Wow: What makes a Thru

imported
#1

After reading the latest post “What Makes a Thru-Hike” I was absolutely amazed. Wow!! I intend on hiking the trail, and will try in a couple of weeks, but had never even heard the term “thru-hiker” until recently when doing research.

First let me say that I was never aware that people could get upset or defensive when talking about hiking. Second, it seems to me that past thru-hikers, 2000 milers, etc., are so PROUD of THEIR accomplishment that when they hear of a person who hiked the trail but slacked or blazed a few miles it makes them ANGRY. Why?

There is only one real reason: because each time somone ELSE hikes the trail, it becomes less of an accomplishment for those who have already hiked. Instead of being the only one, or one of only a few hundred, to be one of a few thousand makes the accomplishment itself cheaper. Imagine being the proud feeling one had when he first swam across the English Channel. A very big deal and rightfully made headlines everywhere. If I swam it tomorrow—no big deal, its done all the time. If the thru-hikers can think of a way to cheapen other’s experiences and exclude the accomplishments of others by argueing this point or that, it helps to make their accomplishments “better,” “more genuine,” whatever.

Let me tell each of you something: to try and cheapen the experience of others is ridiculous. I know everyone has an ego, but lets argue something that means somthing, like which mountain was the hardest to climb on your HIKE not thru-hike. The only reason thru-hike is a word is because trails have beginnings and ends; that is a shame.

roberto

#2

I do not think anyone is trying to cheapen anyone elses experience.
Like you hear all the time you have to hike your own hike.
Personally I fill slackpacking and staying in evry town takes away from from the experience.So whin I set out no my Thru-Hike I will go the 2000+ one way with my pack and will only stay in hotels/motels on special occasion.

Chris(Pole Break)Oakley

Pole Beak

#3

What is important is how each of us feels about our own, individual accomplishments. It will NEVER matter to me how many people have hiked the A.T. in whatever manner. I’ll STILL smile when I think about it. It won’t lessen the journey I took, my own personal victories that happened on an almost daily basis), the laughter, the tears, the camaraderie, the indescribably feeling I had standing on that incredible summit in Maine. Nothing and no one can lessen my experience. I’ll treasure it always.

And I have no qualms about saying that I’m proud of myself for hiking those 2,000-plus miles. Of course, proud and arrogant are two different things. Please remember that. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being proud of oneself, for whatever reason, and it’s a sad thing that many people condemn others for feeling good about themselves and their achievements. And if anyone feels their own achievements are somehow degraded by others accomplishing the same goals, my, that’s awful.

Also, my opinion is that debate isn’t a bad thing. Sometimes people get angry and sometimes people get nasty when debate is going on. That’s unfortunate. But I don’t see anything wrong with discussing what a “thru hike” is and sharing different views. You don’t want to hear (read) it, then, well, by all means don’t.

I can-NOT figure out where people get the notion in their heads that those who decide and are able to take the time to hike the A.T. in one continuous journey (and I’m not talking about freaking days off or going home for a wedding perhaps, or even about slackpacking in the other direction that the rest of the hike, or even about flip-flopping or going back to fill in a missed piece in the same dang year) and have the fortitude and good fortune to accomplish that goal think they’re better than anyone else! It’s … just … different!

Okay, okay, there are arrogant people who thru hike (or whatever the heck you want to call hiking from one end of a trail to the other … geez-US), but, my gosh, don’t generalize. Most of us, the vast majority, don’t look down our noses at someone who hikes the the trail in sections, on weekends, for a day now and then, or not at all. But, man, we’re allowed to feel good about what we’ve done. We’re allowed to say, “Yay, I did it! I wanted to , and I did it! Yay!” when we get to the other end. And, my gosh, I hope everyone and anyone who has the … the … umpf to even try it feels good about their experience.

