[pct-l] What is a "Thru Hike?"

[Reinhold Metzger]

Hi gang,
I think I will charter a plane from San Diego all the way to Canada and will then proudly 
proclaim....I am a PCT Thru-hiker!!!
Yes, maybe I will even fly over the AT & CDT and proudly proclaim....I am a Triple Crown 
Thru-hiker.
I don't see were there is much difference between hitch hiking & biking the trail and flying
the trail.
Desiring & attempting is one thing....doing & completing is another thing.
You either hiked (walked) the trail from Canada to Mexico or you did not.
Two different categories which should not be commingled.

I have logged several thousand miles on the PCT but do not consider myself a PCT Thru-hiker 
because I never hiked it border to border.
Now, I consider myself a JMT Thru-hiker because I hiked the JMT from Yosemite to Whitney or 
vice versa 9 times.
I do not consider some of my other JMT hikes Thru-hikes because I did not go all the way from
Yosemite to Whitney.
Like wise, if you attempt to climb Mt. Whitney but stop short off the summit, you did not 
climb Mt. Whitney....you attempted.
It's kind off like pregnancy.
A person may do some of the things that may cause pregnancy, but, unless that person actually
becomes pregnant, that person is not pregnant.

JMT Reinhold
---------------------------------------- 
Diane wrote:
What about those who chose to rent or borrow bicycles just to make up  
time? What about people who rode bikes on dangerous highways that  
were fire detours and those who believed they were there to hike a  
trail, not a freeway, and accepted a ride?

How far are you going to go to prove the purity of the hike?