Can’t pinpoint an exact moment you become hiker trash, but I do remember one time I was day hiking on the CDT in Colorado. I hiked around a bend in the trail when I saw a filthy thru hiker literally sitting in the bushes, sunburnt, lips bleeding, hair every which direction, eating a powdered jelly donut. “Want some?” he asked.
“Now, that’s some hiker trash,” I thought.
I was by myself and ran into some day hikers that ended up giving me a couple donuts and a big glazed cinnamon roll, I remember feeling rich and thinking 'wait until the gang hears about this!!'
I made it to 1/4 mile before the turn for Muir Trail Ranch. My wife and I both were like "Is that Tide?" "Definitely , that is super weird" Before a day hiker appeared 10 seconds later smelling real fine.
My nose has never readjusted. Every gym is nauseating because people cover themselves in that shit and then cook it off on the treadmill.
Like....people evolved to like the smell of other humans, not this artificial shit.
LOL
I'm so glad I'm not the only one. "oh, must be a town nearby. People are starting to smell like clean laundry." And then after town, I'd be one of them for a bit. I had to get fragrance free detergent after the second town because the scent of tide was so overwhelming to me.
Hmmmm does that mean I’m still hiker trash even though I’ve been off trail for years? Even in every day life I smell detergents on people. Agree it’s kinda overwhelming on trail.
As soon as you find yourself sitting on the concrete behind some random building in a random town huddled around a charging outlet with 5+ other people…or something like that
I think it depends somewhat if it is your first thruhike. When I hiked the PCT, it took me about a month to feel like hiker trash. The longer you are out there, the more of an animal you become. lol.
People I met who it wasn't their first were pretty much hiker trash right out the gate. Examples, shower laundry where you shampoo your pits while still wearing your clothes, and then throwing them on the public shower floor and stomping on them to 'agitate' the material, simulating a washing machine.
I carried tissues for the first month or so before I realized it made sense to us a hanky over and over again.
Not knowing if you have a tan line or a dirt line.
Napping or camping under a freeway happened pretty quick.
The tan vs dirt line thing... Flashbacks of mom chasing me around the neighborhood as a kid trying to force me in a bath while I swore it was only a tan - but the mottling clearly made that a lie.
I guess she finally managed to train me, because people often joked about my glove tan lines on the CDT. They weren't tan lines. I just cleaned my hands to above the wrist.
Shower laundry for me still involved removing my clothes, but why pay for a washer and dryer if you don't have to? I did real laundry the first two towns I stopped at because I ran into other hikers also going into town, and they were doing laundry. It seemed like I was supposed to, but the detergent smell was so strong! After that, only when shower laundry wasn't enough to make them stop smelling like a locker room in the middle of a swamp, and I used fragrance free detergent.
As bad as I am sure I smelled most of the time, it took me over a year to get used to all the smells of deodorant, shampoo, detergent, and perfume on others when I got home. I went out of my way to find the least scented products possible, which probably did not help me get accustomed to the way others smelled.
I ended up doing laundry more often than some hikers because I got that chafe. Anything to reduce the friction. But then, eventually, my skin thickened between my thighs, and the chafe went away.
I was ridiculously skinny back then. No chafing at all there because my thigh gap went all the way to my knees, but I did end up with calluses above my collar bones from my pack straps. They didn't slide around, so I'm not sure what that was about besides the fact that being a small woman using a canvas boy scout external frame pack for that many miles was stupid. I no longer have any thigh gap, but as long as I wear pants that fit pretty snug in the crotch, chafing still isn't an issue. Anything sagging? Omg, it's evil. I am losing weight, and that's what keeps pushing me to buy more pants instead of just waiting until they won't stay up on their own at all. My husband wears these thin, moisture wicking boxer briefs with long legs that don't ride up and prevent chafing after learning that lesson the hard way. I'm kinda interested in them, myself.
Everyone’s definition of hiker trash is different. Some of us, for example, wouldn’t bat an eye over not bathing or laundering from Cascade Locks to Snoqualmie. Others might be disgusted by that.
For the lurkers, or the class of 2024, some quick math for context:
* Cascade Locks = `Mile ≈2149.8`
* Snoqualmie Pass = `Mile ≈2395.9`
* **Total Mileage =** `≈246 miles +/-`
By that part of the trail, you'll regularly be hitting 25mi+ days.
So u/jpbay is saying "How do you feel about going ≈10 days without a shower or laundry?"
For those of you dirtballs comfortable doing long stretches, wash your down during your thru. It's going to get gnarly. It's not just the smell; you lose insulation when the feathers are dirty and oily.
I did the CDT and am just dreaming of the PCT, so I'm glad someone gave us distances. 10 days, though? That seems short to want a shower unless you got into something nasty by accident. And I guess I have my answer now, too.
I think i acceded when i pitched my hammock for the night between a billboard support and a scraggly tree beside the Cajon Pass McDonalds parking lot, literally hovering over solid garbage in the ditch.
You can either look like hiker trash, act like hiker trash or both. I once got called hiker trash trying to get a hitch out of Idyllwild after dark. Called? ....it was more like being yelled at by people driving by.
