Official Thru Hike

[tawa]

Please share in your opinion what constitutes an official thru hike. Some have told me that as long as you complete the trail in one yr its a thru hike. Others have said that it has to be continuous except for resupply stops and a few days along the way. Others have said if your injured and need to be away and then come back its still a thru hike.
One guy even suggested I go down and hike the AT state of Georgia on long weekends after January 1st to get that state finished before starting NOBO and as long as its within 2011 its still a thru hike.
So in other words alot of different ideas on what an official thru hike truly is.
Please share your thoughts and I thank you.

[Megapixel]

From the A.T.C.:

"A hike of the entire length of the Trail within one year is called a thru-hike."


Bottom line though in my opinion, (and many others)... HYOH.

[10-K]

I think that it's when someone attemps to hike an entire trail with the intention of completing it without stopping, regardless of direction or sequence of sections.

If something arises and interupts the hike causing you to leave the trail and come back it'd up to the you to decide when you finished the entire trail if you wanted to call it a thru hike or not.

It wouldn't really matter to anyone but the hiker anyway.

[weary]

There's no such thing as an "official" thru hike. No one keeps a record of what one does. ATC gives a certificate and patch to anyone who tries hard to walk the entire trail. But anyone can get those just by making a claim. No one is checking.

If you complete the trail over several years the ATC offerings are called 2000-miler certificates. If you claim to have done it in a calendar year, ATC sometimes thinks of it as a "thru" hike.

I used to think of applying for an ATC certificate, but when I mentioned the possibility to Wingfoot and told him what I had done in 1993, he was appalled at the idea. And us old trail place folks quickly learned not to do things Dan didn't approve of. For what it's worth I certainly felt like a thru hiker when I arrived on the summit of Katahdin after walking for most of six months and three days.

[kayak karl]

trying to start trouble.LOL i don't, or does any other real hike give a crap of what you do or don't do. so wear your patch proudly.

[Tilly]

Oh Jeez not this subject again.

[10-K]

Yes, but the real question is: How much money will I need?

[4eyedbuzzard]

Yes, but the real question is: How much money will I need?

How many times do you have to be told?!
$4000 - which does not include costs for your hammock, steripen, leki poles, bear spray, maps, compass, first aid kit, dog food, Bill Bryson books - or guns.

[Slo-go'en]

Yes, but the real question is: How much money will I need?

More then you got

[leaftye]

You will not officially complete a thru hike. Plenty of pompous donkeys on and off the trail will tell you so.

[DapperD]

Please share in your opinion what constitutes an official thru hike. Some have told me that as long as you complete the trail in one yr its a thru hike. Others have said that it has to be continuous except for resupply stops and a few days along the way. Others have said if your injured and need to be away and then come back its still a thru hike.
One guy even suggested I go down and hike the AT state of Georgia on long weekends after January 1st to get that state finished before starting NOBO and as long as its within 2011 its still a thru hike.
So in other words alot of different ideas on what an official thru hike truly is.
Please share your thoughts and I thank you.

In my opinion it's when one sets out to hike a long distance trail, like the AT for example, and they complete the hike in one year (365 days). With the AT, it is pretty hard/impossible for most hikers to be able to perform a winter thru-hike of it. The majority of hikers (like 90%) start their hikes of the AT down in Georgia at Springer Mountain (usually around the beginning of Spring) and head Northbound and arrive sometime on or before October 15th at Mt. Katahdin in Baxter State Park in Maine (since this is when the park officially "closes", and climbing Mt. Katahdin after this date becomes increasingly more dangerous due to the weather). In other words, a thru-hike of the entire trail within 365 continuous days. As far as leaving the trail due to medical, family, money needs/problems, etc...it wouldn't matter as long as you return to hike the entire length in that 365 day period.

[Lone Wolf]

From the A.T.C.:

"A hike of the entire length of the Trail within one year is called a thru-hike."


Bottom line though in my opinion, (and many others)... HYOH.

coming from most who never even hike

[max patch]

Start at one terminus and hike to the other terminus.

[weary]

Start at one terminus and hike to the other terminus.

No one can disagree that this definition of a thru hike, though there are others that are equally valid.

The complication comes when one adds the adjective "official" to any definition. That implies some higher authority ordained the definition. I don't know of any such authority. The trail is the trail. No one in any position of authority ordains anything about what hiking the trail between Springer and Katahdin involves.

Official policy is policy "publicly acknowledged and defended by an official or organisation." There simply is no official or organization, pompous or otherwise, that I know of that decrees what is or isn't a thru hike. A thru hike is whatever feels like a thru hike to the person walking the trail between Springer and Katahdin, I think. Anyone who may believe that there is an official thru hike definition is wrong. There is no official with the authoity to make any such decree. That leaves every hiker, even every member of White Blaze, to make their own definition.

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy issues pieces of paper to anyone that claims to meet it's definition of a 2,000-miler. But as near as I can tell, that is mostly a public relations effort, a way to find out what is happening along the trail, and to allow it to publicize the trail. Since ATC is a voluntary organization, dependent on support from the public, names are also valuable when recruiting volunteers and other support.

[BrianLe]

Apart from the ATC, I think the only other agency that one could argue is "official" is ALDHA-West, for the triple crown award. Their criteria is pretty terse, just that a person has hiked the full length of each of the three "crown jewel" trails.

I think that anything beyond that are personal rules that folks might opt to impose on themselves.

[Roland]

~
I think that anything beyond that are personal rules that folks might opt to impose on themselves.

...and impose on others, which can precipitate some spirited exchanges.

[Roland]

One of the risks of trying to define a thru-hike is that some scenarios may not fit a rigid definition. Consider these:

1. A hiker begins at Springer on March 1 and reaches Katahdin on October 15. During the trek, the hiker does not go home, but takes 45 zero days, including a week of partying in Damascus during Trail Days. Has this hiker completed a thru-hike?

2. A hiker begins at Springer on March 1 and reaches Katahdin on October 15. The hiker takes no zero days, until a stress fracture sends the hiker back home for one month. Has this hiker completed a thru-hike?

3. A hiker begins at Springer on March 1 and reaches Katahdin on October 15. This hiker takes no zero days, except to fly home for 2 weeks as a result of a death in the family. Has this hiker completed a thru-hike?

4. A hiker begins at Springer on January 1 and walks 5.95 miles, every day, without a zero day, until reaching Katahdin. Has this hiker completed a thru-hike?


Which of these hikers completed a thru-hike by your definition?

[Megapixel]

coming from most who never even hike

say what? good point wolfie. how did you know i never hike?

[Torch09]

When you're on the trail, you're thru hiking. When you're off the trail, you're through hiking.

This is all i know.

[Lone Wolf]

say what? good point wolfie. how did you know i never hike?

was referring to ATC