What is Thru Hiking

There’s a romance about being on a long trail. Thru hiking takes you across parks, counties, states and even countries, to a finish far from where you started. A thru hike is reminiscent of the historic cattle drives of the old west, where you’d start in Texas and end up in Wichita or Abilene. Or the Oregon Trail, when pioneers left Missouri or Nebraska on their trek westward. Even further back there were Native American “long trails” like the Paiute Trade Route, which traces the backbone of the Sierra Nevada and is now part of the John Muir Trail. Sure, the early long trails sometimes involved mules or horses, but the idea was the same, to get from point A to point B through vast landscapes, carrying what you need, and stopping in villages or trail towns to resupply.

 Every day of a thru hike is an adventure with new scenery, and every night, there’s simple food, perhaps a campfire, and that sense of being completely self-sufficient. Sure, there are challenges of navigation, fatigue, weather and terrain, but that’s all part of your multi day thru hike. Whether you are dreaming of walking the entire distance of the Appalachian Trail (AT), the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) or the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) or any of the hundreds of classic thru hikes around the world, this is what you need to know.

William Emerson, who was the 20th person to complete the coveted Triple Crown of thru hikes, which includes the AT, PCT, and CDT, says that while everyone has their own definition, in its purest form, thru hiking is backpacking a lengthy trail from end to end in a single push or hiking season. This single push requires camping along the way with equipment you are carrying to allow for mostly unsupported, independent or small group travel. There’s no set length a trail needs to be to qualify for a thru hike, but the common consensus is that it must include hiking the entire length of a trail from end to end, with possible restocking enroute for really long trails. 

In the U.S, the  Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, and  Continental Divide Trail  are considered the “Big Three” of thru-hiking. Most countries have thru hikes, as they bring environmentally responsible tourism to small villages and are a great way to support historic trail systems. An accessible way to start thru hiking is to get started with a long trail where you don't need to be completely self-supported. Good examples of long trails that don’t require complete self-support are the Haute Route in the Alps, The Jordan Trail in Jordan, and Pyrenean Haute Route in Spain. All are great traverses with huts and home stays along the way for shelter, good food and guidance.

Essentially, thru hiking is a form of  backpacking. Thru hikes involve multiple, self-supported days on the trail, moving as quickly and efficiently as possible. With traditional backpacking, there is more leisure time spent snapping photos, making food and exploring side canyons and lake shores. Because many of the classic trails are long, with weather and seasonality always a consideration, thru-hiking is more of a mission than laid back recreation. In its most classic form, thru hiking involves as light of gear as possible, longer days on the trail, and greater distance between camps than most backpackers are accustom to. Both forms of backcountry travel require a grasp of navigation, route finding, and of course,  leave no trace principles.

There is no rule about how long a thru hike needs to be, but generally the mileage should be longer than a marathon, which is 26.2 miles. Classic thru hikes include the John Muir Trail at just over 200 miles, to the more than 17,000-mile-long Trans Canada Trail that connects the shores of the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. In contrast, the Pacific Coast, Continental Divide and Appalachian Trails are in the 2,000-to-3,000-mile range. “Thru hikes are bigger than day hikes,” says Emerson. “For me, a 10-mile hike end-to-end is not a thru hike. I’d think 100+ miles as a minimum. But unless you are going for a FKT, fastest known time, then it should be more about what you want to do than someone else’s definition.”

Your walking speed depends on your level of physical fitness, the terrain you are covering, how much weight you are carrying on your back, and the weather. An average person walks about two miles per hour, so if you’re planning on hiking for eight hours, you’ll cover an average of 16 miles before setting up camp. But there are a lot of extenuating factors. If you are new to hiking and aren’t accustomed to  vertical gain  and drop, ten miles a day is a decent goal. As you develop your trail skills and fitness, 15-to-25-mile days aren’t uncommon. Of course, it is important that you have your kit dialed in, food figured out, and hiking shoes or boots   that won’t give you blisters. Regardless if you are covering 10 miles or 30, it is the act of doing it day after day that makes thru hiking unique.

If you are hiking for more than a week at a time, you might consider taking a rest day, or zero day. That’s thru hiker code for when you take a break from the trail, hit the closest town or village, stock up on food and supplies, and maybe even get a hot shower and bed for the night. Another option is to mail yourself extra food, clothes, and any other restocking supplies you might need to post offices in designated “trail towns” along the way.

A thru hike can take days, weeks, months, or even years. Emerson says that for him, “thru hiking hits its stride” with 1000+ mile trails, such as the Appalachian Trail (AT), the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), Continental Divide Trail (CDT), Pacific Northwest Trail (PNT), and the Te Araroa Trail in New Zealand. There are many sub-1000-mile thru hikes, such as the Arizona Trail (AZT), Colorado Trail and John Muir Trail.

“It could be that one person’s backpacking trip is another person’s thru hike,” reasons Emerson. “But there are definitely some classic thru hikes that really define the term.” The bottom line is, as thru hikers are fond of saying, “hike your own hike.” Don’t let labels get in the way of your goal.