Glossary of Thru-Hiking Terms
In no particular order
The Basics:
Thru-hike: To hike a trail from end-to-end in a single season, with an unbroken path of footsteps. Generally refers to long trails of several hundred miles, first popularized on the 2000+ mile National Scenic Trails in the USA. Thru-hikers are the people who are either attempting a thru-hike in the current year, or have completed one or more thru-hikes in the past. Thru-hikes are generally referred to by abbreviations - the Pacific Crest Trail becomes the PCT, Appalachian Trail becomes the AT, and so on.
NOBO/SOBO: Refers to the general direction of travel; a NOBO is a northbound hiker, a SOBO is hiking southbound. Some trails that run east/west, such as the Pacific Northwest Trail, have the equivalent terms EABO and WEBO. Can also be used as an adjective; “I’m doing a SOBO CDT this year.” Not always capitalized. Northbounder/southbounder are equally common terms.
Flip-flop: To thru-hike a trail in a geographically discontinuous manner over a single season, while still connecting one’s footsteps. Most commonly done on the CDT and occasionally on the PCT to avoid snow or other adverse conditions. For example, hiking northbound on the PCT up to Kennedy Meadows, getting a ride to the northern terminus in Washington and then hiking southbound back to Kennedy Meadows, making sure to stop exactly where you left off. Slightly controversial in certain circles; some people don’t consider a flip-flop to be a true thru-hike.
YO-YO: A play on the nobo/sobo terminology. A yo-yo hike is two consecutive thru-hikes of the same trail in a single year - starting from one terminus, touching the other, then immediately turning around and hiking back to where you started. Yo-yoing a long trail is a rare accomplishment.
Section hike: Noun, section hiker/sectioner. Hiking a significant portion of a thru-hike without attempting the entire thing. Stringing together section hikes that cover the entire trail over a period of several years is also considered an achievement. It is usually recognized by major trail agencies as a type of thru-hike, and section hikes count towards the Triple Crown (see below).
LASH: Long-Ass Section Hike. Noun, LASHer. Generally applies to section hikes over 1000 miles, or section hikes that cover a majority of the trail on shorter thru-hikes.
Trailname: A nickname given by other thru-hikers on trail. Trailnames are a tradition, and almost all thru-hikers have one. It’s considered bad form to name yourself, although you are allowed to veto a bad one. Most repeat thru-hikers use the same trailname across all their hikes. It is very common not to learn people’s legal names, as most people go by their trailname exclusively.
Trail family: Also, trailfam or tramily. A group of hikers who are commited to hiking together, often for a significant portion or all of the trail. Many trail families adopt a group nickname in addition to their individual trailnames.
Solo Hiker: A person hiking without a trail family, usually because they prefer it that way. Also refers to a mindset, as in, “She’s happy to have company if you’re doing the same pace, but she’s really a solo hiker.”
Town Terms:
Zero: a day where you hike zero miles. Can also be used as a verb, as in “We zeroed in Republic”; “Are you going to zero?”; “I’m not zeroing.” Sometimes intensified to “full zero”, to disambiguate from a nearo.
Nearo: short for a near-zero, a day where you hike so few miles that you may as well have hiked none. Also used as a verb, i.e. “We’ve nearoed every town so far.” Generally capped at about ten miles - anything more is just a short day.
Nearo in/Nearo out: indicates whether your short mileage was taken on the way into or out of town. You can also nearo in and nearo out of the same town. For example, if you walked 2 miles into Big Bear, stayed overnight, and hiked 5 miles out of Big Bear after dinner, you have both nearoed in and nearoed out. A combined nearo in/out is a good alternative to a zero day.
Hero: to go through a town without staying overnight, usually while preserving regular mileage. Generally used as a verb, i.e. “I’m heroing this one, it’s right on trail.” Not in common usage outside of the Appalachian Trail. Non-AT hikers may refer to this as a boomerang or an in-and-out; both terms are rare.
Resupply: As a verb, restocking on food or other essentials in town. As a noun, a place where you are intending to resupply, i.e: “My next resupply is Lima”. Also used to refer to the contents of a mailed food drop. “My resupply is light, I’m gonna be hungry.”
