Welcome to the world of thru-hiking.

As with all activities, thru-hiking is full of confusing jargon - starting with the word thru-hiking! Yes, it’s hiking - but with a difference.

Thru-hiking is following an established trail from a designated start and finish point (often referred to as North Terminus and South Terminus), as opposed to going hiking for a few hours or days at a time.

If you complete the total distance of the trail in one direction (from start to finish), without getting off trail for an extended period of time, you are a thru-hiker!

Quick guide to the most popular thru-hiker terminology:

Hiking trails.

Trail names are abbreviated - for example:

• AT - Appalachian Trail

• PCT - Pacific Crest Trail

• CDT - Continental Divide Trail

• JMT - John Muir Trail

Complete the AT, PCT and CDT (the three big long distance hikes in the USA) and you are a ‘Triple Crowner’.

Trail life.

• Trail name - hikers tend to go by their trail name when hiking long distance, given to them by another thru-hiker and often with a great back story

• Tramily - the group of people that you hike with that become your trail family

• Trail angels - local people who help out thru-hikers with lifts from trail to town, water, food etc

• Trail magic - local people who leave treats for thru-hikers on the trail

• Hiker trash - hike for a few weeks and you will kiss goodbye to socially accepted norms and niceties, embracing your new identity as hiker trash!

Route and distance.

Direction you hike:

• SOBO - a person who hikes southbound (North Terminus to South Terminus)

• NOBO - a person who hikes northbound (South Terminus to North Terminus)

Number of miles hiked in a day:

• Zero - 0 miles hiked (e.g. town day)

• Nero - low number of miles hiked

Different ways to hike a long distance trail:

• Thru-hiker - hike the total distance of a long distance trail, from start to finish

• Section hiker - hike a section of a trail at one time

• Flip flop - a hiker who doesn’t hike in one direction, but hikes part of the trail then ‘flips up’ to another location and hikes back to where the previous hike ended (this is common in bad weather, as it may be safer to skip ahead and hike back when the weather has improved)

• Purist - a hiker who will not deviate from the designated trail or skip any miles of the trail

Other.

• Cowboy camping - sleeping under the stars in your sleeping bag (without your tent)

• Camel up - drinking as much water as you can, so you don’t have to carry as much water to the next water source

• Glissade - sliding down a snowy hill on your rear end!

• Leave No Trace - 7 principles to put into practice on the trail (learn more)