A flip-flop is a thru-hiking strategy where a hiker completes a long trail out of the usual sequence — for example hiking partway, jumping to the other end, and hiking back to the gap. Flip-flopping helps hikers dodge bad weather, crowds, or seasonal timing windows while still covering the entire trail.
A bear bag is a method of hanging food and scented items in a bag from a tree branch, out of a bear's reach, to protect it overnight. Techniques like the PCT method suspend the bag high and away from the trunk. Bear bags are lighter than canisters but harder to do well, and are banned where canisters are required.
A bear canister is a hard-sided, bear-resistant container that backpackers use to store food, trash, and scented items overnight, keeping them from bears. Required in many wilderness areas, canisters protect both hikers and bears — a bear that gets human food often becomes dangerous and may have to be killed.
Fording is crossing a river or stream on foot where there is no bridge. Hikers face upstream or angle across, unclip the pack hip belt, use trekking poles for stability, and judge depth and current carefully. Swift water is deceptively powerful, making fords one of backpacking's real hazards.
The Yosemite class rating system describes how difficult and exposed terrain is to travel, from Class 1 to Class 5. Class 1 is walking, Class 2-3 is steeper hiking and easy scrambling, Class 4 is exposed scrambling where many use a rope, and Class 5 is technical roped climbing. It helps hikers gauge a route's seriousness.
The alpine zone is the ecological region above treeline, where harsh cold, wind, and short summers allow only low-growing, fragile plants like grasses, sedges, and cushion plants. It offers stunning open terrain but is highly sensitive — hikers stay on rock or trail to avoid trampling vegetation that takes decades to recover.
Slackpacking is hiking a long trail while someone else transports your overnight gear, so you carry only a light day pack between points. Often arranged through hostels or shuttle services, it lets hikers cover trail miles with far less weight, trading some self-sufficiency for comfort and speed.
A section hike is completing a long-distance trail in separate trips over time, rather than in one continuous thru-hike. Section hikers tackle the trail piece by piece — over weekends, holidays, or years — making long trails accessible to people who can't take months off at once.
Ultralight backpacking is a style of backpacking focused on minimizing pack weight, typically aiming for a base weight under 10 lb (4.5 kg) by carrying lighter, simpler, multi-use gear. Lower weight means less fatigue and faster travel, at the cost of comfort, durability, and margin — so it rewards skill and planning.
Base weight is the weight of a backpacker's gear excluding consumables — food, water, and fuel — that change over a trip. It's the standard way to compare pack loads because it stays constant. Lowering base weight is the central goal of ultralight backpacking, with benchmarks around 20 lb for lightweight and under 10 lb for ultralight.