Collctive Wisdom: What constitutes a long distance trail? this sucks
Editor's Summary: We had 23 responses. Resupply is the majority answer: 10 people mentioned resupply in their answer. Other answers that received multiple responses include: "any trail" (3 responses), "at least 100 miles" (3 responses), "over a month" (2 responses), "over 15 days" (2 responses), and "requires planning" (2 responses). I personally like Steve Queen's criteria "it has a name," and Chris Dawes' description "the 6 inches between the ears of the walker."
Frank Spirek: I've actually thought about this question for a while now. My definition of a long distance hike involves only one concept -- resupply. A long distance hike is a journey that is so long that the participants could not continue without at least one food drop. Now this is not just a food drop for convenience sake. This is an honest to goodness, couldn't-hike-with-a-pack-any-bigger, resupply. I have carried twelve-days of food on a few occasions and suppose that I could have carried maybe fourteen days worth. So for me, using my definition, a long distance hike must be at least fifteen-days in length. This might prevent some trails such as the Canol, the West Coast, or the Paradise trails being classified as a long distance hikes. Other "shorter walks" like Vermont's Long Trail would indeed meet my criterion.
Switchback: When I was 25 years old a long trail was different. Now that I am 55 a long trail is all most any trail. I am going into the Sierras to Chicken Springs Lake the Horseshoe Meadows (Cottonwood Pass) parking lot in a few weeks. It is only a 9 miles round trip. Sounds far to me.
Duane Woltjen: As I get older long distance trails are getting shorter, and there are so many more and of them!
CanyonJester: A long distance trail is one that requires multiple resupply.
Dee Kenville: Since I live in the John Muir Trail and High Sierra Route neck of the woods, I'd have to say a trail that takes in a chunk of country with a beginning and end that takes say over a couple weeks to complete???? With that in mind, I would really call the PCT, CDT and etc Ultra Long Distance trails....
marmot: In my opinion it is any trail that requires resupply. I could make shorter trails into a long distance one by linking together a number of trails-e.g., the Juan de Fuca trail and the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island, BC-or by yoyo-ing a short trail.
Flyin' Brian: I consider any trip where I have to replenish my food supply as a long distance hike. If that's all on one trail, then I'd call that a long-distance trail.
Brian Booth: Obviously, a trail needs to be long to be considered a "long distancetrail". But there are other factors that define whether a trip on a trail was a "long distance" experience. I think one of the main characteristics that qualifies a trail as "long distance" is a feature or combo of features that require strategic planning. For instance, implementation of an exercise plan to get in supreme physical fitness, planning of supplies & logistics, developing recipes & menus, or selecting (or making) equipment with durability or light-weightness in mind all contribute to making the hike a "long distance" one. The concept of whether one has to resupply on the trail largely distinguishes whether it is "long distance", but there are exceptions. For example, I hiked the 93-mi Wonderland Trail around Mt Rainier and hiked both directions of the 64-mi High Sierra Trail in Sequoia Natl Park without resupply, and they were both unquestionably long-distancetrail experiences. Distance alone does not a "Long Distance Trail" make. For example, I live near the Metacomet Trail, which stretches over 100 miles in Connecticut & Massachusetts. But the trail is almost entirely on private land, with no camping allowed, and can only be experienced as a series of dayhikes, which to me disqualifies it as a long distance trail. In contrast, the Around-the-Mountain Trail that circumnavigates Mt Adams in WA is only 38 miles long. But it includes torturous cross-country terrain, some difficult stream fords, and requires permission the Yakama Indian Nation to enter the portion of their land that the trail crosses. Though my hike only lasted 52 hours, it was so full of adventure that I will always remember it as a quintessential "long-distance" experience.
Wisdom: No real answer here. I guess in my mind it would be a hike that involves at least 1 resupply point (like a mail or food drop, detour into town). Who knows? I run 50 mi ultras -- at the end of these races, you could easily convince me it was a long distance trail!
Roberta Cobb: I always respected the wisdom Michael Ganio, who thru-hiked the PCT with Dave in '92. He said that resupply made all the difference. Once you have to resupply, you have a very different hike. Resupply means you have to plan, you have to schedule, and you have to pack differently. It's no longer a spur-of-the-moment trip. It's a long distance trail.
Christy: Any trail that takes at least a month to hike.
Bill Gurwell: It's very subjective. Generally, any trail that takes the equivalent of a long summer to hike, i.e. 3 months or more. For me it's the feeling I get a respite, vacation, ordinary concerns with no immediate promise of return to the usual life.
