Note on meaning of “through-hiker”

Wikipedia’s through-hiking entry defines through-hiking as the act of hiking an established long-distance trail end-to-end continuously. This emphasizes the “all-at-once” or continuous nature of a through-hike. In practice, some through-hikers take time off the trail in the middle for various reasons, or “flip-flop” around on different sections of the trail at different times of the seasons to avoid snow or fires or extreme weather. Thus, I believe “through-hiker” more generally is accepted to mean “the entire trail in a single year” even if not absolutely continuous or uninterrupted.

(The Pacific Crest Trail Association does not define its use of “thru-hiker” as far as I can see, although by context it could also mean someone who is simply on the trail for many weeks or a number of months continuously with no interruption. PCTA long-distance permits used by most thru-hikers are given on an annual basis and must be for at least 500 miles of “continuous” hiking. The PCTA’s “2600-Miler List” recognizing those who have “completed” the trail does not require completing the trail in a single year to be recognized.)

So perhaps there is enough equivalence between “the entire trail in a single year” and “the entire trail over multiple years” to take the liberty of incorporating the words “through-hike” into “multi-year through-hike”? Or will some through-hikers object? Such an objection is valid because the differences between the two are so vast — in terms of physical fitness, mental attitude, typical gear, daily schedule, planning, trail culture, group identity, and other intangibles. And as the Wikipedia entry states, “through-hiking” emphasizes the “all-at-once” nature of the hike.

However, to me, “multi-year through-hike” emphasizes “hiking the trail with a commitment to hike the entire trail.” This commitment is what I would say is the common element shared by both (single-year) through-hikers and MYTH hikers.

I’m not entirely convinced either way. But I have heard the phrase “MYTH” on the trail from several others at different times, so MYTH does have some history to it in the trail community. And I came up with “MYTH” on my own before hearing it from anyone, so that shows that others likely are too. A few others also said they came up with it on their own.

On the web there is some use too, like this article MYTHing the PCT in a Time of Change about hiking the trail over multiple years (and observations about climate change). And definitions of “thru-hiker” have been argued about since long trails have existed, like this 2014 AT-related article What is the Definition of a Thru-Hike?

The common alternative is “section hiker.” The Wikipedia page would call me a section hiker, which it defines as:

Section hiking refers to hiking a long-distance trail one section at a time. Generally, a trail completed as a collection of section hikes is not considered a thru-hike, as the trail was not completed continuously. However, hiking trail sections out of order, e.g., starting at the halfway point of the AT and hiking to the northern terminus, then flying back to the middle and hiking the southern half, still counts as a thru-hike, as long as the trail is completed in one trip.

On the PCT, however, I believe “section hiker” most commonly means someone who is hiking just one or more sections without a commitment to hike the entire trail. It’s that specific commitment that I’m pointing to, or even phrases like “a life project” or “a way of life” that other MYTH-minded authors have used.

The personal aspect comes from my early years on the trail. Through-hikers would call me a “section hiker” and sometimes this felt decidedly like being a second-class citizen. And especially after I had hiked the entire trail once and was starting to hike the entire trail a second time, “section hiker” did not seem adequate. Still, over the years it grew less important. Or, if I wanted an ego boost that day, I could say on the trail, to describe myself, something like, “I only have X miles left to finish the entire trail over 10 years.”

So can we say that “MYTH hiker” refers to someone who is “hiking the entire trail section-by-section over multiple years”? Of course, on the trail, I would use that 10-word phrase to describe myself, rather than the “mythical” 2-word shortcut!