---
title: "A glossary of terms and slang used in ultralight and on long-distance treks"
description: "What are Cold Soaking, Cathole, Triple Crown, Tarptent or Permit? Take a look at our glossary of terms and expressions connected with long-distance treks."
canonical_url: "https://gramino.com/blog/ultralight-and-thru-hiking-glossary"
last_updated: "2023-12-07"
---

# A glossary of terms and slang used in ultralight and on long-distance treks

Authors: Petra Kovalčíková

Date: 2023-12-07

What are Cold Soaking, Cathole, Triple Crown, Tarptent or Permit? Take a look at our glossary of terms and expressions connected with long-distance treks.

Long-distance treks and the ultralight gear that goes with them are becoming more and more popular, not only abroad but also closer to home. These days, it seems like everyone has at least one friend who's walked the Pacific Crest Trail, the GR11 across the Spanish Pyrenees, or at least the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage. But if you're still a beginner yourself, listening to their stories can make your head spin, as if they were speaking a foreign language.

Much of the vocabulary around ultralight and long-distance treks comes from English. But these terms are often so specific that you won't hear them in everyday conversation, so not everyone knows what they really mean in the thru-hiking world. Literal translations into other languages rarely catch on, and let's be honest – on most long-distance treks, you'll probably end up talking to other hikers in English anyway, unless you happen to be walking the Stezka Českem trail along the Czech border or the Cesta hrdinů SNP trail along the mountain ridges of Slovakia. That's why we've put together explanations, or (very loose) definitions, of the most common terms and slang you might hear and use when it comes to long-distance treks and gear, ultralight or otherwise.

