Hiker vocab 101

Eskimos allegedly have fifty different words for snow, and the patois of thru-hikers also reveal a particular worldview. My past thirty-days on the trail have given me a peak inside the peculiarities of the thru-hiking subculture. Here is some common hiker lingo I’ve learned

Base weight: weight of all your hiking gear excluding food and water. A hiker’s base weight can tell you a lot about them. Ultralight hikers with less than 10 lbs of base weight tend to be very fast, aggressive hikers consistently humping 20+ mile days. They live spartan existences on the trail, eating bars and cold soak couscous meals, taking minimal time for rest days. More leisurely hikers with 20+ lbs base weight (me included) tend value the “luxuries” of a tent, hot meals, and an extra change of underwear.

The bubble: the cluster of highly-concentrated thru-hikers who tear through the trail, overfilling shelters along the way. If you are looking for a highly social party-atmosphere its great to join the bubble, but best avoided if you value peace and quiet.

[blank] blazing: used to describe hiking in various ways or through alternate routes

Hiker box: bins at hiker hostels or other places frequented by thru-hikers in which hikers can leave or pick up unwanted items, usually half filled with instant oatmeal packets.

Hiker legs: condition of being physically accustomed to the thru-hiking grind. Depending on who you ask, a hiker might need weeks or months to “get their hiker legs” and be “comfortable” with the day-to-day. After 30 days and 360 miles, it is unclear to me whether I ever acquired said hiker legs.

Hiker toes: numbness in the toes resulting from high pressure on the feet, and resulting swelling, reduced blood flow to toes, and neuropathy. Fairly common among thru-hikers, I’ve run into multiple other people who haven’t felt the tips of their toes for weeks or months. I’ve been told it goes away a couple of weeks after getting off trail. This seems to be variably accepted as just something that happens.

Hiker midnight: 9pm/sundown, when most hikers knock out. Relatedly most hikers wake up at sunrise (around 5:30) and hike from around 8am to 5pm.

Hike your own hike: an annoyingly common aphorism in the hiking community meant to encourage hikers not to feel pressured to do things they’re not comfortable with (such as doing high daily mileage, hiking faster than you’re comfortable with, etc…). Should be taken with a grain of salt, as sometimes the very person saying this to you is the same person with $2,000 worth of ultralight gear, hiking 30 miles a day, and was just shit-talking day hikers.

LASH: short for long ass section hike(r), different from “true” thru-hikes (see “thru-hiking”) but also different from normal section hikes by merit of being longer. The dividing line between “normal” sections and LASHes is debatable – some say anything longer than 100 miles, others a week. On the hierarchy of respectability LASHers fall somewhere between “thru-hikers” (see “Thru-hiking”) and section or day-hikers.

Ridgerunner: enforcers of the leave no trace ethic, ridgerunners are employed by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy to maintain trails and shelters, pick up litter, be a resource to hikers, and discourage bad behavior. They are seen as party-poopers by the rowdier crowd.

Slackpack: to hike certain sections with a day pack instead of your full pack, dramatically increasing comfort level especially through tough stretches. This is usually made possible either by someone driving your gear from point to point. May be frowned upon by purist-types.

Snickers: the official candy bar of thru-hikers. This is more common in packs than granola bars, and is the perfect energy-dense bomb of fat and carbs.

Thru-hiking: hiking of a long-distance trail. The exact parameters of who is a thru-hiker can be controversial. Purists may insist that thru-hikers must be hiking one of the big three trails (Appalachian, Pacific Crest, and Continental Divide trails, each longer than 2,000 miles), and must hike it in one go. The more forgiving will include hikers of shorter distances (like the Long Trail or John Muir Trail, around 200-300 miles), or hikers of long sections. Others can really care less who wants to calls who what.

Trail magic: random acts of kindness on the trail, provided by volunteers in the form of coolers of food and drinks, free rides to and from town, or invitations to a home for a home-cooked meal and a free night stay. People who provide trail magic are deemed “trail angels,” who are either ex-thru-hikers or just kindly hiker-friendly folks who live near the trail.

Triple crown: The act of having hiked all three “big” US long-distance trails – the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail. This is kind of a big fucking deal.

Zero: a rest day with zero miles of hiking, taken when a hiker is injured, tired, or just wants to enjoy the benefits of civilization like fresh food, a shower, or a movie.