Alright, I’m gonna beat a fossilized horse here, so sorry to all those who are eye rolling already.
I just gotta know what the big deal is with defining the term “thru-hiker”. This gets debated constantly on here with people’s hackles seemingly bristling, and it appears that most just go ahead and concede that it means different things to different people.
Well, it doesn’t need to be like that. Here’s the ATC definition: “We define a thru-hike as a hike of the entire A.T. in 12 months or less.” There, now that wasn’t so hard.
So now some FAQs:
1. I recently hiked 2,143.7 miles of the AT in 4 months, am I thru-hiker?
No. However, per the ATC’s loosey goosey statement of “We do expect that persons applying for inclusion in our 2,000-miler records have made an honest effort to walk the entire Trail”, you can apply for and get the completion certificate, and tell all your friends you finished. But late at night when you are in that dark quiet place you’ll know the truth, and it will haunt you.
2. I hiked ¾ of the trail last year, got injured, took 8 months off and am finishing it this year. Am I a thru-hiker?
Technically if you finish it within 12 months of first stepping on it according to the ATC definition, but come on…that’s a pretty big time gap there…there’s no shame in finishing and calling yourself a section hiker...oh wait, that’s right “section hiker” is like a dirty word…silly me.
3. I hiked the AT over a 3 year period taking some time off here and there, am I a thru-hiker?
Seriously, did you read the definition? I hate to disappoint, but of course you are not a thru-hiker. You are what is called a “section hiker”. You are better than weekenders, day hikers and most other hikers, but you are not worthy to tie the boots of a thru-hiker. So you can tell others you did the AT, but when they find out it was in sections they’ll sigh and may or may not listen to the details of your hike from that point on.
4. I hiked the 2,190.9 miles of the AT in 2018 in 6 months taking a week off to go to my daughter’s wedding, am I a thru-hiker?
YES! Also you are now legendary, will develop a special green aura that other hikers can see, and all other hikers except for thru-hikers must bow to you.
Obviously most of this was tongue in cheek, but my point is why can’t we all just agree to a simple definition?
To use a similar analogy can someone run 25.8 miles of the Boston Marathon and say they finished…ummm no, this would not be accepted by anyone anywhere as finishing the Boston Marathon. Or what about the Jennifer Pharr record setting thru. What if she had skipped 7.3 miles of the trail, would that have counted for the speed record? Of course not.
So again I ask why is it ok to say one is a thru-hiker if they didn’t do the whole thing in one shot? I know it’s just semantics, it doesn’t really matter, blah blah blah…but I do have a good point here right…anyone?