Thru-Hiker

Any long-distance hiker who walks the length of a particular trail in one trip.  A “thru-hike” refers to the journey itself.  On the AT, this refers to a 2,000 miler who hiked or is currently hiking the entire AT in less than a year. This includes northbounders, southbounders, and flip-floppers.

Earl Shaffer on the first documented AT thru-hike.
Photo from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.

Example: “Eight pancakes, ma’am?! You must be a thru-hiker.”

Fun Fact: Earl Schaffer became the first AT thru-hiker in 1948.

For Information on Current Thru-Hikers: Read updates from Appalachian Trials’ bloggers and from other AT thru-hikers at Trail Journals.

For Listings of Former Thru-Hikers: Check out Appalachian Trials’ thru-hiker registry.