With more people in the outdoors than ever, it is important that each of us knows how to take care of our own waste.
BLURB FOR How To Shit In The Woods by Kathleen Meyer
Walking and hiking are essentially the same thing. If you walk in nature, you are going to face the question. Is this a hike? How do you answer the question?
It is fairly easy to distinguish a thru-hike from a day hike. The difference between the two is if you are going to be sleeping on the ground that night. If the answer is yes, you are thru-hiking. You are living on the trail. Bookmark this in your brain because we will revisit this later.
For some people, things like terrain and elevation are what turn a walk into a hike. I do not agree. I call this trail walking much like runners will call it trail running. Additionally, some will cite distance as what turns a walk into a hike, but this is incorrect. Walking a marathon is not considered a hike. A trail marathon is not considered a hike when runners run the distance, so walking the distance doesn't make it a hike. Let us return to that bookmark in your brain.
A walk turns into a hike when you have to urinate or defecate in the woods or wherever. That may be TMI for the Gentle Reader, but the potty humor abounds in the hiking community. That is no accident. If you are going on a walk that doesn't have restroom facilities nearby and is long enough to require that pit stop, you are on a hike. I will die defending this hill.
I don't have any issues with hikers or hiking. To me, a hiker is just a walker who likes to poop in the woods. I am not a hiker because I do not like to poop in the woods. I want a nice restroom where I can do my business. I also don't want to sleep on the ground, boil snow for drinking water, or lug a heavy pack with a tent and a sleeping bag. That may be fun for hikers but not for me.
Hiking is about the logistics of living in the outdoors while walking in the outdoors. This is why hikers always carry a backpack. There will be a roll of toilet paper in that pack. The walker will not have that roll. He will have a water bottle and some granola bars in his pack.
I think this answers the question and clears up the matter about when a walk becomes a hike. This is why my only trail walking aspirations are to walk for a bit in a state park with adequate restroom facilities. Those facilities are the first thing I will note in my research on a state park. I will leave the hiking to the hikers. And watch where you are stepping. Hiking happens.