## **Terms and slang related to long-distance treks:**

- **Bivouac** – An emergency way of spending the night outdoors, for example under the open sky or in any makeshift shelter that stands in for a hut or tent in adverse conditions. Under Czech law, the term generally means spending a single night with reduced comfort, without using a shelter or tent, and without lighting a fire.
- **Bounce box** – A package of gear you're not currently using that you mail ahead of yourself. At a town stop, you take out only what you need for the next section and send the rest onward again.
- **Bushwhacking** – Pushing your way through an overgrown, unmaintained trail or through wilderness with no trail at all, often ending in minor injuries (legs scratched bloody).
- **Camino** – Generally means way, path, or pilgrimage, but it's often used as shorthand for the Camino de Santiago – the Way of St. James.
- **Cathole** – A hole dug in the ground (most often with a [trowel](/p/sea-to-summit-pocket-trowel) made for the purpose) for going number two.
- **Cold soaking** – A trail food method that involves soaking [dehydrated food](/c/cooking/food) in cold water a few hours before you plan to eat it. You can also prepare oatmeal, couscous, instant noodle soups, and other treats this way. Someone who eats exclusively without a stove on the trail is known as **stoveless**.
- **Cowboy camping** – Sleeping cowboy-style, which means sleeping under the open sky without a tent or any shelter overhead.
- **False peak** (**false summit**) – What looks like the summit when you're looking uphill but turns out to be just a flat break in the trail, after which it keeps climbing again.
- **FKT** – Short for "[Fastest Known Time](https://fastestknowntime.com/)". Long trails are no longer popular just with traditional hikers but also with runners trying to break the time record for hiking/running a well-known trail or part of it. There are several types of FKT, each with its own specific rules.
- **Flip-flop** – A way of hiking a trail where you skip certain sections and come back to them later, possibly also changing the direction in which you walk the trail. Reasons for a flip-flop might include worsening weather, heavy snow, or a trail closure due to wildfire.
- **Glissading** – Sliding down a snowy or icy slope (on your feet or on your backside) to shortcut your way down.
- **Hero day** – A day when a hiker spends the first part of the day on the trail, then heads into town to resupply and maybe shower, do laundry, and rest, and returns to the trail the same day to walk more kilometers.
- **Hike** – A trek, outing, journey, or pilgrimage on foot through nature. A hike can last a day, a weekend, a week, or even several months.
- **Hiker** – A walker or trekker; in other words, someone who sets out on walks, crossings, or pilgrimages in nature.
- **Hiker box** – A box for leaving things (very often food) that a hiker no longer needs or wants and that someone else can take instead. It's most often found at hostels, motels, post offices, or stores along the route that are popular with hikers during the season.
- **Hiker hunger** – An intense, insatiable feeling of hunger and craving for food, resulting from the heavy exertion of long trails, when the body starts demanding far more energy than usual.
- **Hiker midnight** (**around 9 p.m.**) – The time of evening when most hikers have long been asleep, because their body clocks follow sunrise and sunset. Loud late-night parties are generally frowned upon on the trail and at campsites.
- **Hiker trash** – A name for thru-hikers referring to their scruffy, dirty, and unkempt look – the look of someone who's been on the road for several months. Although it sounds derogatory at first, the thru-hiker community itself uses the label ironically, even proudly.
- **Hiker TV** – Aimlessly, blankly staring into the fire as a form of entertainment.
- **HYOH** (**Hike your own hike**) – A phrase that has become a symbol of long-distance trails, meaning that everyone on the trail answers for themselves and there's no single right way to walk a trail and enjoy it. Everyone should go their own way and make their own decisions instead of comparing themselves to others or sticking to certain expectations.
- **Leapfrog** – Skipping a section of a trail with no intention of coming back to finish it later.
- **Leave No Trace** (**LNT**) – Seven core [ethical principles](/blog/leave-no-trace) for behavior in nature, designed to minimize the impact of human presence there. It's also the name of the [organization](https://lnt.org/) that promotes these principles.
- **Nero day** – A day when you spend only a small part of it walking on the trail (usually 5 miles = 8 km at most) and devote the rest to resting (nero = near zero).
- **Nobo** (**northbound**) – Hiking a trail from south to north. Someone heading in this direction is called a Nobo hiker. The term is used on trails that run in this direction – e.g. American trails like the PCT, CDT, and AT, or New Zealand's Te Araroa.
