Youth Lingo Guide

Backcountry - Area where there are no maintained roads or permanent buildings, just primitive roads and trails.

Backslope – The cut bank along the uphill side of the trail, extending upslope from the tread.

Bear Burrito – Hammock.

Bear Fortune Cookie – Tent.

Bench – A long step, or tier, on the side of a hill. You climb until you reach the bench, then you walk across it, then climb
until you reach the next bench.

Blaze – Mark on a tree, rock, sign, etc. indicating the trail route.

Blow-Down – A tree or shrub that has fallen across the trail.

Boardwalk – Planking built on piling in areas of wet soil or water to provide dry hiking.

Bog Bridge – Narrow wooden walkway placed to protect sensitive wetlands.

Buck-up / Bucking - the process of cutting a felled and delimbed tree into logs.

Corridor - A belt of land linking two other areas or following a road or river.

Cowboy Camping – Where one camps without any shelter - just spread one’s pad and bag out under the stars and putting one’s faith in their opinion about the weather staying dry.

Crib-wall / Retaining Wall – A structured wall created (often with rocks) to hold back earth or soil.

Dead Fall – Term for fallen dead trees across the trail.

Duff / Sluff - A depression or hollow, usually filled with swampy or boggy ground

False Edge - A sharpened edge on the spine of a blade that does not run the full length of the blade.

Food Bag – A bag for keeping food in. It is typically suspended from a tree at night so bears and varmints don’t get into it. Also called Bear Bag.

Front-Country – The opposite of Back-Country. Where there are maintained roads, amenities and facilities.

Hitch – Refers to the term of a project when you are out in the woods working and camping.

Lopping – To cut off a limb or branch from a tree.

No-Go – Opting not to proceed with a task because of risk oriented conditions.

Puncheon / Bog Bridge / Boardwalk – A wooden walkway built to provide a stable, hardened tread-way across bogs, mud flats, and marshy areas.

Retread – The cleaning and clearing of a trail surface.

Scat – Animal dung.

Snag / Hazard Tree – A standing or leaning dead tree.

Spike – Similar to Hitch, but refers to actions or elements of a hitch. Examples: Spike-In, Spike-Out, Spike-Meals, Spike-Money

Switchback – A method of building a trail that forms a zig-zag of trails up a mountain. The strategy is to make the climb easier and prevent erosion.

Trail Dogs - Well seasoned trail workers.

Trail Pups - Novice trail workers.

Trailhead – Where the trail leaves a road crossing or parking lot.

Tread –Making first tracks or the surface of a trail.

Turnpike – A trail structure made of gravel, rocks, and/or wood that allows seasonable moisture to flow across a trail.

Understory – Forest vegetation growing under the canopy.

Water Bar / Drain Dip – Log, rock or berm structure that diverts water before it hits a trail.

Widow Maker – Dead branch hanging in a tree.