Date: 2009-03-27
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Miles today: 0.0

Along with trail names hikers have a language of their own. Some of it is abbreviations much like someone texting. I decided it might be a good idea to get my family and friends up to speed on the language of thru-hikers. So here is a list of some of the commonly used terms and abbreviations used by the hiking community.AT - appalachian trailBanana flip - a fall in chich your feet fly up in the air and you land on your rear end.Bear bagging - hanging your food bag from a tree. At least 12 feet and 8 feet out on a limb.Blaze - a white rectangle painted on trees, rocks and posts to marke the official AT.Blue blaze - A side trail marked in blue leading to a shelter, spring, campsite, or other points of interest. Also used to mark hiking trails that bypass sections of the AT.Blue blazer - a hiker that follows a blue blazed side trail instead of the AT, usually to avoid a mountain or hard section of the trail. (We will not be doing this!)Bouldering - climbing over large rocksBounce box - a box that you send ahead to yourself from one town to the next. It contains items not needed yet, such as batteries, repair kits or extra food.Bushwhacking - Hiking in a section with no trail.Cairn - a pile of stone used to mark the trail instead of a blaze.Cameling up - drinking as much as you can while you are at a water source, so you carry less water in your pack.Cat hole - a hole dug to dispose of human feces. At least 6 inches deep! and cover.Face plant - a face first fall.False summit - a high point of a mountain that looks like the top until you get there and realize there is still more to climb.Flip floppers - a thru hiker who begins at one end, hikes toward the middle, then jumps ahead to the other end to hike back and finish where he or she got off the trail. Gear head- a hiker who obsesses over gear and is still talking about it halfway thru the tripGram weanie- someone overly concerned over each fraction of an ounce they are carryingGranny gear- a skiw byt steadt gujubg oace used to go up steep sections.Hand over hand - steep section of the trail that requires you to use your hands to help climb.Hiker box - A box in a shelter, or hiker hostel where hikers can leave items they don't want, and take items they want.Hostel - a business, house or church offering bunks for hikers to stay over night. Usuall inexpensive or by donation. Most towns near the trail have at least one.Huff and up - hiking up a steep section of trail without switch-backs.Lean to - another name for a shelter. This is what they are called in NY state in particular.Mail drop - a box of supplies, or letters, sent to a hiker (from family or friends) and picked up at the local post office by the hiker. MUDS - Mindless ups and downs. Also called PUDS - Pointless ups and downsNOBO - north bound thru hiker. Starts in Georgia and hikes to Maine.Porkies - Porcupines (eat boots, packs, coats or anything salty from sweat)Privy - outhousePurist - A thru hiker that makes it a point to hike every mile of the white blazed official trailRainbow blazer - a hiker that does a combination of blue, yellow, and white blazing. This type of hiker is not a purist.Red blazing - leaving a trail of blood behind you.Register - a notebook left in shelters and hostels to sign in and leave messages for other hikers. This is a source of communication or gossip on the trail.Roller coaster - a section of the trail with constant ups and downs.Section hiker - a hiker who is hiking the trail in sections over a number of years.Shelter - A three sided wooden or stone structure that provides a roof over your head.Slackpacking - hiking without your pack. Some people will allow someone to take their pack up the trail to a town or hostel so they can hike without it for the day.SOBO - south bounder - a hiker starting a thru hike in Maine and ending in Georgia.Stile- steps up over a fence or wall.Switchback- a zigzag trail designed as an aid in climbing steep sections and to reduce erosion. Thru hiker- hiker who hikes the entire trail in one hiking season. (Generally Feb to Oct)Trail angel - a person who out of the goodness of there heart helps hikers by giving them rides to town, food, drinks etc. They expect nothing in return except -- thankyou.Trail Magic - term used to describe acts of kindness extended to hikers by strangers.Trail name - a nick name or name used on the trail. Usually chosen by other hikers' and it usually describes some idiosyncracy of the hiker. There is generally a humerous story behind each trail name.Trail head - the point where the trail begins.Turtleing - the type of fall that lands you on your pack struggling to get up.Web walking - the first hikers on the trail each morning getting to clear the spider webs from the trail. Yellow blaze - they yellow line of the highway.Yellow blazer - a hiker who hitch hikers around sections of the trail Yoging - the good natured art of getting strangers to offer you food or a ride without asing for it.Yo-yo-ing see flip flopping.Zero day - a day in which zero miles are hiked (rest day). Also there is a Nero day which is a day where the mileage hiked is very low.Zombie zone - the type of hiking where your body is hiking without you.Here is one I forgot AYCE - all you can eat buffet (how could I forget that one.