- **Permit** – Permission issued by an authority or organization managing a given trail or area, e.g. to pass through a certain area, to camp anywhere within a certain distance of the trail, to camp at a designated site on a specific day, to light fires, etc.
- **Postholing** – Sinking deep into soft snow with every step, often up to your knees and in the worst case up to your waist, which slows your progress through the terrain enormously and is dangerous because of possible exhaustion or injury.
- **Post-trail blues** – A feeling of sadness, longing, and loss after finishing a long trail and returning to society and everyday life.
- **Purist** – A thru-hiker who insists on walking every single meter of a long-distance trail's official route – no skipping sections, no changing direction, no alternate routes or shortcuts. They often don't consider other ways of completing a trail a "thru-hike".
- **Ramen bomb** – A meal made by mixing ramen (instant noodle soup) with instant mashed potatoes.
- **Refugio** – A simple emergency hut or shelter for spending the night. The term is used mainly in Spain, France, and Italy.
- **Resupply** – Restocking your food along the trail, most often in towns the trail passes through or near. For places where you can't resupply locally, you need to mail yourself a package of food in advance, known as a **Resupply box**.
- **Scrambling** – A technically demanding ascent or descent that requires using both hands, without the help of a rope or climbing gear.
- **Section hiker** – Someone who hikes a long trail (thru-hike) in sections over multiple seasons/years. A special case is the **LASH** (long-ass section hiker), who hikes at least one longer section lasting a month or more.
- **Slackpacking** – Hiking an entire trail or part of it (e.g. a single day) without most of your gear. You carry only the bare essentials for the day – snacks, water, a jacket, etc. – and someone else carries the rest or drives your things ahead to the agreed overnight spot.
- **Sobo** (**southbound**) – Hiking a trail from north to south. Someone heading in this direction is called a Sobo hiker. The term is used on trails that run in this direction – e.g. American trails like the PCT, CDT, and AT, or New Zealand's Te Araroa.
- **Switchback** – A zigzagging stretch of trail on climbs and descents of hills and mountains, which saves your knees and reduces the risk of falling on the way down steep slopes.
- **Ten to ten** – A common trail challenge that means walking ten miles (i.e. 16 km) by ten in the morning.
- **Thru-hiker** – Someone who goes thru-hiking.
- **Thru-hiking** – Walking a long-distance trail from start to finish without skipping any of its sections or shortcutting by transportation. Such a trail often crosses entire regions or even entire countries from south to north or from west to east.
- **Trail** – An official route, a trek.
- **Trail angel** – A volunteer who offers free help to people on the trail. Often this means food, drinks, a ride to or from town, or a place to stay at their home or in their yard.
- **Trail legs** – The physical fitness you gradually build up after weeks of walking a long-distance trail, when you're suddenly able to walk faster and cover longer daily distances.
- **Trail magic** – Surprises that trail angels prepare or leave for people on the trail. Often it's food, sweet drinks, beer, or water. Sometimes, though, it's a full-blown feast with grilling, burgers, and so on.
- **Trail mix** – A mix of nuts, dried fruit, and chocolate candies (M&M's, etc.) as a snack or a quick source of energy throughout the day.
- **Trail name** – A nickname a hiker gets on the trail and then uses to introduce themselves there. It's often based on one of their traits or a funny story that happened to them on the trail.
- **Trail provides** – A saying used for unexpected, unforgettable, even magical moments that happen on the trail just when you need them most.
- **Tramily** – A blend of the words trail and family, i.e. a trail family. It's a group of hikers who meet on a long-distance trail and become such good friends that they start spending a lot of time together, planning shared stops, rest days, and so on. Their friendship often lasts long after the trail is done.
- **Triple Crown** – The three best-known long-distance trails in the US – the Appalachian Trail (AT), the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), and the Continental Divide Trail (CDT). Anyone who completes all three of these trails is known as a **Triple Crowner**.
- **Vitamin I** – Ibuprofen, a painkiller that some hikers take almost daily or even several times a day, much like a dietary supplement, mainly because of the aches from the strain of long trails.
- **Widow maker** – A large dead branch on a tree, or a whole dead/burned tree, that's very dangerous to sleep under (especially during a storm or strong wind) because it could topple or fall.
- **Yo-Yo** – Hiking a trail from its start to its end, turning around there, and walking all the way back to the start in the opposite direction.
- **Zero day** – A rest day on a long trail when you don't walk a single kilometer of the trail. It can be spent in town or on the trail itself, with the hiker lounging around all day, say by a lake.

