Re[2]: [at-l] More re What's a Pure Thru-hike?

[Bob C." <ellen@xxxxxxxxxx (Bob C.)]

>"...no human being is capable of completing a 100.000000000000000% pure
>thru-hike" thinks thru thinker, who strikes me as getting unneccessarily
>technical.

Certainly no rational person will attempt to step on every inch of the trail.
Nor is that the issue. The only certificate for hiking the AT that I know about
is issued by the Appalachian Trail Conference. The conference gives a
certificate to those who have hiked "every mile" or at least made every
reasonable (honest) effort to do so. The conference doesn't care whether this
happened in one year or 50 plus years.

Here's what the conference says:

"How does the ATC define thru-hiking? We don't. The ATC uses the term
"2,000-miler" as a matter of tradition and convenience.

"ATC defines a "2,000-miler" as anyone who has hiked the entire trail between
Springer Mountain in Georgia and Katahdin in Maine. We don't consider issues
such as the sequence, direction, speed or whether one carries a pack. We do
expect that persons applying for inclusion in our 2,000-miler records have made
an honest effort to walk the entire Trail."

Though we may quarrel with the logic of the ATC rules, they certainly are
understandable. If you want to apply for "2,000-miler status," you must have
first made an "honest" effort to walk the entire trail. That excludes me who
wandered down too many side trails and had to bypass southern New England when a
nerve irritation made walking impossible.

As for what we tell our friends and neighbors, that, in my opinion, is up to
each individual. I used to explain in great detail my six month and three day
walk. I admit to being a bit slow. But even I quickly learned that as I
attempted to explain I had missed a mile here and there people were not really
interested in such details. Most sensible people think we are nuts just for
spending six months walking up and down hills. They don't really care whether we
are more or less nutty for having to skip a few miles for whatever reason.

But I agree 100 percent with Jack. You should only honestly apply for a
2,000-miler patch if you have walked "every mile." Hmmm. I wonder what the ATC
means by that. Do I only have to have set foot on "every mile" of the trail?" Or
do I have to walk every mile from the beginning of that mile to the end of that
mile."

Weary