Chris Dawes: In the UK there is published the Long Distance Walkers' Handbook that lists 545 named Trails with distances ranging 10-850 miles. Long distance seems to me to be a rather arbitrary term. Is it what you can walk in a day, a weekend, a month or a season? Is the Trail on level ground, or mountainous, across developed ground or in wilderness? Pushed to come to a definition then I suggest about 100 miles as the lower range for a distance of a long distance trail as this is route that could be accomplished comfortably in about week of hiking. Then again perhaps it should be at least 500 miles, as at this distance problems of sustainability need to be solved. Deficiencies in equipment, food and fitness for the task then pose a significant challenge. Perhaps, as I have heard it suggested, the distance is not the mileage to be walked but the 6 inches between the ears of the walker.
"Camper" Dave: A long distance trail must have a resupply point or must be at least 100 miles long. In my mind is the Wonderland Trail a long distance path? Debatable. Check out my list of North American long distance hiking trails in this issue.
Kevin O'Leary: I believe that this month's question (What constitutes a long distance trail?) is silly. Why? Because there is no definitive answer; there are many opinions, which are all correct (or wrong, depending upon your perspective). It reminds me of the debate concerning the definition of a thru-hike. People debate this endlessly -- and pointlessly IMHO. Next question. Regards, Kevin Yesterday I sent you the above email. I wanted to add a comment to clarify my thoughts. I still believe that the question has little significance, since it does nothing to enhance the hiking experience. Contrast this month's question with one that was posed a while ago regarding the type of shelter ALDHA-West members use. The shelter question revealed that members use a variety of shelters (e.g., tarps and tents) plus many members specified the reason for their choice (e.g., bug protection, privacy, weight considerations, etc.). I liked the shelter question because it introduced alternatives and provided useful information regarding them. I just don't see similar value behind this month's question. Regards, Kevin Pekbagger: You guys asked this question two years ago!
Editor Response: After receiving Peakbagger's response, I looked at all past issues of the Gazette. I discovered that there was a "Topic of the Quarter" which lasted a few issues. The Winter 1998 issue asked the question "What Makes A Long Distance Trail" and in the Spring 1998 edition there were two responses. Both answers dealt with the mental aspect, with the second answer adding a 4 day minimum. In regards to the significance of the question (Kevin's point), I asked this question is because I don't know what ALDHA-West defines as "long distance." "Long Distance" is in our name. I'd like to know what we mean by "long distance hiking." I'd like a consensus on what we imply when we talk about Long Distance Hiking. I asked last issue because I knew that Camper Dave was listing long distance hikes in this issue. I thought the timing was appropriate. RC
Laraine Kate: Here's to LONG TRAILS however long they may be!
Steve Fowler: To me a long distance trail could be most any trail that goes beyond the realm of a day hike or short backpacking trail. When you hike day after day after day on the same trail and you see things like certain mountains in front of you today and next day they are beside you and the next day you look behind you and there it is. Now that is a long distance trail.
Steve Queen: I tend to think of a long distance trail not so much in terms of how long it is, but more in terms of if it has a name. I could hike for six months solid by piecing together this and that and not have hiked a long distance trail (however, I would certainly be a long distance hiker). This arbitrary criterion is a by-product of my left-brain, goal-oriented, Type-A personality. I like to set 'em up and knock 'em down. That's not to say that any trail that has a name would constitute a long distance trail. One of the best hikes around is the Timberline Trail, which circles Mount Hood. It's under 40 miles and despite my knee-jerk reaction to call it a long distance trail, I just can't. I guess a trail should be about 100 miles long before I would consider it a long distance trail. I do consider the Wonderland Trail, which circles Mount Rainier, to be a long distance trail and that comes in at about 93 miles.
Trail Wizard: It takes me at least two weeks to get in the groove of hiking and about a month to be hitting the point where there is no further improvement. So, for me a long distance trail would be at least a month long and require some sort of resupplying.
Hal "Green Hornet" Margolis: Now on the PCT, just completing section B in southern Oregon. A hike becomes long distance when it's a hassle to get back.
John Hussey: Whenever the vagaries of resupply becomes a persistent preoccupation.
George W Copeland: Long distance trails to us usually mean those that require lots of planning for logistics and shuttles. Sometimes a 50 -100 mile trail requires more planning than a much longer one.
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