I'm all for maximum effort when completing and reporting a thru-hike, but to to hike that entire trail (or do virtually anything over a long period of time) 100% error-free is complete BS. Anyone who can confirm a "purist" thru hike should receive a Nobel Prize and the rest of humanity should quit trying at anything. Regarding "purists," I don't see many people claiming this and hiking from Oglethorpe to Katahdin in army boots with a canvas rucksack full of canned goods. Claiming to be a "purist" on the AT in 2023 is nothing short of mental illness and those folks should make peace with their overbearing parents.
Part of my reason for being a purist was to avoid the slippery slope.
If you skip a few feet of the trail, then you might skip a small section, then that might lead to missing a mile here and there. Blue blazing, yellow blazing, etc.
If the goal is to hike the entire AT, then do it.
I know when I do it again someday my goal will be to take all the better and more scenic alternates, and maybe some just to do something different even if more scenic is questionable. Maybe start with the complete Benton Mackaye and take a totally different route through the Whites and other areas. Lots of options even with a very brief look.
NoDoz
nobo 2018 March 10th - October 19th
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I'm just one too many mornings and 1,000 miles behind
Having integrity means that you adhere to a set of moral standards for yourself. However, I question the need to adhere to standards set by others. I think THAT is the slippery slope which has led to some of the greatest crimes to humanity in history. "Just following orders"...
When I hiked sobo through N. Adams, I walked over to the Trail House Kitchen and Bar, and may have had 3 too many local brews (with a Delicious Lunch), because I think I may have skipped a few hundred feet of trail, when I took a wrong turn on Chantilly Ave instead of Phelps Ave where the trail actually goes, so I may have to go back and catch that 3 block section
Take Time to Watch the Trees Dance with The Wind........Then Join In........
For a couple of bucks, get a weird haircut and waste your life away Bryan Adams....
Hammock hangs are where you go into the woods to meet men you've only known on the internet so you can sit around a campfire to swap sewing tips and recipes. - sargevining on HF
Many people skip these sections. Many don't. They are maintained and blazed like the rest of trail. In any case most people don't finish a thru hike at all. As others have said you have to hike your own hike and make those decisions yourself. Envision the hike that you want, the one you have dreamed of. Hang with people that support it. Change that vision only when you can do so without regret.
If the trail goes through town you walk through town. There is no dropping off required. If there are multiple ways to get to town then white blazers go back to the place they left the trail. From a slippery-slope point of view and oops my ride took me to wrong trailhead, it is best imho for white blazers to hike the orphan section first in most cases.
NOBO into Duncannon, I stopped at the Doyle. Despite many beers, there was no way I was staying there. I walked straight through town on oops the wrong road. Fleishman found the dead body a few days later. No regrets.
For me it was a quiet meditative empty section of trail away from the highway. I got to witness a large tree fall in the woods on a windless day and observe a pair of pileated woodpeckers, the largest in North America.Include the town miles for purity. They aren’t that long anyway. The only time I got my nose out of joint about following the white blazes (SOBO) was from where the trail leaves the Creeper trail for a 12 mile section of PUDS pretty much parallel to the beautifully level Creeper trail also headed to Damascus. I chose purely, but not sure if wisely.
I don't want to pick a fight with you gpburdelljr. You have contributed a lot to whiteblaze over the years, and I have enjoyed many of your posts, but this comment stuck with me as I thru hiked this year. I set out to make an honest effort to hike the entire AT and I'm proud to say I did so. I didn't retro blaze. I didn't blue blaze. I didn't yellow blaze. I made an honest effort to hike the entire AT. That was my standard that I set for myself and it is consistent with the ATC definition. I don't think its in good taste to joke that someone like me has a mental illness or disability just because I'm a "purist" when it came to hiking the AT. Maybe you were just trying to be funny but I politely ask that you consider withdrawing your comment.
For others reading this thread I would say that purists appeared to me to be a small minority of those hiking the trail. So I think you really have to be dedicated if that's your personal goal. There are pros and cons to different approaches and I did what worked for me. I found that on the trail we were all very accepting of each other's different styles. As I said before I even started the trail, as long as you are honest, then absolutely HYOH and I believe that's how most, if not all, the hikers I met felt about it. Happy hiking all!
AT Flip Flop (HF to ME, HF to GA) Thru Hike 2023; LT End-to-Ender 2017; NH 48/48 2015-2021; 21 of 159usForests.com
I walked every step of the trail as it was laid out at the time of my entry, if I got off trail on the south side of a town or road, thats where I picked back up. It was part of the commitment to myself to finish it all as a section hiker, and being a purist kept my eye on the prize and eliminated the slippery slope of skipping any of the trail.
at cross mountain/ Osborn farm on the south side of that road entry I was totaled at the end of a hike early on in my completion, and I chose to walk the road for the .2 back to the car vs the trail that ran parallel to the road. It bothered me for a few years so I went back and walked the .2 during a rehike of that section. That is the closest I came on the entire trail to losing the purist mentality.
i accidentally took a side trail down old stony man in SNP, when I got to the bottom and noticed my buddy standing on the AT a couple hundred feet over from me, I frustratingly reclimbed to the summit on the AT just to turn back around and walk back down. Climbed old stony twice lol but that taught me to pay better attention to blazes!
My purist aproach was all about staying honest with myself and the commitment to complete the trail
Trail Miles: 5,125.9
AT Map 1: Completed 13-21'
Sheltowee Trace: Completed 20-23'
Pinhoti Trail: Completed 23-24'
GSMNP900: 134.7(16.8%)
Foothills Trail: 47.9
AT Map 2: 279.4
CDT: 210.9
BMT: 52.7
I'm obviously 100% with you on this Gambit. It reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend of mine who skipped a mile but was lightly complaining about someone who skipped 300 miles. I asked so is 1 mile ok but 300 not? Where do you draw the line? We were friends and so we were just passing the time while hiking discussing the subject as I find it interesting. One of the pros of being a purist is there is no line to draw or as you say it eliminates any slippery slope!
Of course not saying that its the only approach and I was happy to be befriend all different types of hikers - part of the charm of the trail.
AT Flip Flop (HF to ME, HF to GA) Thru Hike 2023; LT End-to-Ender 2017; NH 48/48 2015-2021; 21 of 159usForests.com
I've taught kids with OCD. It can be seriously debilitating and has nothing to do with ethics or purism. These kids have habits and issues that they do not choose and cannot break. They struggle with change and toss obstacles in their own path effectively creating procrastination until they fail with the task at hand.
There are an infinite number of ways to "thru-hike" the trail. The OP wanted to understand purism in relation to hiking the trail. For many purists, success has a lot to do with creating strong daily habits which may seem inflexible and obsessive to some but they are not OCD. These habits are chosen.