Purism

[Homer&Marje]

I like to suggest short cuts to purists....some what amusing to see their frazzled faces. HYOH. Or in the illustrious words and postings of Mags "Hike My Hike Damn It" is a wonderful philosophy...and worth a read on WB

Yes. It's possible

[cpzuroff]

Call it Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Call it hiking your own hike. I will admit, in my own way; I consider myself a purist.
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It started out with being able to say to myself that I truly hiked all of the Appalachian Trail. This digressed into the concept - if I skipped some part of the trail, then how would I continue through a tough segment later on, knowing that I had skipped a previous potion? What’s the point of hiking the whole trail if I didn’t really hike all of it? So I made the decision to walk every inch of the trail to the best of my ability. Why the qualifier? Well, who knows if I walked every inch in the dark? In Harriman State Park, there was a section where the trail looked like it had multiple parallel trails because there were white blazes everywhere. Which path was THE right trail? I was obsessive-compulsive when I hiked in and out of shelters. If I came in by a single path, where there were two paths; I left by the same path that I came in on. I could have lopped off a few feet by taking a path in and a different path out. Silly, but that’s what I did.
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But I’m not a purist in the sense that I didn’t do a thru-hike. I didn’t hike it all completely south to north. I did one short hike, north to south, with some friends that I had met on the trail the previous summer. I hiked my own hike, trying to do south to north and in as large segments at a time that I could possibly do.
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I never got into an argument over the topic. I never liked talking about this topic because people get so defensive. I only critiqued one person about the purity of his hike: I had met this person the previous summer. I spent over a month, slowly catching up to him. When we met, I found out why it took me so long to catch up with him. He was yellow-blazing large portions of the trail. Which was his business, so I said nothing. But I met him again the next summer while eating lunch at the Kay Wood Lean-to. He first complained that he was not alone. That there was never an empty shelter. Then he complained that he might not have time to complete the whole trail. As he railed about this I reached my limits of listening to him complain. I said that I didn’t understand what he was so upset about, since he had already skipped such large sections in the south. I was frustrated being around his negativity and let myself speak. I could have and maybe I should have said nothing. A minute or two later, I finished eating my lunch and packed up my odds and ends and hiked on.
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I don’t like how people can distort the phrase “hike your own hike.” Obviously everyone hikes their own hike. But why would someone claim to have hiked all of the trail when they lop off large sections and then defensively say it’s ok because they were hiking their own hike? On the trail I avoided voicing these thoughts because I was hiking my own hike and I didn’t want to get into some ridiculous argument with someone. That’s not a way to have fun.
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I did find it annoying, and in a sense entertaining, to listen to one thru-hiker complain about his hike. He considered it his right to complain loudly about the miseries that he endured. After being exposed to this tirade over the course of a few shared evenings at shelters, I pointed out that hiking is clearly an optional activity and that if he was having such a miserable time, he could just stop hiking. He then told me that since I wasn’t a thru-hiker then I didn’t have the right to make that statement. I didn’t respond because he wanted to draw me into an argument. I just tired of being exposed to a non-ending litany of negativity. Once again, hiking onwards was the best option. The good news is that a couple of days later, that hiker’s disposition improved and we had a good time being in each other’s company at the end of the trail.
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I truly enjoyed meeting and being with almost everyone on the trail. In all of those miles, if I bothered to count up the negative people that I met, I could do so on only one hand. So everyone hiked their own hikes and darn near every one of them were great people to meet and share our common experience. I now understand why people hike the trail multiple times. I do my short hikes now, equipped with large pruning shears and a hand saw. I am seriously contemplating doing the entire trail again - maybe I can do the whole thing in two summers instead of three? Or to spur this topic along, maybe next time I should blue-blaze? Hah!

[Iceman]

Purist, in referring an AT Thru-Hiker, is a label that many people choose to define, or redefine, to meet their own style of hiking.

To me, a Purist is a Thru-hiker that hikes the AT in a single season (From the ATC definition) and travels in the same direction (always “Trail” north for NOBO, south for SOBO, and Flippers stay true once they flipped), passes every blaze, and carries appropriate gear to be self-sufficient. I considered myself a Purist on my Thru-hike.

The question is really what is a thru-hiker? If someone blue-blazes 50% of the trail are they a thru-hiker? If someone yellow-blazes 25% of the trail are they a thru-hiker? When I hiked in 2007 there were a lot of “thru-hikers” that skipped major sections of the trail. They stood on top of Katahdin and declared themselves thru-hikers. Did that diminish my efforts? Perhaps.

If I get a mail-order PHD and call myself Doctor, does that diminish the efforts of the Doctoral students who put in all those years on their education?

Since there is no criteria to define a thru-hiker it will always be open to self-definition. The “purists” of the class of 2007 knew who did the whole trail and who skipped sections. I slacked packed some but always carried enough gear to survive an overnight. (I did do 2.5 miles one night without my pack. Alcohol was involved – my excuse.) I always went north and I passed every single blaze, including going in and out of shelters.

