If had to choose...

[RED-DOG]

For me the worst part was unpacking in the evening and repacking the gear the next mornning, that gets pretty darn tiresome after the first week. and this was true on all three of my thru's.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Leaving the trail to go back to real life and an office job.

[max patch]

Crappy food.

[Night Train]

Kicking roots on a leaf covered trail in November, Ouch! Price you pay for wearing trail runners.

[HighLiner]

The first significant climb on day one on each of my 27 section hikes hurts so bad. Last year starting at Kinsman Notch in NH was the hardest ever. After the third day all is always good. Got to love it!

[Tipi Walter]

Drinking bad water in the Mt Rogers area and puking my guts out all night in a tent near Elk Garden, circa 1984. Food poisoning sucks, too, or hiking when miserably sick. Having an abscessed tooth south of Fontana.

Hiking in a butt cold 3 day rain at 35F. Packing up with frozen boots at 10F. Packing up gets old fast in the winter, as Red-Dog says.

[coheterojo]

As has already been mentioned twice, leaving the trail and returning to real life.

[Different Socks]

+1 ... 2015 can't get here fast enough!

+2, for me Dec 2015 can't get here fast enough, then the trek north begins.

[Astro]

Rain so far, but if I ever did get Lyme Disease that would definitely replace it.

[Drybones]

Blisters....................

[Happy44]

Blisters....................

you feet go numb about 2 weeks in if you doing 20s+ and pack weight doesnt matter either after the end of the 3rd week because you could carry a truck if you wanted to, but getting to the end of week 3 is the hard part, everything after that is just routine and FUN, Leaving the trail is bitter sweet, when on the trail its the best day ever, 1 day after you get home it will feel like the worst thing you ever did.

[Josh Calhoun]

The Rain. god did i hated the rain so much i took zero days whenever i could to avoid it

[Son Driven]

If you had to choose only one answer, what is the worst part of hiking the Appalachian Trail?

Being off the trail. The suffering is the best part. Realizing the depths of my endurance increases my faith in the trails creator.

[ALLEGHENY]

If you had to choose only one answer, what is the worst part of hiking the Appalachian Trail?

That bad feeling you get about people near roads who don't seem right.

[Dogwood]

My mind is no longer wired in ways that habitually pose questions and arise at answers in terms of best/worst, good/bad, etc. I have changed the way I tend to think about things. I fought this for the longest time stubbornly trying to jam everything in life into neat little black and white, good and bad, fast and slow categories. In the past, when people told me there were a lot of grey areas I fought that so hard. I question and explore various, often opposing, perspectives now but primarily define and focus on things that I think empower me. If I focus on the worst of something, it leads me to seeing more things as "the worst", ex: this sucks and this sucks and this is the worst and this is even worse than that thing, No this is even worse than that. I don't want to think like that! Not that it means I shouldn't also be aware of negative persepctive too BUT I avoid primarally focusing on the negatives. I think I'm better for making the change.

[George]

the boredom!

for me it comes in 2 forms, sometimes the walking with little change/ stimulus - or off season the long nights
the variety of discomforts that many mention at least keep things interesting

going home has never been a problem - the routine becomes the change, and after a while at home, the itch to hike ( and the gut ) comes back - such is the cycle

[excuses]

Getting to the AT. I section hike and have to get to the trail every year. NJ and NY this year, from NW TN.

[Prime Time]

Finishing.

[Happy44]

My mind is no longer wired in ways that habitually pose questions and arise at answers in terms of best/worst, good/bad, etc. I have changed the way I tend to think about things. I fought this for the longest time stubbornly trying to jam everything in life into neat little black and white, good and bad, fast and slow categories. In the past, when people told me there were a lot of grey areas I fought that so hard. I question and explore various, often opposing, perspectives now but primarily define and focus on things that I think empower me. If I focus on the worst of something, it leads me to seeing more things as "the worst", ex: this sucks and this sucks and this is the worst and this is even worse than that thing, No this is even worse than that. I don't want to think like that! Not that it means I shouldn't also be aware of negative persepctive too BUT I avoid primarally focusing on the negatives. I think I'm better for making the change.

I'm going to rewrite this paragraph for dogwood, here go's...


I don't think negative unless im on the internet and on white blaze and flaming people out who dont agree with me......... i am the hypocritical hipster! The end!

[bamboo bob]

The hardest part for each time was the mental part of not quitting. I never wanted to quit but sometimes it was just so easy to take that ride home. In New England and never more than 2 hrs from home it was just too easy to go home and a constant battle. On western trails it is the opposite, it's too much of a hassle to go home.