What is a Thru Hike?

What is a Thru Hike?

A common term you’ll hear among the hiking and backpacking community is “thru hiking”. Thru hiking is for the dedicated, experienced, and adventurous backpackers out there who want to take their backcountry experience to the next level. It’s not for the fair weather backpacker who likes to keep their trips short and sweet. Whether this sounds like something right up your alley or like something you’d like to avoid, if you’re a hiker, you should know what a thru hike is.

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What is a Thru Hike

A thru hike, in short, is a hardcore backpacking trip. It is a backpacking trip where you go from end to end on a long-distance trail. By the end of the trip, you will have covered the entire length of the trail.

Many hikers will tackle a short trail or even a few short trails during a trip or day hike. That is great, but that does not count as thru hiking.

The trails that thru hikers will tackle are trails that are a few hundred or even a few thousand miles long. For example, the Pacific Coast Trail is a common thru hiking trail that stretches over 2,600 miles. These trails can take weeks or months to complete. It is quite the endeavor!

If you’ve ever read the book Wild, Cheryl is taking on the PCT in a thru hiking adventure. If you haven’t read it, we recommend it!

Thru Hiking Vs. Backpacking

Popular Thru Hikes

Below is a list of some of the most popular thru hikes in the US that people like to tackle.

While completing any of the thru hikes on this list is quite the accomplishment, some thru hikers dream of accomplishing the “Triple Crown” . The Triple Crown refers to the completion of the Appalachian Trail, PCT, and Continental Divide. This is the ultimate bucket list accomplishment for thru hikers. Finishing all 3 requires a lot of planning and dedication!

Pacific Coast Trail (PCT)

• Length: 2,650 miles
• Average Duration: 4-5.5 Months
• Highest Point: 13,153 ft
• Location: Mexico to Canada through California, Oregan, and Washington

Appalachian Trail (AT)

• Length: 2,190+ miles
• Average Duration: 5-7 Months
• Highest Point: 6,643 ft
• Location: Georgia to Maine

Continental Divide

• Length: 3,110 miles
• Average Duration: 5-6 Months
• Highest Point: 14,278 ft
• Location: Mexican border to Canadian border

Arizona Trail

• Length: 800 miles
• Average Duration: 6-8 weeks
• Highest Point: 8,148 ft
• Location: Arizona

Colorado Trail

• Length: 567 miles
• Average Duration: 4-6 weeks
• Highest Point: 13,271 ft
• Location: Colorado

Pinhoti Trail

• Length: 339 miles
• Average Duration: 1 month
• Highest Point: 3,164 ft
• Location: California

Challenges of Thru Hiking

Physical Strain

If you have ever gone on a tough multi-day trek, you know how hard it can be on your body. Soreness, blisters, bruises, bug bites, and an upset stomach are common concerns that hikers face on a typical trip. Less fortunate hikers may face broken bones, stress fractures, lymes disease, altitude sickness, or dehydration.

On top of all the potential ailments you might face on the trail, you need to be sure to fuel yourself properly. Poor nutrition becomes a more severe issue the longer you are out in the forest for. Thru hikers need to make sure their food is not only lightweight and easy to prepare, but nutritious and high-calorie.

Read more about proper backpacking nutrition here.

Mental Strain

Even the most enthusiastic of hikers can struggle with some mental turmoil over the course of their trek. Thoughts of “why am I doing this?” and “I want this to be over” will likely creep into your mind at some point. This will be something you need to overcome if you are determined to finish the trail.

One way to limit these negative feelings is to have realistic expectations going into the trip. Don’t romanticize it too much. It is going to be a tough hike and you need to mentally prepare for it. There will be beautiful and fun points on the hike, but there will also be uncomfortable and boring parts, keep the highs and lows in mind during the planning process.

This mental strain can become even more difficult if you choose to do the trip solo. While you will certainly come across and make friends with other hikers on the way, you will be spending a lot of time with yourself. This can be a real challenge for some people.

Finances

Many of these thru hikes can take months to complete. I’m not sure how cool your job is, but chances are they won’t grant you PTO for that extended of a time. Most thru hikers are not making any money during the months of the trip.

Getting your finances in order needs to be part of your planning process. You’ll need to have the funds to support your trip and a budget plan to stick to.  

It’s also important to figure out your employment situation. Will your current employer allow you to step away for a long time, then return to your role after the hike? Or will you need extra savings to live on as you search for a new role after your trek?

Thorough Planning and Preperation

Speaking of planning, the intense planning needed to have a comfortable and smart thru-hiking experience is enough to deter many people. You can’t just up and go. You’ll need to spend a significant amount of time planning this trip and you might need assistance from someone who has done it before.

A few of the things you’ll need to focus on when preparing for your thru hike include finances, gear, resupply, physical fitness, first aid skills.

