are there no standards?

[Mags]

30 yrs ago I was five years old.
40 yrs ago I was not born.

That is all.

Thank you.

[max patch]

Something to think about - lots of people call themselves thru-hikers out on the trail. If you follow the exact definition of a thru-hiker that Max patch uses (and his is actually the definition of the purist 2000 miler go figure) - well you aren't a thru-hiker until you finish if you get all anal.

If you see Max Patch you can't tell him you are a thru-hiker until you are done. Almost everyone else could care less. You are what you call yourself.

I've never said that.

[Johnny Appleseed]

There is the Ray Jardine way.





Also a Johnny Appleseed way, but that is a secret.

[SGT Rock]

I've never said that.

Nope, but if you follow your exact definition of a thru-hiker:

And its not "at least 2,000 miles. Its 2,179.1 miles. Every single one.

Someone that has walked EVERY MILE, well you can't know you are going to until you finish, and even then you could still be wrong.

And you haven't walked all 2,179.1 miles to count in your book until you are done (I'm using your definition).

Earl's first hike didn't cover ever mile. And some of his misses were not for high water, weather, or other reroutes. He just plain missed them. And when he found out, he didn't go back and get them before he claimed 2000 miler status.

Hmmmm

[Lone Wolf]

earl and gatewood both did questionable "thru-hikes"

[rickb]

HYOH to me means don't "should" on people: you should hike xx miles, you should use an alcohol stove, why don't you use a hammock, you should lighten your pack. The latter example was real-life directed to me on my Maine section hike.

I am thinking that is (or should be) just 1/2 of what HYOH means.

The other half is (or should be) about being true to yourself, making your own discoveries, and not being unduly influenced by those who have gone before.

With the clans, cliques, and claptrap of paint-by-numbers guidebooks and surfeit of info on how to do things "right", I think that is getting harder all the time.

FWIW, I think it worth noting that the 2000 Miler Award is not given out not by a hiking organization, but by a Trail organization.

I think the distinction is important. As a Trail organization, its always held dear the idea of creating unbroken path from Maine to Georgia. As a trail organization, any break in that path would be unacceptable. Even when miles and miles were nothing more than the shoulder of a highway, it was important to the club that those ugly stretches be marked and mapped and included.

Little wonder that this Trail organization created a token for those who claim to have walked that entire connected path (or made every effort to do so), rather than create one for those who hiked a great ways without seeing a need to.

[Old Hiker]

[QUOTE=Graywolf;996623]

So that said, Hike your own hike, but I would gladly share the experiance with you..

Graywolf

Graywolf,

I cut out quite a bit of your post, but this is EXACTLY why I came to White Blaze, Trail Journals and Hammock Hangers. Here's my question..... here are some answers...... I can pick and choose what I think will work for me so I can hike my own hike. I have learned a LOT since I have been looking around and posting. Hammock expertise, advice on a new tent for my wife, MREs, meal prep, stoves, sleeping bags, cold weather clothing and other information that will be intensely valuable when I start (hopefully) my thru in 2012.

When my Scout Troop started section hiking 3 years ago, I got a crazy compulsion that I had to touch every white blaze I saw as I moved forward. I'm not sure why I had to do this, but it did keep my head up and looking forward a lot more than normal instead of just looking at my boots. That's been my hike up to now. I didn't count them, I just touched them.

MY definition to be a thru-hiker (ME - MINE - you can't have it!!!) is for ME to start at Springer on 29 Feb 2012 and walk to Katadin before my school year starts on 24 Aug 2012, on the AT, past every white blaze I can see. Since I would like the respect of other "thru-hikers", I want to make sure I "thru-hike" at least to my artificial definition.

HYOH and hope to see you all on the Trail and make some friends out there.

