Thru-hiking is hiking a long-distance trail end-to-end. The term is most commonly associated with the Appalachian Trail, but is also used for other lengthy trails and long distance hikes, including the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail. Thru-hiking is also called "end-to-end hiking" or "end-to-ending" on some trails, like Vermont's Long Trail. Section hiking, on the other hand, refers to hiking a complete trail by hiking all of its individual sections, not in continuity or, necessarily, in sequence.
One famous thru-hike involves the story of Lillian Alling, a young 27-year old Russian immigrant living in New York City, who became homesick and decided to return to her family in Russia. Lacking funds, but armed with a strong will, she chose to walk the 12,000 miles to Russia, traversing Canada and into Alaska.She was last seen preparing to cross by boat at the Bering Strait to Siberia.
Приятно, что среди "пионеров" наша соотечественница, жаль что ее судьба после Беренгова Пролива неизвестна...
P.S.
The Triple Crown of Hiking informally refers to the three major U.S. long distance hiking trails:
Pacific Crest Trail - 2,650 miles (4,260 km) long,Washington, Oregon, and California between Mexico and Canada following the highest portion of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Range. (p.s. а начинается в Канаде)
Appalachian Trail - 2,179 miles (3,507 km), between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine.[2]
Continental Divide Trail - 3,100 miles (5,000 km), between Mexico and Canada following the Continental Divide along the Rocky Mountains and traversing Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico.[3]
The total length of the three trails is about 7,400 miles (11,900 km); vertical gain is more than 1,000,000 feet (300,000 m) (190 miles). A total of 22 states are visited if the three trails are completed[4] - which only a few dozen hikers have achieved.
После ознакомления с маршрутами троп появилась мысль познакомиться с ними в будущем поближе...
