it’s just that middle spot on my pant’s leg there”…, and… “that Damd bear can find it’s own Dand berry’s! I’m busy weighing these here…”… all in one single conversation with a Porcupine “someplace” along that white-blazed highway leading (to who knows where… or how long it’ll take…)!

And then, you ask the Porcupine how far it is to the next shelter!

PS. Freebird… loved those!

MOJO