But, you know, if it’ll make everyone happy, instead of saying I thru hiked (and my 2,169.1-mile walk included some slackpacking now and again, some zero days OF COURSE, and all those white blazes, the latter because I felt like it!), I’ll just say, “I hiked all of the A.T. in a single calendar year.” But man, that takes so much more work.

ramkitten

#4

Goldbond, that’s incredibly rude. You know what, though, I personally have never seen one of these so-called “inane” threads started by a … person who hiked the trail end to end in one continous journey. (Taking breath) What’s “important” to me is that people are generalizing far too much. It’s offensive. And no matter what the topic, geralizations always pique my interest and inspire a response. If you don’t respect me because I have a response to someone’s post and dare to express it, that’s just fine. Oh, and I hate to break this to ya, but many of the responses in these “inane” threads are by section hikers, day hikers, weekend hikers. So you might as well lump us all together now.

ramkitten

#5

just tryin’ to keep the thread alive man - i wasnt talking to you in particular (i didnt read your post - yikes)

but i did see a kitten eat a baby bird the other day - really

i’m stopping NOW

goldbond

#6

I’m a WO-man, but that’s okay. You probably meant, “Man!” as in “Man! Chill.” But I posted on this “inane” thread, so I included myself. That’s okay, though, none of this I ever take personally (unless someone types my name), and I don’t think most people do. (Could be wrong for the first time ever on that one.) But, anyhoo … that meeeeeean kitty.

I’m not stopping now, just moving on to someplace else.

ramkitten

#7

Thru-hiker = A hiker with a specific agenda.

How about a new kind of hiker: Lapse-hiker = a gradual hiker who commits errors;

place-hiker = a hiker who is more concerned with where he is on the trail and what path will give him the most joy

or how about, plum-hiker = a hiker who eats plums, or a hiker who allows himself to make choices

course-hiker = a hiker who is rough around the edges

axial-hiker = a hiker who moves in only one specific direction

etc. etc.

roberto

#8

I’m starting a new group. We will raise money to put sensors at each white blaze. When you start in Georgia (or the Big K) you will get a bracelet, like the one they give criminals to keep them in their houses. As you pass each whiteblaze a signal will be sent to our computer. If the bracelet gets too far away from White Blaze, say 30 miles, it explodes. If the bracelet is not turned in in one year it explodes. In addition we will randomly send out teams to weigh packs. If they are found to be too light, your bracelet will explode. If you reach the other end of the trail you’re ass will be tatooed. Only those with a tatoo will be allowed to say the word thruhiker, or your bracelet will explode. Believe me, it is hard enough hiking with the rain and bugs and hunger and cold and on and on. We will no longer have to keep track of every other hiker to make sure they are pure. The “PROBLEM” that soooo many worry about will be gone. TATC stands for the Tattletale (ot tight ass) Trail Conference.

Blue Jay

#9

Whatever your goal, from the abstract “I just want to finish the trail,” to the specific “I want to hike northbound with my pack on and pass every white blaze,” as long as you reach it you’ve succeeded.

People who skip trail and call themselves thru-hikers blur the definition to insignificance. But that’s their conscience. They’ll never understand my definition of a thru-hike, and I won’t waste time trying to explain it.

raru

#10

I have to agree with Blue Jay with one exception. The explosion should not cause death, just permanent disfigurment. That way the offending hiker will be marked for life. Similar the the scarlet A.

Farther

#11

I can tell you I am definely Through Hiking now. I definitely not on the AT or hiking there for I am through hiking. Done, finished, complete.

Darth Pacman

#12

bluejay, it should be more like Foretress or Battle Royale.
neckales on each hiker, if you are not within the vicinity of a white blaze, pop! off comes your head, so you get a limited time between each white blaze to traverse the gap…

then youd need sensors in everyones boots to make sure the right pressure / weight was being carried. this would also enforce a minimum weight requirement, say 40pounds, just to screw with the ultralighters and umberella totting weenies!

like battle royale you could have hot zones, so if hikers are not moving quick enough, you designate a hot zone and if they are not over the next state line byt that time… bewm! ickyness where head was…

  • BC (thats short for body count)… ahem… tourists excluded from all above rules… :stuck_out_tongue:

