[pct-l] What is a "Thru Hike?"

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good morning, Scott,

Near Hauser Canyon one fellow stepped off the trail a ways to take a squirt,
and when he came back he met the trail about 30 ft. ahead of where he left.
He made it to Manning that summer, but what a bummer:  He's apparently not a
thru-hiker.  Anyone who hikes the Crater Lake Rim Route rather than
following the"official" PCT flunks out also.  Same for following Eagle Creek
to Cascade Locks rather than following the PCT on Benson Plateau.  By that
standard there are lots of thru-cheaters out there.

Steel-Eye

On Mon, Feb 23, 2009 at 10:10 AM, Scott Bryce <sbryce at scottbryce.com> wrote:

> OK, I'll chime in here.
>
> What is a through hike?
>
> A through hike is a continuous hike from one end of the trail to the
> other in one season without skipping or flipping, except for sections
> that are skipped due to official trail closures.
>
> Anyone who did anything less than that still accomplished something
> significant. Not calling it a through hike does not in any way diminish
> the significance of the accomplishment, whatever it was.
>
> Calling a section hike a through hike DOES diminish the accomplishments
> of those who stuck it out for the whole 2650 miles.
>
> Yes, I'm a purist. When I left Warner Springs, I had three options. I
> could walk the highway north, and pick up the trail there. I could walk
> the highway south and pick up the trail at the fire station. I could
> walk out on the same trail I walked into town and pick up the PCT at the
> same spot I left it. I walked back to the same spot I left the trail. I
> even got razzed by another hiker for walking the "extra" couple of miles.
>
> I don't care how you left Warner Springs. I really don't. It was
> important to me to hike the PCT rather than the highway, so I made my
> decision. But if you tell me that you through hiked the trail, I will
> assume that you walked out of Warner Springs, not matter which route you
> decided to take.
>
> I didn't come to California to walk along the road. I came to hike the PCT.
>
> I submitted my photographs to the 2008 DVD project. I don't know if any
> of them will be used, but there is one that I hope they include. It is
> two coils of rusty barbed wire leaning against a weathered split rail
> post partially buried in sand. It is a sight that most PCT hikers
> probably never saw, but to me it conveys the feel of the Warner Springs
> loop beautifully.
>
> Someone has suggested that the term "section hike" is ambiguous. But if
> we start calling section hikes "through hikes" then the term "through
> hike" becomes ambiguous. What section of the trail did you through hike?
> Did you through hike the whole section, or just parts of it? Did you
> through hike it all at once, or in chunks over several years?
>
> You did what you did, and it was probably an amazing accomplishment, but
> please don't call it a through hike unless it really was.
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