Other people carried a full pack the entire time, I bow to them. Others cooked only with an open fire. One friend of mine carried a satellite phone and spent most night in hotels, but he was honest about it. It is the folks that brag about how light their pack is ,and how fast they hike, and then jump from 50 miles behind you to 50 miles ahead of you in 2 days that make you wonder.

In the end, I finished the trail in a way I could be proud of, with honesty and integrity. People have different values and different needs. The trail is there for everyone.

[Hometown]

I couldn't agree with you more, Iceman. Very well stated!

[cpzuroff]

Slack-packing... I did no slack packing except for the final summit of Mt. Katahdin ( twice ). But to be honest, if I slack-packed at some earlier portion of my hike, then I would have slack-packed in Maine. After so many miles hiking with a full pack, when the opportunity to slack-pack presented itself, I decided to continue hiking with a full pack. I did no day hikes other than redundant trail maintainance hikes.
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I wish that I could have thru-hiked, but that wasn't an option if I wanted to keep my job. I hiked in three large sections, plus two minor hikes with some friends whom I met on the trail. See, there's the rationalization of the definition of "hiking your own hike" and what's a "purist."

[Red Tail]

I met my first "purist" on my first section hike of the a.t. I hiked south from the delaware water gap to Port Clinton. On day 3 or 4 I had just started descending into the lehigh gap when I lost the white blazes, but I made it to the bottom anyway. There was a woman section hiker who stayed with me at the jail in Palmerton that night who was also hiking south. We ended up hiking out of town together the next morning. As we neared the a.t. she told me she had to backtrack north for a while to the top of the hill because she had gotten a little lost coming down. I explained that I had done the same exact thing. but, I had no intention of climbing back up, since I had not purposely skipped the blazes(and in fact, not having a trail to follow, I know I hiked further) We parted ways and although I thought she was a bit loony, I admired her zeal to walk past every white blaze. She hiked her hike, I hiked mine.

[JimHalpert]

based on the information provided i wonder if hiking past all the white blazes was really the issue here; sounds like she got lost and backtracked til she got her bearings again.

[rambler]

In the Vermont shelters a few years ago, I kept reading a typed message left in the journal by a man who was section hiking the whole trail in the same calender year. He hiked from January through December. Since he did all in one year, the ATC considers him a thru-hiker. As a younger man , he had hiked the thru-hiked the trail in the traditional manner as the note he had left in the shelters described. At the time of his second thru-hike he was 90 years old.
In the 100 mile wilderness and then going up Katahdin, I hiked with a man who had sectioned hiked the whole trail in two consecutive summers, Springer to Harpers, then Harpers to Maine. He was 82.

I also met a boy around 11 or 12 on the trail in Connecticut who was thru-hiking with his grandfather and being supported and re-supplied by his dad.

Another hiker named Tango I met in Virginia this spring had hiked 500 mile sections before, found she enjoyed the hikes and was fit, so now she is well into her thru-hike.

She described the difference between a section hiker and a thru-hiker:

"....a section hiker takes longer breaks!"

One thru-hiker was standing next to me on the summit of Katahdin waiting for his turn to be alone by the most photographed sign. As he stood up I grabbed his pack to hand it to him as he walked the last few steps. He stopped me, "Oh no" he said, "I have lugged that pack the whole way, I brought it up here to carry it the last miles, so give it to me now!"

When the 82 year old guy was leaving a shelter one morning, I carried his pack over a log that spanned the trail over a stream right in front of the shelter meaning it was his first few steps of the morning. He was a little worried about his balance and he thanked me. Another hiker in the shelter told me I should not have done that, because now the 82 year old guy could not say he carried his pack the whole way. Good grief!

Should a purist accept a ride in a canoe to pass over the Kennebec? To resolve that debate (it is a safety issue) the ATC has painted a white blaze on the floor of the canoe.

[john gault]

The ATC does not formally define the term Thru-hiker. They only use the term loosely on their website. They also don't recognize one's hike as a thru-hike, only recognition they give is for some one that has completed the entire trail, period. That is why they call it a 2,000-miler certificate; and to get it, it doesn't matter if one completes a 60-day unsupported thru-hike or a 20-year fully supported slackpack hike.

[Homer&Marje]

Oh how it goes the age old purist debate

Do purists bring out your purest of hate?

Purist oh purist must not walk in a haze

Purist oh purist god forbid them miss a blaze.

Your not a purist how dare you not be a purist

Section hiker you say? Nature tourist....

Calling yourself a hiker, barely walking 50 miles

Purist I just suggested a short cut, try to smile!

Oh purist you made it to Katahdin and Springer

Remind me how many people gave you the finger?

So walk on purist with your nose in the air

Walk your 2175.2675891010238 miles if you dare!

So go on purist don't stop in Virginia for an ice cold beer

You'll be behind schedule, me....I'm blue blazin' it from here!






-Homer