Bloody Cactus

#13

I have come to the conclusion that many “Thru hikers” are *******s.
You have turned a sport/Hobby, such as hiking that is intended to be free of BS and applied Your rules and religous style dogma to it.
What we have here is a Holy War that would rival the Arab’s and Jews.
Between the Purists/tightasses vs. HYOH/slackers. there must be some middle ground?
Question, do you purists, think less of yourselves & your Hike when someone runs the AT in a marathon style, and finishes in 52 Days instead of your Lazy 180 days?
:mad

2 Left Feet

#14

Running the trail isn’t a thru-hike by the purist rules of pack-on because the runner is supported by a crew and provides for and camp at road crossing or accessible sites. Now if that same individual did the trail unsupported with a pack then it would be a thru-hike. A pack meaning all the required gear to be self-suffiecient.
Ward Leonard holds the unsupported record which was discussed on a previous occassion.

Darth pacman

#15

Jack, just a friendly note about the Bryson thing, because I see a lot of people thinking that he screwed things up . . .

Bill Bryson didn’t claim to hike the whole AT. He and his (mythical?) pal Katz in the lightly named “A Walk in the Woods” talked about how hard a hike can be to the unprepared. They started taking it easier and easier, and by the time they were in their second state, they realized they had lost all sense of continuity, and Bill lost his partner. He hopped, skipped and jumped up the trail, off and on for the next year. He recognized what he had done, where he had gone wrong, and even regretted the loss of his real hike.

His book is travel humor, not a testimony to how great he did. I think people get upset at him, but actually, his was one of the first steps in getting me and probably some others to realize that the trail is waiting for me, and what not to do if you want to complete it. He probably has also contributed to the Trail’s place in many more people’s hearts, and joined with a lot of us in increasing its and other places chances of continued preservation.

Bill Pryson

#16

HYOH is a bitter pill to swallow. What good is being a monarch or a diety if you cant impose your will opon someone else??

In the land of the little kings
There’s a price on everything
And everywhere the little kings
Are getting away with murder

I was born in a lucky country
Every day I hear the warning bells
They’re so busy building palaces
They don’t see the poison in the wells

In the land of the little kings
Profit is the only thing
And everywhere the little kings
Are getting away with murder

In the land of the little kings
Justice don’t mean a thing
And everywhere the little kings
Are getting away with murder

The hon. Emperor G. Bush

#17

Well, I’m ceratinly impressed with a certain slice of thru hikers that have made walked with this chip on their shoulder. What a heavy load to carry 2000 miles and then home to the keyboard.

J Cooper

#18

I believe most people who are posting on these particular threads DON’T have chips on their shoulders, as you put it. In fact, most of us are emphatically saying we either don’t CARE what anyone else does on their hikes or what they say they do – that it’s the experience that matters, not how we each get our butts from one end to the other. If you read these threads, there are only a very small number of posters who really get riled up about the definition of a thru-hike and so forth. Most of the time, we’re answering the originator’s question (who’s often been someone PLANNING a … well, a long hike on the A.T.) or, in some cases, the posters are being sarcastic because they think it’s not all that important. I think people who haven’t yet attempted a “thru-hike” may, for some reason, be a bit more concerned about definitions and wonder if there’s some “right way” to do the trail, while many (most?) of those who’ve completed a “thru hike” (whatever you consider that to be) don’t think about it much, if at all. Personally, I just enjoy the memories.

You know, though, there seem to be a whole LOT of posts on these threads that are basically telling “thru hikers” what arrogant a-holes they are. So … if there are chips on shoulders, I’d say those particular posters ought to turn their heads and look at their own.

ramkitten

#19

I forgot one of the reasons I don’t usually post; you can’t be subtle. If you don’t name names then everyone likes to take offense in grand ways. How strange.

I’m swearing off forums again. I think I’ll go for a walk up Virginia. Bye.

J Cooper

#20

Well, “whoops” from me too. I didn’t realize my claws were so sharp these days. Aw, heck, I was just … you know, takin’ sides. And I actually didn’t take offense, believe it or not. But lucky for everybody, I’m going hiking for eight days as of tomorrow.

Okay, all in unison now! Big sigh of relief! :slight_smile:

ramkitten