Date: 2013-08-26
To: Language Of The Appalachian Trail Part 2 Of 2
Miles today: 0.0

Following are a list of a few of the commonly used terms of the A.T. culture.AYCE: "All You Can Eat" Eating establishments that offer the hiker all they can eat for a fixed sum of money. Hikers are always hungry.A.T.: Abbreviation for Appalachian Trail.Bald: A bare mountain top with good 360 degree views on a clear day or night.Bear Bag: A bag for food and any articles that have an odor, usually put high up in a tree to discourage bears and other critters from reaching it.Blazes: 2x6 inch white painted rectangles that are painted on trees and other objects to mark the route of the trail.Blow down: Trees, branches, shrubs, or debris that have fallen down across the trail so that you must go around to go forward.Bushwhack: Hiking where there is no trail, tall grass, blow downs, overgrowth, etc.Cat hole: A hole that is dug for human waste.Data Book: A small book that gives all types of trail information such as, distances, town names, places to eat, hotels, shelters, hostels, drinking sources etc. Harpers Ferry, WV: The Appalachian Trail Conservancy National Headquarters. The psychological half way point on the A.T.Headlamp: A flashlight attached around the head with a band for night hiking, or reading, or journaling in a tent or shelter at night.Hiker Box: A place where hikers will donate unwanted food and items that other hikers may find useful.Hostel: A place that has beds, showers, cooking, laundry services, and or mail drops for hikers.Mountain money: Toilet paper.Nero: A short hiking mileage day.NOBO: A person hiking South to North.Privy: A toilet for solid waste usually near a shelter.PUDS: Pointless ups and downs, meaning less interesting and sometimes more aggravating ups and downs.Shelter: A three sided building for hikers usually with a water source and a privy. There are also barns and cabins used for shelters.Shuttle: A ride from the trailhead to town and vise versa, sometimes for a fee.Stealth Camping: Camping for the evening apart from a shelter or campground, along the trail where it is perrmissible to do so.SOBO: A person that hikes North to South.Trail Angel: A person or persons who provide unexpected help, food, drink or comfort to a hiker.Trail Magic: Unexpected but welcomed food, drink, comfort, or help.Trail Name: A nickname adopted by or given to a hiker. On the trail most hikers only know you by your trail name.Trail Register: Note books that are left at shelters or hostels so hikers can write and communicate with other hikers. News goes up and down the trail because hikers stop to read them and pass on communications.Vitamin I: Ibuprofen for aches and pains.Zero day: A day off due to stopping in a town to do laundry, or rest, or be with visitors, food shoping, and generally just resting, eating, recuperating, and staying in a hotel or hostel away from the trail.These are but a few of the terms that are used on the A.T. Any terms that I use that are not listed, I will define as I go along.There are opportunities along the trail to mix and socialize with other hikers. Special events such as Trail Days , held in Damascus, VA every May, bring hikers from up and down the trail for three days of festivities. One can attend church in the trail towns along the way, visit friends near the trail, visit cities like Harpers Ferry, West VA, Washington DC, and Manhattan, NY, and the A.T. even goes through the the New York Zoo, the lowest point on the A.T.There are opportunities for people to visit and meet up with the hiker on the trail, and the smart phone has made it possible to communicate with your loved ones, and to write journals of your trail experiences, take pictures and send photos from the trail directly to this journal, and in some places you can order a pizza right from the trail.I hope to be reporting my life to you in this culture as I travel this great trail from Georgia to Maine and I Thank you for reading and following my trail journal.Happy Trails,