- [TOAKS Titanium 1100 ml Pot with Pan](/p/toaks-pot-1100-ml-with-pan.md)
- [Gramino Ultralight Sit Pad](/p/gramino-ultralight-sit-pad.md)
- [Hyperlite Mountain Gear Pods](/p/hyperlite-mountain-gear-pods.md)
- [Sea To Summit Frontier UL Collapsible Bowl](/p/sea-to-summit-frontier-ul-collapsible-bowl.md)
- [Sea To Summit Frontier UL Pot 2 L](/p/sea-to-summit-frontier-ul-pot-2l.md)
- [Fizan Compact](/p/fizan-compact.md)
- [Tidy Gear Gaiters](/p/tidy-gear-gaiters.md)
- [Flextail TINY Helio 600Z](/p/flextail-tiny-helio-600z.md)
- [Nitecore NB20000 Power Bank GEN3](/p/nitecore-nb20000-power-bank-gen3.md)
- [Sea To Summit Pocket Trowel](/p/sea-to-summit-pocket-trowel.md)
- [Sea To Summit Airlite Towel – Medium](/p/sea-to-summit-airlite-towel-medium.md)

## **Terms and slang related to gear:**

- **Air pad** – An inflatable [sleeping pad](/c/sleep/sleeping-pads), which for many hikers is the symbol of a comfortable night's sleep outdoors.
- [**Alcohol stove**](/c/cooking/stoves-and-accessories) – A stove that burns liquid alcohol. At its most basic, it's a simple container for the alcohol, often paired with a windscreen and/or a stand.
- **Base weight** (**base pack weight**) – The weight of your gear excluding consumables (food, water, cooking fuel) and the clothes you'll be wearing most of the time.
- **Bear canister** – A plastic container with a lid that a bear can't get into. It's used to store food and anything with a scent (e.g. toothpaste, lip balm, etc.). Carrying one is mandatory in some national parks in the United States.
- **Bear spray** – Pepper spray against bears, which you're advised to carry and always keep within reach in some national parks in North America where grizzly bears live.
- **Big 3** – The three essential and also heaviest items in your gear – backpack, shelter (tent or tarp), and sleep system (sleeping bag or quilt). A sleeping pad is often counted too, but then it's more of a **Big 4**.
- **Bivy sack** – A waterproof bag designed for emergency nights outdoors, which you pull over your sleeping bag and sleeping pad to protect against rain, dirt, and cold.
- **Cuben fiber** – The former name for the material called [Dyneema Composite Fabrics](/blog/dyneema-fiber-and-its-fabrics), a nonwoven, lightweight, and extremely strong fabric often used to make ultralight gear such as tents or backpacks.
- **Cuin** (**cubic inch**) – The unit of fill power for down insulation, which in layman's terms you could describe as how fluffy the down is.
- **DEET** – A pesticide and the most widely used active ingredient in insect repellents, but it's harmful to the environment. Repellent with DEET shouldn't be used near gear such as tents, sleeping bags, waterproof jackets, etc., because it can damage them permanently.
- **DWR** (**Durable Water Repellent**) – A surface treatment, mainly for breathable materials, that makes them water-repellent (hydrophobic).
- **Gear list** – A list of all your gear for a long-distance trail (excluding food), sometimes including the weight of each item. It's often put together in the popular online app [LighterPack](https://lighterpack.com/welcome).
- **Gram weenie** – Someone who obsesses over every single gram and pares their gear down to the absolute minimum.
- **Liner** – A backpack liner (against moisture) or a [sleeping bag liner](/c/sleep/sleeping-bag-liners) (for extra warmth and to keep your bag clean).
- [**Quilt**](/c/sleep/quilts) – An alternative to a sleeping bag with a better warmth-to-weight ratio. It looks like a blanket, or rather a sleeping bag missing its hood and back, because it's based on the premise that down compressed under your back loses its insulating properties.
- **Rain gear** – Waterproof clothing for protection against rain (a waterproof jacket or poncho, pants or a skirt, gloves, and socks), or possibly an umbrella.
- **Spork** – A spoon with tines, i.e. a spoon and a fork combined in one. It looks something like [this](/p/sea-to-summit-frontier-ul-long-handle-spork).
- [**Stupid light**](/p/gramino-tshirt-ultralight-stupid-light-mens) – When someone takes cutting weight way too far and puts their safety at risk or drastically reduces their comfort.
- [**Tarp**](/c/sleep/tarps) – A waterproof sheet fitted with practical grommets, loops, cords, and other features, which, with a little ingenuity (and often with the help of trekking poles), you can pitch as a shelter in almost any terrain.
- **Tarptent** – The term tarptent is sometimes used generically for a single-wall tent, something between a classic tent and a tarp. But it's also the name of a very well-known and popular American tent manufacturer.
- **Ultralight** (abbreviated **UL**) – In general, the principle of reducing the weight of gear for long-distance treks without compromising on safety or comfort, in an effort to save energy and cover longer distances in less time. It's also a label for gear made from ultralight materials and without unnecessary features.
- **Ursack** – A bag made of a special, highly tear-resistant fabric so a bear can't get into it. It's used to store food and anything with a scent (e.g. toothpaste, lip balm, etc.).
- [**Wood-burning stove**](/p/toaks-titanium-wood-burning-stove-small) – A solid-fuel stove, in other words a small portable firebox for natural fuel (twigs, bark, etc.) with ventilation that gives the fire the draft it needs.
- **Zip-lock** – A bag that seals with a zipper or a special press-to-close groove along the edge, often used for food or to protect small gear from moisture.

***Know another term that shouldn't be missing here? Heard a word on the trail and don't know what it means? Let us know in the comments – we'll keep adding to and updating this glossary.***

- [Tyvek 75x230 cm (for 1 person)](/p/tyvek-groundsheet-230-x-75-cm.md)
- [Liteway Pyraomm Duo Tarp](/p/liteway-pyraomm-duo-tarp.md)
- [NEMO Switchback](/p/nemo-switchback.md)
- [Cumulus neo Quilt 300](/p/cumulus-neo-quilt-300.md)
- [Darn Tough Women's Light Hiker No Show Lightweight](/p/darn-tough-light-hiker-no-show-lightweight-womens.md)
- [Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XLite NXT](/p/therm-a-rest-neoair-xlite-nxt.md)
- [Sea To Summit Ultralight Aeros Pillow](/p/sea-to-summit-ultralight-aeros-pillow.md)
- [Liteway Hip Belt Pokkie X-Pac](/p/liteway-hip-belt-pokkie-x-pac.md)
- [Liteway Wash Bag](/p/liteway-wash-bag.md)
- [Nikwax Down Wash Direct 1 L](/p/nikwax-down-wash-direct-1-l.md)
- [Gramino Gear List Men's](/p/gramino-tshirt-gearlist-mens.md)

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