ATRP - Appalachian Trail Retired People. Never met these folks, but they were a group of retired people hiking the Trail. Nothing unusual or wrong about that except they were constantly telling other people what they thought was the correct way to hike (so the Trail Gossip goes).
AYCE - All-you-can-eat, in reference to buffets or other meals that have no limit to how much food you intake, other than the size of your stomach.
Banana flip - A type of tumble in which your feet fly up in the air and you land on your back, as if you had slipped on a banana peel.
Bear bait - Either a person new to hiking or the slowest hiker in the group.
Blaze - Method of marking a trail, generally a 2" x 6" painted area on a tree, rock, or utility pole that indicates trail direction. On the AT, the blazes are painted white.
Blue blaze - Blue-colored blaze used to indicate other trails, side trails to points of interest, and trails to springs, shelters, campsites, water sources, or other features that are not actually on the AT. Used as a verb ("I decided to blue-blaze"), it denotes hiking side trails or routes other than the AT.
Blue-blazer - Hiker who is not committed to passing every white blaze.
Bobology - The study of trail terrain. An expert science based upon research in 500 miles of the most rugged terrain of northeastern USA. The trail goes up after a road or stream. It goes down when you hear cars or water. When Kevin says we have 2 miles left, we have 5. When it's "just around the corner," we have another hour left. When the trail profile map shows a perfectly flat trail, it's either vertically up or down. Pick one.
Bog logs - Logs placed in a way to cross a wet area. Famous for flipping over as a hiker steps on them.
Bouldering - Clambering and climbing along a boulder-strewn section of trail.
Bounce box - Box containing seldom-used items, such as repair kits, batteries, extra glasses or excess quantities of stuff such as coffee, that you "bounce" ahead by sending it to yourself from one town to the next.
Bushwhack - To hike where there is no trail.
BST - Bull-shi* trail, used when the trail makes you climb 3000 feet, goes within 500 feet of a summit, but then bypasses it, leaving a side trail to the summit for those hikers who weren't wiped out by the 3000-foot climb, which is almost nobody. Another example is when there is a much easier, more logical way around a particularly nasty area, but the trail, obviously, doesn't go the easier way.
Caretaker - Paid staff member who performs daily maintenance (like composting waste) and collects fees at a shelter or campsite.
Croo - Paid staff at an Appalachian Mountain Club hut.
Deet - Diethyltoluamide, a liquid insect repellent
Eau d'hiker - The smell of a hiker four days out is indefinable, so we are not even going to try.
Face plant - A face-first stumble.
False summit - A high point that seems to be the summit until you get close enough to see that you are not yet done climbing. Why is that last 200-foot climb twice as hard as the 1,200 feet that preceded it?
Flip-flop - To hike a section of trail in one direction, then go ahead by car, bike, bus, train, or plane, and hike back in the other direction until you get to where the hike left off; sometimes practiced by thru-hikers to beat inhospitable weather, especially at Katahdin.
Floaties - Suspended matter in water, consisting of leaf fragments and assorted dead and live microcritters (or moose poop in Maine), which will hasten the death of your filter. Best screened out with a bandanna or prefilter.
Ford - To wade across a shallow part of a body of water.
Goodies - Unexpected treats that show up in a scheduled maildrop, like a bottle of wine, brownies, cookies, and letters.
Half-Gallon Club - Membership is granted when a hiker consumes an entire half gallon of ice cream at a single setting. This feat is most often, though not always, attempted at a camp store near the Ironmasters Mansion hostel to celebrate reaching the halfway point of the AT.
Hiker box - A cabinet, bin, or box in a shelter, hostel, or outfitter. Hikers leave what they don't want and take what they do. Extremely large contributions of GORP and grits have been spotted in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont recently.
Hostel - An establishment usually offering bunks, showers, and sometimes meals or kitchen facilities to hikers and other travelers.
It is usually low-cost or may even operate on contributions.
