Thru-hiker scent

imported
#1

My brother Squish and I reunited on the trail near Boiling Springs for four days over the weekend. By the end of those days he, not I, was smelling unreasonably rank. Though the backpack and shorts were from his thru-hike, his shirt was new. The answer seems not to be simply the reactivation of bacteria in the polypro. An unscientific sniff test showed the worst of the scent was not the shorts or the backpack, nor the new shirt. It was him.

We’re theorizing that thru-hiker scent is not simply a combination of accumalated sweat and grime. Instead, it is the olfactory calling card of the superbly efficient metabolizing human system, attained only through considerable effort and time. Thoughts?

Green One

#2

I think that it is also the fact that the thru-hiker goes for days without bathing and the bacteria gets a chance to bred free and uncontrolled on the body. After all, it is a warm moist place for the little buggies.

Of course, for the non-thru hiker picking them up, clothes pins should be standard issue, don’t you think?

Mr. Boo AT '99 GAME

#3

Green One. “olfactory calling card of the superbly efficient metabolizing human system, attained only through considerable effort and time.”

My thoughts, most of the thru-hiker scent is coming from unwashed clothing and unwashed bodies. When there is a new change of clothing and a good hot bath and there is still a rank scent, then there is more to the story than dirty bodies and clothing.

Iam guessing that the change in diet could be a part of the mix. The diet plus your explaination of the superbly efficient metaboizing human system would be the cause.

Conclusion: the thru-hiker scent is not unreasonably rank but actually a smell of superb physical fitness and healthy eating habits. :wink:

Bilko

#4

But it really is kind of interesting in an amazingly rank kind of way! The reek of a long distance hiker isn’t just body odor as you might expect. While I 'm not sure why I started perfuming the air ever so gently after just a few days back on the trail, I can certainly distinguish between locker room stink and long distance hiker stink!

My research says it’s indeed mostly related to the hiker diet. A larger-than-usual percentage of proteins is pretty common in my trail diet and it’s either the metabolizing of these foods or the possible corresponding drop in the pH of my body that I think causes an abundance of ammonia through ketoacidosis. I’m convinced it’s the ammonia that gives long distance hikers our particular eau-de-trail.

Either way, Green One’s just jealous he didn’t stink as badly as I did…:wink:

Squish

#5

I think that is key. When your body doesn’t have enough fat to break down for energy, it goes for the muscles. That break down causes Ketocis (sp?), which gives off an ammonia smell, just as Squish says. And as we all know, long distance hikers, especially those with out fat stores, will not be eating enough to fill the demand of the body, so it goes after the muscle (or proteins) found in the body.

Jeffrey

#6

The first hiker I gave a ride to straight off the trail is a vegatarian and I love her to death ~ but she really stunk! The next hiker I picked up from the trail did not have a strong nor offensive odor, but this one was an omnivore. Both are thru-hikers and picked up near Palmerton.

I totally agree that the hiker funk is different from a locker-room stink. That may have to do with the outdoor environment vs. A/C stale, recirculated air.

Green One, both of you put forth considerable effort and time, so I will theorize that his stink came from the stuff his body was purging from days prior to the hike.

Also, when was the last time Squish hiked compared to you? There would be more toxins accumulated in muscles/tissues that hadn’t been used as recently.

(I wrote the first part of this last night, but it wouldn’t post from WebTV. The posts from Squish and Jeffery were not on the board at that time).

Now, to this ketosis theory. Very interesting, as the first hiker I mentioned is quite slim, and the second hiker carries more body weight. Do skinny hikers stink more than their… um… more insulated counterparts? Does it fit with you two, Squish and Green One?

Wild Hare

#7

Would National Hike Nude Day (June 21st) effect the outcome of this study? Someone needs to do more research.

Bilko

#8

Irregardless of shape or size…after 3 or more days without a shower, we all began to stink. The actual cause may be one of those questions that is never truly answered. It is what it is, one of the “pleasures” of hiking.

J-Bird 2004

#9

We have been listed in thru-hiker guidebooks for 18 years now, see Smith Gap Pa.
one time me wife shuttled a hiker, and on the way home my son asked, “what is that smell”?
She answered, that is the smell of a hiker.
9 years old now, he understands the smell, and jumps over hikers on his BMX bike in our driveway for fun, when they visit with us.

John - The Mechanical man