Trail Angels (abbr. TA): People who go out of their way to help hikers. A wide range of people are considered trail angels, from the people who run unofficial hiker hostels out of their backyards, to someone with a cooler of beer in the woods, to a random kind person who’s never before heard of thru-hiking or the trails. Official or veteran trail angels often list their numbers in guidebooks, and provide services like showers, rides, camping, meals, and official water cache maintenance in desert areas. It is customary to leave monetary donations for these types of trail angels (unless they specifically request that you don’t), though most operate on good faith and the honour system. Tip your trail angels!
Hiker box: As a noun, a free box where hikers leave unwanted or surplus items, and can pick up items left by others. Commonly found at trail angel’s houses; occasionally found at hotels, restaurants, or businesses that cater to thru-hikers. When used as a verb, refers to discarding or taking an item from the hiker box. “I’m hikerboxing this oatmeal, I can’t eat it any more”; “I hikerboxed myself a new headlamp!”
Uncommonly, “hikerboxing it” or “hiker box special” refers to resupplying entirely out of a hiker box - a risky strategy employed by the desperate or broke.
To yogi: a reference to Yogi Bear. Yogi-ing is the art of getting non-hikers to give you food without directly asking, usually by chatting them up or hanging out near them looking hungry. You can also yogi a ride into town or a place to stay. Popularized by accomplished thru-hiker and guidebook author Jackie “Yogi” McDonnell - when capitalized, Yogi refers to her specifically.
Hikertrash: adjective or noun. Refers to the scavenger, make-do mindset of thru-hikers and our general indifference to social norms. Can also be used pejoratively to refer to opportunistic hikers who take advantage of small-town generosity to be entitled and slovenly.
Trail Terms:
A 25/30/40 etc: Daily mileage - to “do a thirty” is to hike thirty miles that day. Could be any number. Refers to a general range around the stated number when talking about pace, i.e. “we’ve been hiking thirties” means that the group is hiking roughly thirty miles each day, not precisely 30mi per day. Can be modified, i.e. “they’re doing low twenties”; “Sierra miles are high teens at best.”
10x10: ten miles by ten am. Considered a minor accomplishment by some, and a good marker of progress when consistently achieved. A strategy for getting in big mile days.
Baseweight: The weight of a hiker’s pack and all their gear, excluding food, water, and consumables.
Ultralight (UL): A minimalist hiking style where baseweight is kept under 10lbs. Also an adjective, describing gear that is designed specifically for hiking and is extremely lightweight. An ultralighter is someone with an intensely minimalist and sometimes competitive mindset.
Section: A stretch of trail between resupply stops. Generally referred to by mileage or estimated time to hike; a 110mi section, or a 3-day section. Confusingly, some section hikers will hike multiple sections during their hike - a section of trail and a section hike do not necessarily refer to the same unit of distance.
Alternate: A mapped route that differs from the primary trail. Some alternates are temporary re-routes due to fire closures or dangerous water crossings, others are permanent side trails to viewpoints or towns. On less-developed trails, multiple alternates may exist as the trail changes over time, and some trails have sections with no single primary route. The social acceptability of taking alternates varies from trail to trail.
Single-track: What is commonly pictured as “trail” - a single, narrow path through a natural area that’s constructed of packed dirt or stone. Double-track is similar, but is wide enough to be used by a car and typically has two tracks, often because it’s an old jeep track or Forest Service road.
Roadwalk (abbr. RW): A portion of official trail that is on a road. Very common on less-developed and younger trails such as the PNT and CDT. Trail agencies always attempt to route trails away from roads wherever possible, but funding and land use permissions often make the process slow. Roadwalks can vary from overgrown double-track, all the way up to terrifying multi-lane highways. Avoiding dangerous roadwalking is a common reason to take an alternate.
Bushwhack: A portion of an official route or alternate where no developed trail exists. Hikers are expected to make their own way through the bushwhack and find the point where the trail resumes on the other side. Some hikers differentiate between bushwhacks and cross-country. Bushwhacks are difficult slogs through thick undergrowth, whereas cross-country is simply walking without a trail.
Blowdown: Fallen trees blocking the trail. Blowdown can be a single tree or extend for miles.
Blaze: A trail marker. On newer trails, usually a small triangular sign bearing the insignia of the trail. Old-style blazes are rectangular streaks of paint on a tree, and white paint blazes are used to mark the AT and related side trails. Axe blazes are stripped rectangles of bark made with an axe of about the same size, and can be found on older sections and on less-developed trails. Axe blazes are often used to mark logging routes and can be misleading.
