How about this. You start South Bound In July. Finish In January Are you a Thru Hiker. Not the same calander year. as some said.
If it do'nt eat you or kill you it makes you stronger
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton
Yes..........Originally Posted by Stir Fry
who cares?Its not a race and there are no gold medals.Im a section hiker, and proud of it!! next year Im hoping to section 1200+ miles, and If I complete springer to DWG, Ill be very happy about it, and will look to complete the balance of the trail in 2013. Are you going for some trophy or are you going for the experience?enjoy the journey.
when you reach the destination IMHO is a moot point.
thru hiker is just a label,and as a card carrying nonconformist, I have an aversion to labels(label me a label hater).
Go take your hike in October then jump on where you left off unless you really want to do the same section all over again.
Problem solved.
So, Irish Bastard, say that I'm heading north and I make to Mass, and hear that my father died. Of course, because I'm human like everyone else on this thread, I go home to the funeral, to grieve, to take time off. According to you I'm no longer a thru-hiker? I have to start over?
"A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do."
-Bob Dylan
If a thru-hiker is one that starts and does not leave the trail then how many true thru-hikers are out there. How many AT hikers have went NOBO or SOBO without spending a night at a hostel or hotel. If you can be considered at thru-hiker after spending several nights and having "0" days then when do you draw the line? When is it considered a section hike; one night off trail, two, three nights off trail or is it when a hiker goes home and returns is it a section?
Really it does not matter to me, just wondering.
Pollen
I would consider you a thru hiker. Helen is only 50 miles from Springer. So in less then a year you'll have done a 50-mile section and then the entire circa 2,130 miles remaining. To me the challenge of thru-hiking is the challenge of keeping going for somewhere around 150 to 180 days of mostly very difficult hiking. Taking off a week of this time doesn't appreciably lessen the challenge.
Of course the ATC lumps everybody, whether purist white blazers who've done every single inch or part-time weekend warriors who take 20 years to get done and blue-blaze half of it. They're all 2000-milers in the eyes of ATC. But you asked how it would be considered. Some take a very strict view on it but to me it's not all about doing all of the exact trail. There are detours and the overall length changes every year anyway so, to my way of thinking, it's not in the spirit of the trail to be so precise about it.
That's my take on it but what about your view? Will it bother you that you didn't do the first miles together with the other 2,130? Since the ATC clearly views somebody who has done 2,130 in one shot as belonging to those who have completed the trail, the only remaining opinion that matters is your own.
If I was going to do that then personally I would begin again in March at Springer Mountain and consider the 1 week hike on the trail in October of this year as a warm up and to test out some gear. You will most likely be asked by other hikers once your thru-hike is underway wether or not you are out there thru-hiking. When you answer that you are, they will most likely ask where you started from. Now this may not matter to you, but if you say you started from the point you left the trail back in October, then you will probably hear that it would have been better to have started "fresh" from Springer Mountain again. But this is something that will only matter to you, and if it will matter to you at all only you yourself will know
.
What about all the thru's that had to reroute this year because of Irene, are they now just "section hikers"?
"Hiking is as close to God as you can get without going to Church." - BobbyJo Sargent aka milkman Sometimes it's nice to take a long walk in THE FOG.
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Last edited by CrumbSnatcher; 09-24-2011 at 21:44.
This is ridiculous. If this happened and you went home to grieve for a week or two, and then returned to the point on the trail where you left it and continued on, then you of course are still a thru-hiker. In my opinion, as long as you are making a "determined" effort to complete the entire trail in one years time, then you are a thru-hiker. Lots of thru-hikers get off the trail due to injury, sickness, fatigue, necessity due to family needs or business, etc...they return in a week or two to the point where they left the trail and they carry on. A buzzer doesn't sound in the background and someone says "Sorry!, you left the trail so now you are only a sectioner!
I dont think anyone would dispute that it is more difficult to hike the trail in a shorter period of time. And honestly, most probably equate a thru hike to be a single hiking season , which for nobo is ~Mar-Oct. , a 7 mo period basically which allows for minor time off trail in towns to rejuvenate, but not major time off.
But that said, there are no hard and fast "rules", nor any reason for them. It is all woefully irrelevant.
Some "thru hikers" do have an inflated idea of their importance, as if they are on a noble journey. Though difficult, they do need to remember that a 73 yr old grandmother did do it too with a shower curtain and arm blanket and laundry bag. So did a blind man, and countless others before them. And most especially, the rest of the world couldnt care less. To some, they are just unemployed bums.
Im with ya on this one. Why even bother
so if i finish the trail in 365 days taking 4 or 5 months off for greiving/injuries, im a thru hiker, but if it takes me 366 im not?
what we have here is a failure to communicate.on a related note, if you go ultralight, and are only carrying 15 lbs, can you call yourself a backpacker?
I know that I would still be considered a thru-hiker. I'm just trying to make Irish Bastard realize how ridiculous he sounds.This is ridiculous. If this happened and you went home to grieve for a week or two, and then returned to the point on the trail where you left it and continued on, then you of course are still a thru-hiker. In my opinion, as long as you are making a "determined" effort to complete the entire trail in one years time, then you are a thru-hiker. Lots of thru-hikers get off the trail due to injury, sickness, fatigue, necessity due to family needs or business, etc...they return in a week or two to the point where they left the trail and they carry on. A buzzer doesn't sound in the background and someone says "Sorry!, you left the trail so now you are only a sectioner!
"A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do."
-Bob Dylan
I agree this is idiotic
If a tree falls in the forest and noone witnessees it, did it fall?
If you complete a thru hike in a single calendar year, but noone knew, did you do it?
There is no such thing as a thru-hike; at least a well-defined thing. So yes you can call it a thru-hike, or not, it's up to you. It's not like you get a prize for a thru-hike
what? No prizes? forget it!
Get one if you thru hike the PCT!
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"... I know it is wrong, but I am for the spirit that makes young men do the things they do. I am for the glory that they know." --Sigurd Olson, Singing Wilderness.
AT '12, LT '13, CT '14, PCT '15
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