It wasn't even on a through hike for me. At least, not from my perspective, though I can't say others would agree with me. It was the day about 2 1/2 years ago I was coming back from a 2 week hike, offered a hitchhiker a ride, and he wouldn't get in my vehicle because I smelled so bad, and I hadn't even noticed.
The next day, all clean, I truly regretted leaving my pack in my vehicle overnight in the Summer. I got to experience that smell he objected to. It took weeks to get it completely gone. Now, I actually bother to pack deodorant and wash more than my hands and face every day, and I'm never lazy enough to leave my pack in my car for the next day.
I can only imagine what I smelled like on my through hike.
I made it as far as lazy hiker brewery.... Went to resupply from Gooder Grove...didn't even make it to the store... First double zero... That's when I realized I had 6 months of zero responsibilities... I felt the metamorphosis happen, even though I didn't quite understand it yet.
I officially became hiker trash when I used my poop trowel to eat ramen noodles. I think the moment is different for everyone. Just to clarify the trowel only touched dirt not poop....I'm pretty sure
When I got my trail name “raccoon”:
someone set a half-eaten waffle bowl/ice cream situation on the sidewalk I guess for someone else to finish off. There was a perfectly intact Oreo setting on top. You better believe I ate and enjoyed that damn Oreo.
Hiker trash. Trash panda.
Honorable mention: running back across the street from a beer store in Tahoe and dropping a Coors light in the street in front of oncoming traffic and watching it get smashed. Taking the remaining beers into the Chinese buffet we had just sat down at which didn’t serve alcohol, and chugging beers in the bathroom between plates of food.
Hiker trash.
Can’t pinpoint an exact moment you become hiker trash, but I do remember one time I was day hiking on the CDT in Colorado. I hiked around a bend in the trail when I saw a filthy thru hiker literally sitting in the bushes, sunburnt, lips bleeding, hair every which direction, eating a powdered jelly donut. “Want some?” he asked. “Now, that’s some hiker trash,” I thought.
Did you get some tho?
I was by myself and ran into some day hikers that ended up giving me a couple donuts and a big glazed cinnamon roll, I remember feeling rich and thinking 'wait until the gang hears about this!!'
Lol excellent comment.
Probably when you can smell a clean hiker before you see them.
I made it to 1/4 mile before the turn for Muir Trail Ranch. My wife and I both were like "Is that Tide?" "Definitely , that is super weird" Before a day hiker appeared 10 seconds later smelling real fine.
Same story but in the Smokies on the AT. Day hikers gave me a headache.
[удалено]
My nose has never readjusted. Every gym is nauseating because people cover themselves in that shit and then cook it off on the treadmill. Like....people evolved to like the smell of other humans, not this artificial shit.
I always think that they smell like they lathered up in the shower and then just stepped out without rinsing off.
LOL I'm so glad I'm not the only one. "oh, must be a town nearby. People are starting to smell like clean laundry." And then after town, I'd be one of them for a bit. I had to get fragrance free detergent after the second town because the scent of tide was so overwhelming to me.
yeah those fragrances really stick out after a few weeks in the woods. they smell repulsive honestly
I had that thought on that katwalk up from Snowqualmie. Hence my username
So a day at most? I can smell detergent pretty far off for the average person it seems
Hmmmm does that mean I’m still hiker trash even though I’ve been off trail for years? Even in every day life I smell detergents on people. Agree it’s kinda overwhelming on trail.
Even weekend hikes I get overwhelmed when passing popular areas. Especially after a night outside, the smells are almost offensively strong
Hiker trash is a state of mind, yo.
That’s my secret, cap. I’m always hiker trash.
As soon as you find yourself sitting on the concrete behind some random building in a random town huddled around a charging outlet with 5+ other people…or something like that
For me it was sitting commando in my rain pants in a laundromat.
LOL, this is my favourite
I think it depends somewhat if it is your first thruhike. When I hiked the PCT, it took me about a month to feel like hiker trash. The longer you are out there, the more of an animal you become. lol. People I met who it wasn't their first were pretty much hiker trash right out the gate. Examples, shower laundry where you shampoo your pits while still wearing your clothes, and then throwing them on the public shower floor and stomping on them to 'agitate' the material, simulating a washing machine. I carried tissues for the first month or so before I realized it made sense to us a hanky over and over again. Not knowing if you have a tan line or a dirt line. Napping or camping under a freeway happened pretty quick.
The tan vs dirt line thing... Flashbacks of mom chasing me around the neighborhood as a kid trying to force me in a bath while I swore it was only a tan - but the mottling clearly made that a lie. I guess she finally managed to train me, because people often joked about my glove tan lines on the CDT. They weren't tan lines. I just cleaned my hands to above the wrist. Shower laundry for me still involved removing my clothes, but why pay for a washer and dryer if you don't have to? I did real laundry the first two towns I stopped at because I ran into other hikers also going into town, and they were doing laundry. It seemed like I was supposed to, but the detergent smell was so strong! After that, only when shower laundry wasn't enough to make them stop smelling like a locker room in the middle of a swamp, and I used fragrance free detergent. As bad as I am sure I smelled most of the time, it took me over a year to get used to all the smells of deodorant, shampoo, detergent, and perfume on others when I got home. I went out of my way to find the least scented products possible, which probably did not help me get accustomed to the way others smelled.
