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98% of so called thru-hikers are actual frauds

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    • 98% of so called thru-hikers are actual frauds

      (TOPIC)

      In the past year more and more people make announcement videos about they're going to hike the AT, do all this planning and shakedown hikes, and yet when they get out onto the trail, they aren't even a week into it and they're already taking Zero days, constantly slack Packing, getting rides all over the place, and the ever famous, sleeping in hostels and hotels, for almost their entire trip. It's now gotten to the point where every single person is doing this...It's pathetic

      If you cannot even last a week, you won't make it the entire way, and you don't belong on the trail.

      Speaking of hostel and hotel hopping, here is a little humor video I made about that:

      The post was edited 2 times, last by Matt_C ().

    • Matt, you keep applying your personal definition of what a thru-hike should be to others. Not cool!
      Why don't you focus on what you want to do, and let others do things their way.

      The trail is part of a community. One of the great things for me is getting to know some of the places, people and towns that the trail goes through. I've gained so much getting to know the hostel owners, trail angels and shuttle drivers I have met along the way. I have considered it enriching, not 'pathetic.' But to each his own.

      You have made a few announcement videos about your hike. Do you have a start date yet? I look forward to seeing how your journey progresses.
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”

      John Greenleaf Whittier

    • in my opinion, a thru-hike is starting at one terminus with a backpack and walking to the other terminus with a backpack. no slacking or flipflopping, no goin' home for 3 months then continue later on. i'm following a few YouTubers and they're still in Georgia after 2 weeks. lotta slackin' and shuttlin' and hostelin'. that's not "embracing the suck". todays hikers don't suffer much

    • 100% agree with IMScotty.

      There are very few documented rules associated with a Thru Hike. To register your thru with the ATC, you have to abide by their published rules. But that's on the honor system. You get your name and date published in the ATC magazine and get a patch. Woo hoo!

      Hikers attempting a Fastest Known Time (FKT) attempt need to follow the rules set forth by the 'official' group of people that monitor such efforts. There was a scandal a few years back when a hiker claimed to have set a record but didn't have the documentation to back it up. Then an individual stepped up and confirmed that they gave that hiker a ride, bypassing ~30 miles of the trail. The FKT claim was declined and the hiker faded into a sad footnote.

      The Matt_C rules for thru-hiking only exist in Matt_C's head. And I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but no one is going to give Matt_C any special kudos for sleeping in his tent for 4 - 6 months straight while hiking the AT. And...Matt_C doesn't get to decide who belongs on the trail.

      Some people claim that you need to hike the Approach Trail from Amicalola Falls State Park to make a thru-hike official.
      Some people claim you need to carry your fully-loaded backpack every step of the way to be a real thru-hiker.
      Some people claim that skipping 2-3 blazes by taking one trail into a shelter and another trail back to the AT is cheating.
      Some people claim that slack-packing is cheating.
      Some people claim that changing directions by shuttling ahead and hiking back to a hostel is cheating.
      Some people claim that wearing boots is a stupid idea,
      Some people claim that using hiking poles is a bad thing.
      And there's this one guy who keeps claiming that 98% of AT hikers are frauds.

      When my section hike of the AT is complete, I will only claim one thing: that I hiked (walked, skipped, sauntered, sashayed, or otherwise put one foot in front of the other) the entire AT as it existed when I hiked each section.

      If someone challenges me, I will have pictures, journal entries and memories to back up my claim. I will proudly submit my information to the ATC and consider myself a 2000-Miler via Section Hikes.
      Trudgin' along the AT since 2003. Completed Sections: Springer Mountain to Clingmans Dome and Max Patch NC to Gorham NH

      "The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations...those are pretty good days." Ray Wylie Hubbard

    • Da Wolf wrote:

      in my opinion, a thru-hike is starting at one terminus with a backpack and walking to the other terminus with a backpack. no slacking or flipflopping, no goin' home for 3 months then continue later on. i'm following a few YouTubers and they're still in Georgia after 2 weeks. lotta slackin' and shuttlin' and hostelin'. that's not "embracing the suck". todays hikers don't suffer much
      The term Thru-Hike to me is straight up idiotic because the word Thru in that phrase, has the context of a short cut or quick way thru I.E. if you cut thru someone's back yard or if you needed to cut thru a room to get from one side of a building to the other without having to go around. Hey do you mind if I cut thru here real quick...

      Saying Thru-Hike is the same as saying cut-thru

      Yes, yes I know it's spelled THROUGH, I just wanted to put it into perspective so people got the point.

      StalkingTortoise wrote:

      If someone challenges me, I will have pictures, journal entries and memories to back up my claim. I will proudly submit my information to the ATC and consider myself a 2000-Miler via Section Hikes.
      Pictures don't mean anything. There was a girl who was huge on Social media who had prosthetic legs and made the claim she hiked the AT..had pictures and everything...Well, after no one ever ran into her on the trail, they did some digging and it turned out she was getting rides and not doing much then taking pictures at certain areas then using those pictures to boast about hiking that far...the whole thing was a farce and just like here, despite people proved she didn't do anything, people still defended her..

      The post was edited 2 times, last by Matt_C ().