Define “Bushwhack”

[Paradox]

How do you define “bushwhack”?
I have found the following definitions for the word “bushwhack”
Wiki: A mountaineering term used to describe hiking without trails. The name derives from the action of whacking bushes as one walks through trailless terrain.
American Heritage:
1. To travel through thick woods by cutting away bushes and branches.
2. To travel through or live in the woods.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines bushwhack simply as: deal with or act in the manner of a backwoodsman.
It is clear that making one’s way to the summit of Scar Ridge in NH is an entirely different ordeal than following an unmaintained trail from say North Brother to Fort in Maine. It seems to me that hikers and climbers need a better set of words to describe and classify this activity. What say you?

 

[mavs00]

"Navigating and traveling through untracked terrain" has always worked for me.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

...It is clear that making one’s way to the summit of Scar Ridge in NH is an entirely different ordeal than following an unmaintained trail from say North Brother to Fort in Maine. It seems to me that hikers and climbers need a better set of words to describe and classify this activity. What say you?

Is your question directed to Scar Ridge specifically or off-trail travel in general?

The late Bill Bowden used to refer to off-trail travel in VT as 'fern-whacks' due to the different nature of the woods there.

In the west, the term often used to describe off-trail travel is 'cross-country'. Have noticed other regional differences as well - a 'herd path' in the east is a 'use trail' in the west, and cairns are ducks.

 

[Paradox]

Is your question directed to Scar Ridge specifically or off-trail travel in general?

My question is directed to no specific trail, just in wordsmithy.

 

[IndianChris]

Real bushwacking to me has always meant hiking through the woods with no trail...much like I did earlier this week up Lone.

If you're on a trail, or even a poorly maintained trail, then it's not bushwacking.

 

[Neil]

"Navigating and traveling through untracked terrain" has always worked for me.

Not for me. Hiking above tree-line (elevation-wise) or beyond tree-line (latitude-wise) isn't the same as bushwhacking. Just to be a smarty-pants I have included an example of each travel mode.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

If you're looking for a term which better describes the difficulty of a bushwhack, am not sure there are any - I just use qualifiers.

Think of the word 'trail'. To those not familiar with them, the Wilderness Trail and the Great Gulf Trail might seem similar in difficulty. Those familiar with them know they're anything but. Same issue at play here.

 

[cushetunk]

"Bushwhack"?! I'm still trying to figure out what "hiking" is.

 

[Mike]

The name derives from the action of whacking bushes as one walks through trailless terrain.
QUOTE]
..or maybe the action of the bushes whacking hikers

 

[Pete_Hickey]

When my son was 10 years old, I took him on a hike, which had a 2.5 hour bushwhack (less than a mile) through thick spruce. I told him, "This is bushwhacking."

A few hikes later, we were doing Street & Nye (before the path fixup) and ended up descending on a path which was in the wrong valley. I said to him that we could bushwhack across a ridge, and pick up the correct path. After a few minutes, he said to me, "This isn't bushwhacking. It's leafwhacking." In his letter to Grace, he told her that he leafwhacked.

I think you need some thickness of vegetation to use the term bushwhacking. There is no way I would use that term when hiking off-trail in a desert, and I've never heard it used there either.

 

[Neil]

I had a lot of fun with this obliquely related thread.

"Bushwhacking" across Antarctica or upon the surface of the moon are other examples that go with Pete's.

 

[Paradox]

Well okay, yeah, the following is pretty much exactly what I was putting together in my own mind.

Bushwhacking Classification System
Classes of Bushwhacking

Class 1
No real path. Old trails fallen into disuse fit this category. Forest is open, walking is easy with few to no obstacles. There may be any or all of the following features: Distinctive geographical features visible or audible (creek) aid in navigation. Old blazes and/cuttings may be present. Map and compass unnecessary.

Class 2
There is no old trail or man-made features. There are occasional detours around obstacles such as blowdown and hands are occasionally used to push branches away from one’s face but most of the going is easy. Map and compass are consulted occasionally. There may or may not be a distinctive geographical feature visible or audible (creek) to aid in navigation.

Class 3
Views are limited to approx. 10 feet. Detours around, over or under obstacles are frequent. Pauses in order to decide the best route are frequent. Hands are almost constantly in use to push branches away. Care must be taken in placing one’s feet to avoid holes. Compass is in constant use.

Class 4
Very difficult. Members of party must stay close together in order to maintain visual contact. Forward progress is impeded by brush that must be pushed aside in order to advance. Every step is taken with caution as one’s own feet are obscured by foliage. Long sleeves and pants essential to avoid cuts. Compass in constant use. GPS very helpful.

Class 5
*!?&$_)$&*É
Steep uphill through dense cripplebush that requires intense, heroic efforts to advance as much as one foot. Cothes are torn, eyes are gouged, blood may flow, some unstable marriages may not remain intact. Members of party experience episodes of fantasizing about sunny beaches, luxury hotel rooms, 5 star restaurants and the like. Phrases such as, ‘never again’ and ‘whose idea was this?’ frequently heard.

 

[Neil]

Anything harder than a class 5 should be rated 5.1, 5.2, and then 5.16a, 5.16b and so on.

 

[MonadnockVol]

Bushwhacking is...

Define bushwhack? I'm reminded of what my old hiking partner Hank Jenkins would say:

"If you get back to the car and you're not bleeding, it wasn't a good hike."

- Monadnock Volunteer (aka Steve)

 

[forestgnome]

The moment I step off the trail and I'm alone in the forest, it's "bushwacking". I also call it "off-trailing". BW is just a term to describe being in the forest and not on a trail. I often find critter trails, but still consider it off-trail.

happy trails

 

[Barbarossa]

Define bushwhack? I'm reminded of what my old hiking partner Hank Jenkins would say:

"If you get back to the car and you're not bleeding, it wasn't a good hike."

- Monadnock Volunteer (aka Steve)

Bushwhacking is a bit like art: I can't define it, but I know it when I am there; and it involves blood. If you aren't bleeding, the bushes didn't really whack you.

 

[MattC]

"Bushwhacking"... ...upon the surface of the moon...

That reminds me of the time we bagged Mons Hadley. It was wide open all the way from the trailhead to the summit. Piece of cake. Pack weight was also a non-issue.

Matt

 

[sardog1]

Bushwhacking is a bit like art: I can't define it, but I know it when I am there; and it involves blood. If you aren't bleeding, the bushes didn't really whack you.

Dang, somebody beat me to it. Well, there's still room for the corollary admonition:

"You could put your eye out doing that!"

 

[Kevin Rooney]

I think you need some thickness of vegetation to use the term bushwhacking. There is no way I would use that term when hiking off-trail in a desert, and I've never heard it used there either.

Pete - I hear the term 'cross-country' when off-trail in the desert.

 

[sapblatt]

I define bushwhacking as a hike I want no part off!