I've spent a lot of time in our State and National forests and for the past 15 years most of it has been off trail and the past 10 most of my trips have been solo.
Thru hikers tend to focus on the trail and their only goal is making miles. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's not even close to the same as experiencing the "wilderness". It's much more akin to running a marathon. So it's easy to spot thru hikers on a trail. They most always have their heads down and eyes focused on the trail and often won't even say "Hi" as they race by you.
To really experience the wilderness you have to learn how to "bushwhack" off trail. To do that you need to learn how to use a compass and triangulate your position on a map. That's not near as common of a skill as one might imagine thru hikers have.
For me, making miles was never a goal. Immersing myself in the wilderness and finding "Super Scenic Spots" to hang out for awhile has always been the goal.
One of the things you learn when you start bushwhacking is the wildlife will be hiding from you before you even get there. They can hear or smell you coming. But after a bit, if you're quiet, they'll come out and get back their normal routine, and that's really something awesome to experience.
I have to give them credit though because it was thru hikers that motivated me to get off the trails more. Over the years I've increasingly had those folks walk into my camp and ask, and just as often demand, that I give them food and supplies because "I'm out" of whatever it is they needed.
And over the years I increasingly had to to cut trips short because I couldn't say "No" and some of them were truly in desperate need. The first few times I was glad to help and it felt good to help, but after awhile I noticed this was getting to be too common and I grew tired of it because my trips kept turning into rescue and relief missions for those folks and getting cut short.
But when I get off those trails no one ever walks into my campsite. And when I backpack solo I can leave no trace, but when I invite friends who're not really backpackers they tend to want to build a campsite. What I do is much more akin to "Shinrin-yoku".