[Jaybird]

As I read through all the books about thru hiking along with the trail journals found online, I get the impression that there are no real standards for a thru hike...it seems like the philosophy out there is to "Hike Your Own Hike"....slack pack, blue blaze, flip flop, yellow blaze. What I am curious about is this....are white blazers who avoid slack packing and flip flopping in the minority?......................Lloyd

Lloyd, i'm afraid US White Blazers are getting fewer & fewer...i read trail journals...all year to keep me PUMPED for my 2-week section hike each spring...lots of BLUE BLAZING & YELLOW BLAZING going on...
("Not that theres anything WRONG with that"-Seinfeld quote)

but it IS a very personal THANG! Your hike!

Section-hikin' Clarks Valley,PA NOBO to Greenwood Lake,NY
Apr 24-May 8....WHITE BLAZES....ALL THE WAY!

[SGT Rock]

[QUOTE=Old Hiker;997643]

MY definition to be a thru-hiker (ME - MINE - you can't have it!!!) is for ME to start at Springer on 29 Feb 2012 and walk to Katadin before my school year starts on 24 Aug 2012, on the AT, past every white blaze I can see. Since I would like the respect of other "thru-hikers", I want to make sure I "thru-hike" at least to my artificial definition.

HYOH and hope to see you all on the Trail and make some friends out there.

Great post.

[berkshirebirder]

Little wonder that this Trail organization created a token for those who claim to have walked that entire connected path (or made every effort to do so), rather than create one for those who hiked a great ways without seeing a need to.

Clearly, anyone setting foot on the Trail should get a badge, including:

The HALO (Hiked a Lot of) the Appalachian Trail
The DTGASAM (Drove to Gaps and Slept at Motels)

[Pedaling Fool]

I've heard some folks refuse to ride in a car during their hike. I remember one year a guy refused to bathe during his hike. Some folks require themselves to start hiking from the same side of the road they got a hitch from and even walk as far as they can into blow downs instead of walking around them.

They put rules on their own hikes. More power too them. It's healthy unless they demand others do the same, then it more like a cult religion.

In 2005 when I was preparing for my thru-hike I heard stories like Sgt Rock's and thought that they were exaggerated. Then I witnessed various examples firsthand during my hike; the craziest was during a break in SNP.

I was taking a break at a picnic table (Pinnacles Picnic Area) two brothers that I'd been semi-hiking with emerged from the woods and crossed the street to join me in a break. They departed before me and walked back toward the trail. They spent about 30 seconds (30 long seconds) arguing where exactly they got off the trail, so as not to miss one inch of the AT.

An example of radicalized Thru-hikers.

[lloyd528]

[QUOTE=Jaybird;997646]
Lloyd, i'm afraid US White Blazers are getting fewer & fewer...i read trail journals...all year to keep me PUMPED for my 2-week section hike each spring...lots of BLUE BLAZING & YELLOW BLAZING going on...
("Not that theres anything WRONG with that"-Seinfeld quote)

but it IS a very personal THANG! Your hike!

Jaybird, I like the Seinfeld way of hiking the best so far....whenever you question someone's method of getting to Maine, say to yourself..."there is nothing wrong with that"

[Blue Jay]

In 2005 when I was preparing for my thru-hike I heard stories like Sgt Rock's and thought that they were exaggerated. Then I witnessed various examples firsthand during my hike; the craziest was during a break in SNP.

I was taking a break at a picnic table (Pinnacles Picnic Area) two brothers that I'd been semi-hiking with emerged from the woods and crossed the street to join me in a break. They departed before me and walked back toward the trail. They spent about 30 seconds (30 long seconds) arguing where exactly they got off the trail, so as not to miss one inch of the AT.

An example of radicalized Thru-hikers.

My favorite anal purist used golf ball green markers if his foot had to leave the trail so he could avoid this extremely serious "problem". You could actually see his blood pressure rise if someone even mentioned slack packing. I enjoyed hiking with him very much as he was hilarious.

[Blue Jay]

earl and gatewood both did questionable "thru-hikes"

They're dead, get over it.

[Blue Jay]

Purists forget what reasonable means.

I don't think they forget, they just refuse to go there. Somehow if you miss their 0.1 mile it negates their thru for some reason only they are know.