Huff and up - Hiking a steep area without the aid of switchbacks. Extremely common in Maine, where switchbacks haven't been discovered yet.
Hut - In the White Mountains National Forest of New Hampshire, a large enclosed primitive lodge, operated by the Appalachian Mountain Club under contract with the Forest Service, staffed by a croo or caretaker and offering a bunk and meals or kitchen privileges; no extra charge for the crowds.
Krummholz - Stunted, twisted trees resulting from the harsh climate near treeline.
Lean-to - Three-sided shelter. Trail shelters in New England are often referred to as lean-tos.
LNT (Leave No Trace) - Backwoods ethics that promote minimal-impact camping and hiking.
Long-distance hiker (LD hiker) - A hiker on a hike of 50 miles or more.
Long-term resupply - Larger convenience stores, grocery stores, or supermarkets offering a good variety of hiker-friendly food.
Maildrop - Food or sundry resupplies sent via USPS by somebody at home, like a wonderful mother. (Thanks, Mom!)
Maintainer - Person who clears blowdowns, cuts brush, builds rock stairs, repairs erosion damage, makes minor relocations, and generally maintains a section of trail.
Mouse-hangers - Also known as "mouse trapezes," these are lengths of string, line, or wire on which an empty can or can lid is strung. One end is attached to the shelter ceiling, and you hang your food bag from the other end. The lid or can is intended to prevent mice from crawling down the line and getting to your food. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. But, the mice really seem to enjoy them, so, what the heck, we use them.
MUDs - Mindless ups and downs.
NOBO - Northbound hike or hiker.
Outfitter - Store specializing in outdoor gear.
Peak - High point of a mountain or hill, also known as the "pay-off" or "reward" because of the views it affords. Except that it will probably be cloudy when you get there.
Pond - A body of water usually smaller than a lake except in New England, where it probably is a lake. No one knows why they call lakes ponds. They just do.
Power line - Cleared area beneath high-tension power lines. Cleared of trees, that is - power line clearings are usually full of brambles and sometimes raspberries (Yum! Raspberries!)
Privy - Outdoor toilet for the disposal of human waste, typically over a pit. The only smell worse than eau d'hiker.
PSCs - Pointless stream crossings. Or, the tendency of the trail to zig and zag across the same icy stream for no known purpose other than creating blisters.
PUDs - Pointless ups and downs.
Purist - A hiker who makes a covenant with him- or herself prior to the hike and then keeps the covenant during the entire hike. Most commonly, the covenant is to hike past every white blaze or to carry a backpack for the entire distance.
Red-blazing - A particularly nasty tumble in which you leave a trail of blood behind you.
Register - Technically, a notebook in a shelter or place along a trail in which hikers leave messages for other hikers or for maintainers. Actually, the repository is some of the funniest, most poignant literature and art in the western world. Fact: If you read every entry in every register you find, you will never get to Maine or Georgia.
Rock scramble - Extremely steep trail or section that requires climbing rather than hiking.
Roller-coaster - Section of trail with constant ups and downs. Also see MUDs, PUDs and SUDs.
Section-hiker - A hiker who is hiking an entire trail over a period of years.
Shelter - Usually a three-sided wooden or stone structure that affords protection from weather; sometimes called a lean-to.
Sipper - Hiker who uses a hydration bag.
Skunked - Getting passed by while hitchhiking.
Slackpack - Hiking without your pack, which is transported ahead for pick-up.
SOBO - Southbound hike or hiker.
Stealth camping - Camping "off the radar" of authorities or property owners in an area where it's not allowed. (Usually, not a good idea.)
SUDs - Senseless ups and downs.
Switchback - A zig-zag trail, built as an aid in climbing a steep area or to reduce erosion. More commonly found in the South. Some day, the northerners will learn of this technique, but, until then, it's 'huff and up' in the North.
Thru-hiker - On the AT, a hiker who is hiking from Maine to Georgia or Georgia to Maine in one trip, or, generally accepted, a person who has done the same. Also called "Thru."
