About hiking and thruhiking: so close and so far.

Most of us have put on our sneakers or boots, hit a forest trail, or wandered down a local trail in search of a moment of respite, a brush with nature, or a chance to clear our minds. The most experienced might even have spent a weekend in the mountains or gone camping for a week.
The low threshold of a simple walk, whether a short walk in the park or a climb up a nearby hill, is often enough to allow for the widespread experience of an intimate connection with the outdoors. However, beyond these familiar experiences lies a whole new world of long-distance adventures known in the US as thruhiking. Since this is an unfamiliar concept to most of my friends and family, I decided to delve a little deeper into the term.

At its core, hiking is the act of getting out into nature for recreational purposes: a day hike, a weekend trip, or even a multi-day camping trip, where preparation focuses on essentials like proper footwear, hydration, weather-appropriate clothing, and a sense of personal safety. These principles remain consistent whether you’re enjoying a brief escape or embarking on an intense journey across a country or continent. Both adventures reward you with breathtaking views, personal growth, and the satisfying feeling of conquering nature’s challenges.

So where did it originate? Thruhiking is derived from the word «through», emphasizing the idea of ​​traversing a complete trail from start to finish in one continuous hike. The emphasis is not just on walking long distances; it is about completing a challenge, a predetermined route that spans hundreds or even thousands of kilometers. Thruhiking is a term used less frequently in Europe, where “long-distance hiking” or even pilgrimage (if you have a spiritual focus) seem to be more common terms, focusing less on achieving and more on experiencing. Iconic trails in the US like the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, and Continental Divide Trail have popularized thruhiking, especially in the last 15 years (thanks Reese!), attracting adventurers who may be committed to both the journey and the destination.

At first glance, hiking is often seen as a casual leisure activity, while trekking can seem like an extreme sport reserved for the ultra-determined. In practice, both share many of the same underlying elements: exploration, connection to nature, and physical exertion. Both require careful planning regarding food, accommodation, and navigation aids such as maps and compasses or more modern GPS technology.

What makes thruhiking different from hiking?

The difference becomes evident when we delve deeper into the defining features of the two experiences. While the average hiker may venture out for a day or two (a week at a time) and return to the comforts of home, a thru-hiker commits to a journey that typically lasts months or often as long as the seasons allow. This distinction is not simply about time: it fundamentally alters the preparation required and the challenges associated with the adventure.

Thruhiking means carrying your entire family on your back like a snail

Long distance hiking requires a significant escalation in self-sufficiency. Thruhikers must plan for dangerous weather variations across vast regions, from the desert to Colorado 14ers, carry not only sufficient supplies but also the means to resupply along the route, and often learn advanced navigation and emergency skills and protocols, sometimes off-trail. The challenges of mental endurance and physical toughness are amplified when the trail becomes your constant companion for extended periods. While short-term hikers can rely on returning to civilization in a timely manner and often endure mild inconveniences, thru-hikers create an almost nomadic lifestyle, requiring versatility, stamina, and ingenuity to solve their problems along the way.

Walking the CDT is a physiological (or rather 120) marathon that far exceeds the impact of a casual day walk. While any single day or weekend hike can be as hard or harder than any single day of hiking, the CDT pushes the body to its limits over months of continuous effort.

A direct hike on the CDT covers approximately 5,000 km/3,000 miles over a period of five to six months. On average, hikers walk around 30 to 40 km per day (a little less than a marathon per day) with significant altitude changes, often accumulating more than 1500 vertical meters of ascent and descent while carrying a backpack weighing between 7 and 18 kg (depending on carrying food and water).

How Thruhiking Affects the Body

A bruised knee suffers “minor inconveniences” when hiking

Physiologically, long daily distances and repetitive loading of muscles, joints and tendons cause a spectrum of injuries uncommon on shorter walks. Hikers often suffer from tendonitis, chronic joint pain, or even stress fractures. Blisters and plantar fasciitis are also common, as the constant friction and strain of uneven terrain and heavy backpacks take their toll. Prolonged exertion and periodic weight-bearing challenges require not only rigorous physical preparation but also a strategic approach to recovery, hydration and nutrition. It is not surprising that only a small fraction of people who embark on such an adventure finish it.

In contrast, regular hiking tends to be a more forgiving activity, in which the body enjoys strenuous but limited exertion with enough time to recover at the end of the trip. While both activities connect us with nature, hiking transforms the experience into a continuous test of endurance that challenges the body far beyond an occasional day hike.

Furthermore, thruhiking is almost always more than just a physical journey: it is an inner (sometimes involuntary) act of self-discovery. The commitment to hiking an entire trail from end to end—or at least spending a lot of time alone in nature—transforms simple movement into a test of perseverance, requiring mindset adjustments, careful budgeting of energy and resources, and a willingness to adapt. Today, most of us live lives that are strikingly different from what we experience on the trail: both with respect to the type and amount of stimuli and distractions and with respect to the time and intensity we spend with ourselves.

Healthy, appropriately sized portion sizes are crucial to preventing injuries.

This deep immersion in experience contrasts with the lighter, recreational spirit of casual hiking, where one can retreat to the familiar comforts of home after a satisfying day or weekend in the outdoors. Anyone who has hiked for more than a few days can attest to the mental change that occurs after spending time on the trail. I found that, for me, this is mainly due to the lack of permanent distractions in your immediate environment. While every hiker today carries a ubiquitous phone, you experience a very different (and narrow) set of smells, visual stimuli, sounds, and other attention grabbers that allow your mind to wander to places that might surprise you.

I love both forms of hiking, but find them to be different enough to warrant an explanation for people unfamiliar with the term.

What for you is the most striking difference between Thru and Hiking?

If you want to learn more about the route and the challenges of the CDT, check out my Flyover Series HERE.

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