Cowboy camping: Sleeping under the stars, without your tent. Highly recommended during the Persieds Meteor Shower, or anytime it’s not too cold in the desert.
Stealth Camping/Wild Camping: Camping outside of a designated campsite. Stealth camping often refers to sleeping somewhere semi-illegally, or sleeping in a public space near a trailhead or town.
Leapfrogging: Hiking in the vicinity of another hiker or group of hikers but not in step with them. Like a game of leapfrog - you pass them, then they pass you, over a series of days or sections.
The Bubble: Also the pack, the herd. A phenomenon on popular trails like the PCT, where a large group of hikers and trail families are concentrated over a short stretch of trail. Being within a few hours of a large group of hikers is being “in the bubble”. Typically, the bubble is spread over multiple days.
Trail Magic: Often refers to trailside coolers of soda or beer set out by trail angels, but can refer in general to any TA kindnesses or unexpected moment of good fortune encountered while on trail. “Doing some trail magic” usually means setting up a cooler or parking an RV and cooking for thru-hikers at a trailhead.
Hiker Hunger: The intense, obsessive hunger and bottomless appetite that sets in while thru-hiking.
Hiking Boner: Adopted from Carrot Quinn’s excellent book; describes one’s energy level and enthusiasm for hiking.
Daysie: A day-hiker, or a person on a short overnight backpacking trip who is clearly not thru-hiking. Sometimes good candidates for yogi-ing.
Yellow-blazing: Noun, yellow-blazer. To skip portions of trail by hitchhiking; “yellow blaze” refers to the yellow lane markings on a highway. Considered a major faux-pas, and invalidates your thru-hike. If you hitchhike past trail or skip major sections of trail on unofficial alternates, you’re now a LASHer. Being called a yellow-blazer is a major insult and a badge of shame. Many people who yellow-blaze lie about it.
Pink-blazer: Another insulting term, although sometimes used affectionately. Refers to the phenomenon of male hikers altering their itineraries or pace to stay with women they’re hitting on. Usually carries the connotation that the pink-blazer is being a bit of a creep. Pink-blazing is generally annoying but harmless; it does not refer to outright stalking.
Ailments:
Firefoot: Nerve pain that feels like burning on the soles of the feet. Sometimes refers to chafing on the sole of the foot, resulting in red, irritated skin and sometimes open wounds. Usually caused by walking for an extended period on hard surfaces like pavement, or by hiking in extremely humid and hot weather where the socks retain sweat or moisture. Absolutely excruciating, to be avoided at all costs.
Monkey butt: Ass chafe. Chafe can happen anywhere on the body, particularly where one’s pack rubs against skin or clothing, but chafe between the buttocks is especially common and unpleasant. “Monkey butt” is a reference to the colour of female baboon’s hindquarters, as an extremely chafed hiker may attain a similar hue.
Swamp ass: An extremely sweaty feeling down the rear end, caused by accumulated perspiration dripping down the back of one’s pack and soaking into underwear or pants. A primary cause of monkey butt.
Achievements:
The Triple Crown: A major award in thru-hiking, a Triple Crowner is a person who’s hiked the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail in their entirety. The American Long-Distance Hiking Association (ALDHA) recognizes Triple Crowners with a ceremony and an official certificate at their annual meeting. Only about 500 people have completed a Triple Crown - not all hikers register their hikes with trail agencies, so exact numbers are not available.
Related, a Calendar-year Triple Crown (CYTC) refers to hiking all three triple crown trails within a single calendar year. CYTCs are stunningly rare and impressive achievements. As of April 2020, eleven people have completed a CYTC.
A Double-Triple or Triple-Triple refers to someone who has completed the Triple Crown multiple times. This is also impressive and rare.
FKT: Stands for Fastest Known Time. A subset of hikers compete to complete thru-hikes in record time. There are several recognized styles of FKT; more details in the link.
Ten-thousand miler/ Ten-thousand Mile Club: A person who has hiked over ten-thousand miles total. Usually, but not always, also a Triple Crowner. This is not a formal award, but it is recognized among hikers as a marker of expertise and commitment. The three Triple Crown trails total fewer than 8,000mi all together, so having hiked ten thousand miles represents at least four years of thru-hiking, or extraordinary prowess and speed.