Tourons - A term used for tourists, usually applied after you have sweated blood, climbing to a great view, and find it overrun with people who drove to the peak and then ask you how far you have hiked or any of the other dozen questions that you are sick on answering. Of course, if tourons offer you food, they become magically transformed into nice folks, and, if they offer you a ride into town, they become the salt of the Earth. Weird how that happens...
Town clothes - Clothes carried specifically for use in towns, either to present a better image or to wear while laundering everything else. Many hikers use their rain gear while laundering to avoid the weight of an extra set of clothes. We kept our town clothes in our bounce box.
Trail angel - Person who seeks to help hikers by providing rides, food, or drinks for no fee.
Trail corridor - Public lands acquired to protect the Trail and it wild nature. The width varies, but is typically 1,000 feet.
Trail crew - A group of volunteer Trail workers, working under the direction of paid leaders, who do maintenance, relocations, rock work, and other major projects.
Trailhead - The point at which a trail begins. Also the point at which a trail meets a road.
Trail gossip - The fastest, but not the most reliable, source of communication along the Trail. With only the aid of big mouths, news and gossip on the Trail travels amazingly fast.
Trail magic - Originally, the term used to describe a situation in which the "universe" seems to provide just what is needed at just the time when it is needed most. It could be a wildlife sighting that renews you, or a break in the clouds allowing you the first good view you have seen in 800 miles, or a weekender with excess food after a raccoon stole yours and you are facing three hungry days until a resupply. Recently, it has been used to describe food or drinks stashed by people along the Trail as a treat for hikers.
Trail name - Nickname that people call themselves or earn while hiking, by which they are known among other hikers.
Treeline - Point of elevation on a mountain above which the climate is such that tree growth can no longer be supported.
Trudge mode - Manner of hiking that usually happens at the end of a day or climb, during which all possible effort of body and soul is required just to keep going.
Turtle-ing - A type of tumble in which you land on your pack and struggle to regain your feet in the way that turtles do if flipped on their backs. Turtles are better at this than most hikers.
Umbles - Things that let you know things are not good with the body: grumble - a person is irritable and complaining; mumble - a person is not communicating clearly; stumble - a person has trouble walking and maintaining balance; bumble - a person can't do simple tasks well, losing coordination. Okay, we all get cranky or clumsy from time to time, but those symptoms can indicate the onset of delirium brought on by hyperthermia, hypothermia, dehydration, or other serious medical emergencies. Stay with a hiker who has the umbles, as he or she may be in trouble.
Vitamin I - Ibuprofen, an anti-inflammatory and analgesic drug.
Web walking - Being the first hiker on the trail in the morning, which means you will be the one clearing the spider webs from across the trail, usually with your face.
Weekender (Weekend Warrior) - Hiker who is hiking for a couple of days.
White blaze - White-colored blaze to indicate the Appalachian Trail.
Widowmaker - A dead limb that could come down without warning. Always look up before you set up camp or your stop for lunch or to answer nature's call.
Work-for-stay - Practice of allowing thru-hikers to work in exchange for bed and board.
Yellow blaze - Term used to denote the yellow center-line that is painted on a highway.
Yellow-blazer - Someone who hitch hikes around sections of trail by following the yellow blazes.
Yogi-ing - The fine art of getting other hikers, picnickers, or others to offer you food, drink, or rides. It's a subtle art, requiring the hiker to communicate a need without actually asking for something. Limping, wistful staring, or subtle drooling is allowed, but actual asking, begging, or stealing is not, despite the actions of Yogi Bear (from whose name the term originates). For example, when a hiking buddy gets a load of brownies in the mail, it is allowable to say, "Those look fabulous. You must have a wonderful girl/boyfriend at home waiting for you." They then, without you asking, usually offer you one of their brownies.
Zombie zone - Manner of hiking when your mind is somewhere else and your body is hiking without you. This is asking for trouble on the Pennsylvania rocks.