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What is a Thru-hiker?

Jim Owen

At one time during our CDT trek, the question was raised. What kind of person does this kind of thing (meaning thru-hiking - spending 6 months or so in the mountains)? So I thought about it for a while - and I thought about all the people I know who have or are or want to thru-hike one long trail or another. I thought about who and what they are. Not about their occupation or their ancestry or their political orientation or where they live. Those things are externals. Rather, I thought about the personalities and the characteristics that could be used to describe those people. And then I wrote what I thought. I've hesitated about putting this out - I'm still not sure it's a good thing to do. But we'll find out, won't we?

The basic definition of a "thru-hiker" is someone who walks from one end of a "long trail" to the other. For present purposes, I'll define "long trail" as one of the three major hiking trails in the United States - the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental DivideTrail. With that in mind, I'll suggest a few basic "thru-hiker" characteristics and then expand on them:

• courage
• intrepidness
• sometimes stupidity
• problem-solving
• independence of thought and action
• flexibility
• freedom

It takes courage to live, for the most part, outdoors with your possessions consisting entirely of what you can carry in your pack. It takes courage to face 4 to 6 months of snow, rain, hail, heat, cold, insects, hunger and sunshine. It takes courage to plan to walk 15 to 20 miles per day (or more) for 4 to 6 months. It takes courage to want to walk 2 or 3 thousand miles. It takes courage to put aside a career, to give up a house or apartment, to commit 4 to 6 months of your life and thousands of dollars to what some people think of as "just a walk in the woods". Not everyone has the courage to attempt a thru-hike. Intrepidness (i.e. - being intrepid) is what keeps you going when things get tough. Mostly it's just plain stubbornness. It's why some thru-hikers will walk for 8 hours in a driving rain - or break trail all day through 2 feet of snow - or ascend a 12,000 ft. peak in white-out conditions - or keep hiking in 100+ degree and 100% humidity conditions in July in New Jersey.

Sometimes it's related to the problem-solving part of thru-hiking. And sometimes it's more closely related to stupidity. But it's always related to stubbornness. "I set out to do this (whatever) - so I'm gonna do it - period". As Ginny defines it- Intrepid means "too stupid to quit". Stupidity - is usually seen that way in hindsight. "We actually traversed that 70 degree snow chute and worked our way around that rock with the 10 foot deep moat - Boy, was that stupid!!". We really went over Parkview (12,000+ ft.) in white-out - Boy, was that stupid!". "We really walked Chestnut Ridge in that thunderstorm - did you see all that lightning? Boy, was that stupid!!".

Those who thru-hike really do those things and more - sooner or later - during one thru-hike or another. And they think about them later - because while they're actually doing those things, the attitude is "this is a problem - how can I solve it?" It's not until you've done something and reflect on the dangers that you didn't see before starting that it becomes stupid. But then, most of us would do those things again if the situation occurred again; knowing that they're possible makes it a lot easier the second time around. And, occasionally, we get smart and don't walk the ridge during the thunderstorm, or cross the raging stream - and we live to finish our hike.

Problem solving is a constant process for a thru-hiker. Water filters clog, stoves malfunction, packs break in ways never dreamed of by the manufacturer, boots fall apart. These are generally simple problems - unless you're alone or so far in the backcountry that they put you at serious risk. But thru-hikers find solutions - many of them unusual, unconventional, radical. They also find solutions to such problems as crossing snow-fed, waist-deep streams or traversing miles of steep snow-pack or treating blisters or torn ligaments or wrenched knees - or the mental/emotional roller-coaster that many experience - and that sends many people home. Thru-hikers are problem-solvers.

Thru-hiking requires independence of thought and action - in part because while the thru-hiker may listen to the advice and opinions of others - they make their own decisions. Most thru-hikers are told that what they propose to do is insane, a waste of time and money and energy, ridiculous - even stupid. Many thru-hikers would never even start if they believed and acted on that kind of input. Thru-hikers make their own decisions - about thru-hiking, about equipment and techniques, schedules, hiking speed, money, time, companions and the thousand and ten other things that comprise a thru-hike. Thru-hiking is also subject to change -sometimes because of injury, sometimes because of circumstances. There are thru-hikers who have experienced floods, hurricanes, blizzards, earthquakes and/or tornados while on the trail. Those things, among others, tend to upset schedules - and it requires a great deal of flexibility to complete a long hike in the face of such adversity. Even the ordinary day-to-day problems of a thru-hike require flexibility of thought and action to resolve. Flexibility is one of the key characteristics of those who thru-hike.

To a larger degree than almost any other activity in life, thru-hiking is - freedom. A thru-hiker has the freedom to set his/her own pace/ schedule, to stop for a day (or a week), to do 10 mile days (or 0's), to be a "purist" - or not, to make their own decisions- and to live with the consequences of those decisions, to laugh, to cry, to be human - or to change any or all of their previous decisions. Many (most?) of us think we're "free". But one of the biggest factors in incomplete thru-hikes is that many people discover for the first time what "real" freedom is - and many of them can't handle it - so they go home. Some actually finish the trail - and still don't understand. And some (a few) learn about freedom and how to live with it - and how to live it. And how to allow others the freedom to learn and grow and live.

In general, those who have thru-hiked multiple times tend to be more "mellow" than the average bear. They've generally learned to not sweat the small stuff. And that it's all small stuff. They've learned a little about what's really important in life. As I was once taught - don't let the urgent interfere with what's really important. It took a thru-hike for me to really learn what that meant. None of this, of course, means that thru-hikers are necessarily "nice" in any sense of the word. Most of them are, but as a group, thru-hikers still embody all the characteristics of the human race in general. That means some of us can be nasty or dumb, cruel, or venal, or alcoholic or even dishonest. Those people are a minority - a very small minority. But they do exist. Every family tree (including mine) has its share of pirates, drunks, con-men and horse thieves. Why should the thru-hiking family be different?