Date: 2014-07-01
To: Trail Slang for my Non-Hiking Followers
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

2000 Miler - a person who has hiked the entire distance 2167 miles A.T., either by thru-hiking or section hiking. Also called an end-to-ender. AYCE - 'All You Can Eat' Restaurants that offer all you can eat buffets are very popular with hungry hikers.Blazes - painted, 2-inch by 6-inch, vertical white rectangles that are placed at eye height on trees and other objects to mark the Trail. Side trails are marked with blue blazes.Blue-blazer - long-distance hiker who substitutes a section of blue-blazed trail for a white-blazed section between two points on the Trail. Negative term.Bounce box - a mail-drop type box containing seldom used necessities that is 'bounced' ahead to a town where you think you might need the contents.Cat Hole - a small hole dug by a hiker for the deposit of human waste.Corridor - The Appalachian Trail is a long and narrow Park, sometimes less than 100 feet wide.Flip-flop - term used to signify a hiker that starts hiking in one direction then at some point decides to jump ahead and hike back in the opposite direction. GAMER - hiker going from Georgia (GA) to Maine (ME).Gear head - hiker whose main focus is backpacking and outdoors gear.GORP - Good Old Raisins & Peanuts, or otherwise known as trail mix.Ground Control - hiker's support that handles the 'real world' concerns like bills and pets,and mails a hiker packages.Hicker - person who is still trying to figure out the whole hiker/gear thing while on the trail.Hiker Box - box at hostels where hikers donate unwanted food for the hikers coming behind them.Icebergs - large rocks planted in the ground at an overused campsite to discourage any more tenting.Katahdin Mountain - located in Maine the summit is the northern terminus of the Appalachain Trail.MacGyver - hiker who builds or repair gear with imagination. After a TV show where the hero would construct useful devices out of common materials.Mail Drop - mail drops are a method of re-supply while hiking. A mail drop is usually made ahead of time by gound control. They mail the package according to a pre-arranged schedule so that it arrives on time for the hiker to receive it at the post office.Mountain Money - toilet paper.Mouse Hanger - cord with can contraption used to discourage mice from entering a pack when hung in a shelter.Nero - almost a Zero ...in other words, a very short mileage day.NoBo - Northbound thru-hiker, also a GAMER PUDS -shorthand for "pointless ups and downs", referring to the less interesting sections of mountains hikers encounter from time to time; several PUDS in a row are MUDS, which is shorthand for "mindless ups and downs".Purist - hiker who wants to pass every white blaze.Register - log book normally found at a trail shelter. The original intent was for hikers to sign in so a searcher needing to find a lost hiker could tell where they last were, now its the main method for thru hikers to communicate with each other.Section hiker - is a person who is attempting to become a 2,000-Miler by doing a series of section hikes over a period of time. Not a purist.Shelter - normally a three sided wooden building, spaced out a half day's hike apart, near a water source, and with a privy. The AT has many kinds of shelters, from barns to cabins.Skunked - failing to get a car to stop when hitch hiking into towns.Springer Mountain - located in Georgia the summit is the southern terminus of the Appalachain Trail.Ten Essentials - short list of 10 or 12 items thought necessary to be carried by day hikers in their pack. One example of such a list: Map, Compass, Water, Food, Rain gear/extra clothing, Fire starter, First aid kit, Multi- purpose tool, Flashight.Thru-hiker - traditionally a person who is attempting to become a 2,000-Miler in a single, continuous journey leaving from one terminus of the Trail, and backpacking to the other terminus.Trail Angel - someone who provides unexpected help or food to a hiker.Trail Magic - unexpected, but welcome, help or food.Trail Name - nickname adopted by or given to a hiker. All thru-hikers get one. Nobody uses their real names.Ultra light - style hiking that focuses on using the lightest gear possible. Below 30 lbs. Whiteblazer - term to describe a person hiking past every white blaze .Widowmakers - limbs or whole trees themselves that have partially fallen but remain hung up overhead and so pose a danger to a person below.Yellow Blazer - term used to denote the yellow center-line that is painted on a highway or someone that hitch hikes around sections of trail by following yellow blazes.Yogi-ing - good-natured art of "letting" food be offered cheerfully by strangers without actually asking them directly (If you ask, it's begging!).Zero day - day in which no miles are hiked, usually because the hiker is stopping in a town to resupply and/or rest.