In recent conversations I catch myself freely using words and phrases I've picked up from my handbook and the internet that may not have any meaning unless you, too, are planning a hike from Mexico to Canada. Below is a list of terms culled from the Hiker's Glossary that should help, I hope.
base weight
The weight of a loaded backpack, not including food, water and stove fuel. The base weight also does not include items that are only carried during short sections of the trail, such as ice axe or bear canister.
bonk
Running out of energy due to eating too few calories. Also known as "hitting the wall."
bounce
Sending unneeded gear ahead by mail. Many thru-hikers will use a bounce box or bucket (a real bucket), which contains items that may be useful at various points along the trail but aren't needed all the time, such as extra medication or toiletries, battery chargers, laptops, warm clothing layers, etc.
cache
Water left beside the trail by trail angels for use by thru-hikers. Most of the caches on the Pacific Crest Trail are in the southern California deserts where reliable water sources are far apart. Caches are not to be considered reliable water sources. Thru-hikers are advised to carry enough water to get to the next reliable water source, and to take water from the caches only if they find themselves running low. Cached water is not intended for bathing or cooking.
cowboy camp
Sleeping under the stars without a tent. Often done to save the time and effort of setting up a tent when the weather is expected to be good through the night.
dry camp
Camping in an area that has no nearby water source. Stealth camps are usually dry camps. A common technique on the trail is to eat dinner at a water source, continue hiking into the evening, then set up camp wherever one finds oneself at the end of the day, even if it means camping on the trail itself.
flip-flop
Turning around and hiking a skipped section in the opposite direction, to return to the place where you left the trail. A flip flop is often an attempt to postpone difficult trail sections until conditions improve, such as high snow in the Sierras.
glissade
Sliding down a snow covered slope. Glissading is faster and more fun than hiking down a snow-covered slope, but is not without its risks.
gram weenie
Derogatory term referring to someone who is obsessive about reducing their base weight as much as possible.
hiker box
Boxes at some resupply points that hikers use to exchange unneeded or unwanted food or gear. Closely related to SKUA.
hiker funk
After a few hundred miles on the trail it becomes difficult to wash the sweat and dirt out of your clothes. The resulting smell is called hiker funk. The reason the person giving you a ride into town has the windows down is not because the air conditioning isn't working.
hiker hunger
That empty feeling in your stomach that results from eating 4000 calories per day, but burning 6000 calories per day.
hiker midnight
9:00 PM. The time by which thru-hikers are usually asleep.
hiker trash
A general description of a thru- or section-hiker, or of hikers collectively. It probably comes from the fact that thru-hikers often are confused for homeless people during town stops. It also comes from the fact that the usual ways of determining status in real life have little, if any, meaning on the trail.
nearo
Nearly a zero. A day in which one hikes only a few miles, usually because the rest of the day is spent in town.
NOBO
northbound.
the pack
The bulk of thru-hikers who are hiking within a few hundred miles of each other. As interest in the trail grows every year, the size of the pack increases, causing problems for trail angels, businesses and resources in southern California. By the time the pack has reached northern California, it is more spread out and has less impact on local resources. Also known as the herd.
post hole
Inadvertently breaking through the surface of the snow so that your leg resembles a fence post stuck in a post hole. Postholing is the one reason that everybody's daily milage drops abruptly in the Sierras.
Ray Day
June 15th. In an average snow year in the Sierra Nevada mountains, Ray Day is the best date to leave Kennedy Meadows on a northbound thru-hike. Named for Ray Jardine.
repeat offender
Someone who thru-hikes or attempts to thru-hike the Pacific Crest Trail more than once.
ride bride
A female hiker who accompanies a male hiker when he attempts to hitch a ride. It is thought that people are more likely to pick up a male hitchhiker if a female is with him, and that a female hitchhiker is safer if a male is with her.
section-hiker
Someone who hikes a significant section of a long-distance trail, thereby covering the entire length of the trail over a succession of hikes.
skin-out weight
Base weight plus the weight of clothing and gear worn. Only gram weenies really care about their skin-out weight.
skip
Leaving the trail and reentering at another location, thereby bypassing a section of trail. Skipping is done for several reasons: forest fires, heavy snow pack, fatigue, lack of motivation, a need to make up for lost time or to meet up with friends who are hiking ahead of you. Often people who skip a section of trail, but complete the rest of it, still consider themselves thru-hikers, especially if the reason for skipping was to bypass a trail closure due to forest fires.
slack pack
Hiking with minimal gear, usually little more than food and water, while someone else transports the bulk of your gear ahead by car.
SOBO
Southbound.
stealth camp
Camping away from common camping spots such as lakes, stream crossings or meadows. Promoted as a way to avoid bear encounters.
sun cups
Uneven surface of snow resembling a giant egg carton. As the snow melts in the spring, pockets of water form on the surface of the snow. This water warms up in the sun and causes the snow under it to melt faster than the surrounding snow. Difficult to walk on.
thru-hiker
Someone who hikes the entire length of a long-distance trail, traditionally from end to end.
trail angel
A non-hiker who helps a hiker in some way, providing rides to town, free meals, or coolers of cold drinks on the trail; stocking water caches; offering their home for the night. Some trail angels, like the Saufleys in Agua Dulce, are such permanent fixtures of the PCT that they've become minor celebrities. My mom would make a great trail angel.
trail magic
Unexpected generosity from a non-hiker (see: trail angel), or a pleasant surprise along the trail.
trail name
A nickname used by a hiker. A trail name can be chosen by the hiker prior to the hike, but is considered more official if it is given to the hiker during the hike. A trail name often derives from an unusual, humorous or significant characteristic or event associated with the hiker.
triple crowner
Someone who has hiked the entire Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), Appalachian Trail (AT), and Continental Divide Trail (CDT).
Vitamin I
ibuprofen.
vortex
Anything off trail that draws hikers into it, and hikers find difficult to leave. Usually a town stop, restaurant or trail angel's home.
yogi
A means of obtaining help or supplies from a non-hiker without directly asking.
yo-yo
Hiking the entire length of the trail, then turning around and hiking the entire trail in the opposite direction in one season.
zero day
A day in which you do no hiking, in other words, zero miles. Often taken in town in order to do laundry, eat, shower, eat, resupply, repair or replace gear, eat, and rest your weary body. And eat.
Curiously, apart from the recurring "PCT," trail-language employs remarkably few acronyms. The only one of any importance:
HYOH
Hike Your Own Hike. An encouragement between hikers to hike according to your own dreams, goals, expectations, or preferences, and not have your hike determined by other hikers' expectations. Guidebooks, websites, and other resources provide invaluable advice, but this is your hike. Hike it your way.
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