Resupplying

Unlike a typical backpacking trip, you can’t carry all your food, fuel, and clothing with you for the entire trek. You’re going to need to organize restocks. Restocks can consist of stopping in a nearby town to purchase new items, shipping items to yourself, or having someone organize the drops for you.

Many thru hikers will only carry enough food for 6-10 days at a time, then use these planned stops to restock. They may also pick up new clothes, refill toiletries, first aid supplies, or fuel.  There are other items that are only periodically needed that they might ship to themselves in a “bounce box”.

Maintaining a Fast Pace

For long thru hikes, backpackers are up against the clock to try to  accomplish the hike over the course of the summer. Some hikes are grueling or even unpassable in the winter, so taking advantage of this window of good summer weather is important.

Setting a fast pace is necessary in order to complete one of these hikes in time. Some hikers try for as many as 20-25 miles in a day! These aggressive mile goals allow for much needed rest or “zero days” where they can relax, explore a nearby town, and give their body a break.

Benefits of Thru Hiking

Community

The thru hiking community is a close and welcoming group of backpackers. They tend to stick together and help each other out along the way. It’s very common to form special bonds and friendships with the people you meet on the trail! You will likely finish your trek with a few new, life-long relationships.

Unique and Life-Changing Experiences

Many thru hikers come off the trail with a new outlook on life, new perspectives, or at the very least new memories that will leave a lasting impression. Spending months hiking through the forest will put through situations and struggles that you wouldn’t have otherwise experienced. These situations may be frightening, beautiful, or profound, and they’ll surely leave a lasting impression.

Learning, A Lot of Learning

You should go into a thru hike feeling like you know a lot about backpacking. However, if there is anything you don’t know, you’re going to learn it on the trip!  You’ll find yourself creating new hacks for problems you face and learning new tips from hikers you meet.

You’ll also become far more familiar with your gear. In a week or two, you will find multiple uses for your favorite items. You may also find yourself ditching a few items you thought would come in handy!

Bucket-List Accomplishment

Completing a long thru hike is impressive! Being able to successfully complete one is an incredibly fulfilling and satisfying feeling. Not to mention the bragging rights you have after finishing it. Not very many people can say that they have completed a thru hike. At the end of the trek, you’ll be beaming with pride!

Tips for Your First Thru Hike

Study and Plan – A Lot!

You may have gone on plenty of backpacking trips, but that doesn’t mean you know everything you need to know for a thru hike. You’re going to want to do some solid and thorough research on thru hiking before committing to a trip. Hop on some forums and join social media groups as well to get a variety of perspectives.

For example, if you’re looking to hike the PCT, there are a ton of forums and groups you can join. Find a list here.

Once you know what you’re in for and you are committed, you need to start planning. Planning can take months to do properly. Be sure to give yourself ample time to plan, it is better to be over prepared than under.

Invest in New Gear and Skills

That backpacking gear you’ve been using the last 5 years? It might not live up to the thru-hike standards. You’re going to want the lightest of the light equipment for this endeavor.

Make sure the most important pieces of gear, such as sleeping bag (LINK) and backpack (LINK), are good quality and lightweight. These are items you will be using every single day on this trip, so you might want to invest a bit more in them.

If you haven’t taken one already, take a course in backcountry first aid and survival. The more time you spend in the forest, the more time you have to get injured in the forest. First aid, as well as backcountry navigation, are skills you’ll want to have under your belt before you set out on the trail.  

Commit Fully

You can’t go into a thru hike half-heartedly. You need to be all in.

The hike needs to be your priority. You must feel willing and ready to face obstacles and temptations that will try to stand in the way of your goal. You’ll need to make sacrifices and potentially face criticism from loved ones.

There will be times in the planning process where things may seem stressful and overwhelming, but keep your end goal in mind.

“Hike Your Own Hike”

This is a common phrase in the hiking community that means you should focus on doing what is best for you on your hike.

It’s your hike! Who cares if you don’t fit someone else’s mold of what a thru hiker needs to be. Learn from others and take their advice seriously, but when something doesn’t work for you, it doesn’t work for you and that’s all there is to it.

Stretch and Take Care of Your Body

Before bed, after waking up, during breaks, and any time you have a second to spare, give your muscles some love.

People who neglect stretching are more likely to injure themselves. It takes effort, but your body will feel a lot better if you keep up with a good stretching and warm up routine. Even on your zero days.

Know When to Take a Break

There is a big difference between not being in the mood to hike one day and feeling like you cannot hike one day. On the days when your body is fighting you every step of the hike, give yourself a break.

Injuries are common when you push your body to the limits. When your body tells you to take it easy, listen. Take it easy every once in a while. It might take you longer to finish, but if you push too hard, you might not finish at all.

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