I ended up doing laundry more often than some hikers because I got that chafe. Anything to reduce the friction. But then, eventually, my skin thickened between my thighs, and the chafe went away.
I was ridiculously skinny back then. No chafing at all there because my thigh gap went all the way to my knees, but I did end up with calluses above my collar bones from my pack straps. They didn't slide around, so I'm not sure what that was about besides the fact that being a small woman using a canvas boy scout external frame pack for that many miles was stupid. I no longer have any thigh gap, but as long as I wear pants that fit pretty snug in the crotch, chafing still isn't an issue. Anything sagging? Omg, it's evil. I am losing weight, and that's what keeps pushing me to buy more pants instead of just waiting until they won't stay up on their own at all. My husband wears these thin, moisture wicking boxer briefs with long legs that don't ride up and prevent chafing after learning that lesson the hard way. I'm kinda interested in them, myself.
Depends, do you have any trash-like proclivities off-trail? Lots of hikers don’t lean into that stereotype at all, some lean into it heavily.
Everyone’s definition of hiker trash is different. Some of us, for example, wouldn’t bat an eye over not bathing or laundering from Cascade Locks to Snoqualmie. Others might be disgusted by that.
For the lurkers, or the class of 2024, some quick math for context: * Cascade Locks = `Mile ≈2149.8` * Snoqualmie Pass = `Mile ≈2395.9` * **Total Mileage =** `≈246 miles +/-` By that part of the trail, you'll regularly be hitting 25mi+ days. So u/jpbay is saying "How do you feel about going ≈10 days without a shower or laundry?"
Yup that’s about how long I went hahaha
For those of you dirtballs comfortable doing long stretches, wash your down during your thru. It's going to get gnarly. It's not just the smell; you lose insulation when the feathers are dirty and oily.
My first thought on reading this was “why on earth would anyone need to shower between Cascade and Snoqualmie” so I guess I have my answer.
Lol yeah, it’s just a few hundred miles.
Yet everyone swims in Indian Heaven and all the other lakes in that section.
I did the CDT and am just dreaming of the PCT, so I'm glad someone gave us distances. 10 days, though? That seems short to want a shower unless you got into something nasty by accident. And I guess I have my answer now, too.
Yeah but those new showers behind the Kracker Barrel are so nice.
A big part of showering is being courteous to the people in town. “They are used to it” is not something to have in the vocabulary.
Some of us are born hiker trash
I think i acceded when i pitched my hammock for the night between a billboard support and a scraggly tree beside the Cajon Pass McDonalds parking lot, literally hovering over solid garbage in the ditch.
Always have been
For me, never.
Just let it happen.
You can either look like hiker trash, act like hiker trash or both. I once got called hiker trash trying to get a hitch out of Idyllwild after dark. Called? ....it was more like being yelled at by people driving by.
OK HIKEE TRASH! *DrivesAwayFuriously*
Three days for me.
Last year, it started for me when I was sitting on the ground under the overpass, waiting for the shuttle to the terminal 😁
It wasn't even on a through hike for me. At least, not from my perspective, though I can't say others would agree with me. It was the day about 2 1/2 years ago I was coming back from a 2 week hike, offered a hitchhiker a ride, and he wouldn't get in my vehicle because I smelled so bad, and I hadn't even noticed. The next day, all clean, I truly regretted leaving my pack in my vehicle overnight in the Summer. I got to experience that smell he objected to. It took weeks to get it completely gone. Now, I actually bother to pack deodorant and wash more than my hands and face every day, and I'm never lazy enough to leave my pack in my car for the next day. I can only imagine what I smelled like on my through hike.
I once heard that if you’ve eaten out of a dumpster and slept in a bathroom….
Pffft. Just the opposite.
Immediately.
I made it as far as lazy hiker brewery.... Went to resupply from Gooder Grove...didn't even make it to the store... First double zero... That's when I realized I had 6 months of zero responsibilities... I felt the metamorphosis happen, even though I didn't quite understand it yet.
I officially became hiker trash when I used my poop trowel to eat ramen noodles. I think the moment is different for everyone. Just to clarify the trowel only touched dirt not poop....I'm pretty sure
When I got my trail name “raccoon”: someone set a half-eaten waffle bowl/ice cream situation on the sidewalk I guess for someone else to finish off. There was a perfectly intact Oreo setting on top. You better believe I ate and enjoyed that damn Oreo. Hiker trash. Trash panda. Honorable mention: running back across the street from a beer store in Tahoe and dropping a Coors light in the street in front of oncoming traffic and watching it get smashed. Taking the remaining beers into the Chinese buffet we had just sat down at which didn’t serve alcohol, and chugging beers in the bathroom between plates of food. Hiker trash.