Need a little help staying on the horse.

[Dogwood]

I found it a major achievement and very satisfying when early on one morning I had made the Last Post on every single different thread on the first page of Todays Posts! I now know the sky is the limit. Nothing is impossible.

[VTATHiker]

Six months after you finish your hike, whether it ends at Harper’s Ferry or Springer, you’ll have a hard time remembering why it was so difficult. You’ll just know that it was, and that you either stuck it out or you quit before you completed what you wanted to complete.

And sometimes "difficult" looks a whole lot like dried-up motivation...

Finish what you started.

[Chaco Taco]

Couple of things:

1. when you get depressed about hiking, think about having to go to a job for 40 hours a week.
2. If you are that miserable, go home.
3. Life aint all unicorns and rainbows.
4. Go do something different for a day or two. I suggest a little aqua blaze or float on a river somewhere.

[Hatteras Jack]

Hey everybody, just wanted to clear up any confusion. I got in to HF a couple days ago feeling like I wanted to quit. I think it had a lot to do with having left my mom when she visited a while ago, and also I've been feeling the effects of the monotony on this section of the trail. A lot of people say they have never been bored while hiking, but that wasn't the case for me. I just needed to turn around and get fired up again! While this was a process I worked on, away from the computer, during my zero day, it also helped to read old posts about Virginia Blues and getting bored in the middle of the trail. I felt less alone that way. So I went ahead and made this post to find even more inspiration. It's definitely been a big piece of the puzzle in getting me excited to hike again. I didn't want a bitter debate among anyone to come out! Luckily this thread has been mostly good vibes, and I appreciate it a TON.

I'm hiking out in an hour. I am ready to see what Virginia has in store for me.

[Malto]

Hey everybody, just wanted to clear up any confusion. I got in to HF a couple days ago feeling like I wanted to quit. I think it had a lot to do with having left my mom when she visited a while ago, and also I've been feeling the effects of the monotony on this section of the trail. A lot of people say they have never been bored while hiking, but that wasn't the case for me. I just needed to turn around and get fired up again! While this was a process I worked on, away from the computer, during my zero day, it also helped to read old posts about Virginia Blues and getting bored in the middle of the trail. I felt less alone that way. So I went ahead and made this post to find even more inspiration. It's definitely been a big piece of the puzzle in getting me excited to hike again. I didn't want a bitter debate among anyone to come out! Luckily this thread has been mostly good vibes, and I appreciate it a TON.

I'm hiking out in an hour. I am ready to see what Virginia has in store for me.

have a great hike. And remember, Virginia is only TOO blue if you look it at that way.

[Drybones]

if you ain't havin' fun get off and go home. i got off the trail twice in gorham, nh cuz i was sick of walkin'. no regrets at all

Follow that advice and we'd all go home at the first mountain to climb. Hated every hill I had to climb, decided to make them easier by never stopping when going up except to fill a water bottle, it always looks better from the top...but it's the valleys that grow you.

[Chaco Taco]

Virginia is what it is; long as hell. It is a beautiful state and has lots to offer in terms of hiking and other fun off trail activities. Again, just think, you could be at work.

[Rasty]

Hey everybody, just wanted to clear up any confusion. I got in to HF a couple days ago feeling like I wanted to quit. I think it had a lot to do with having left my mom when she visited a while ago, and also I've been feeling the effects of the monotony on this section of the trail. A lot of people say they have never been bored while hiking, but that wasn't the case for me. I just needed to turn around and get fired up again! While this was a process I worked on, away from the computer, during my zero day, it also helped to read old posts about Virginia Blues and getting bored in the middle of the trail. I felt less alone that way. So I went ahead and made this post to find even more inspiration. It's definitely been a big piece of the puzzle in getting me excited to hike again. I didn't want a bitter debate among anyone to come out! Luckily this thread has been mostly good vibes, and I appreciate it a TON.

I'm hiking out in an hour. I am ready to see what Virginia has in store for me.

So McDonald's wasn't hiring

[Autummyst]

Hey everybody, just wanted to clear up any confusion. I got in to HF a couple days ago feeling like I wanted to quit. I think it had a lot to do with having left my mom when she visited a while ago, and also I've been feeling the effects of the monotony on this section of the trail. A lot of people say they have never been bored while hiking, but that wasn't the case for me. I just needed to turn around and get fired up again! While this was a process I worked on, away from the computer, during my zero day, it also helped to read old posts about Virginia Blues and getting bored in the middle of the trail. I felt less alone that way. So I went ahead and made this post to find even more inspiration. It's definitely been a big piece of the puzzle in getting me excited to hike again. I didn't want a bitter debate among anyone to come out! Luckily this thread has been mostly good vibes, and I appreciate it a TON.

I'm hiking out in an hour. I am ready to see what Virginia has in store for me.

Good luck!!! And I hope you have a wonderful rest of your hike

[atmilkman]

3. Life aint all unicorns and rainbows.

I like this for an all around response to a lot of in general complaints.

[Another Kevin]

Back in May, a group of four of us geriatric gypsies (I think I was the second-youngest of the group, at 57) were huffing and puffing up a steep grade to an overlook. One of my partners said to the group, in a particularly nasty section, "Isn't it great that once you finish a climb like this, you totally forget how much it sucked?" The ensuing laughter kept everyone going - and we all knew how true it is!

[Dogwood]

It doesn't sound like you want or have to quit. You're coming into a great 2-3 months to be on the southern part of the AT. You're already in thru-hiker physical shape. Now, get your head back into the game. Tough it out mentally by doing some of those mental gymnastics and soon you could be enjoying, NOT quitting, more fully the rest of your thru. Thru-hiking is about constant adaption and expansion. It's about regular adjustments. It's about seeing what isn't working, WHAT IS WORKING, and making course corrections along the way. Those that complete thru-hikes contently are those who are good at managing themselves and their hikes specifically these types of incidences. What you went through, and seems you may still be going through, is similar in many ways of getting yourself upto a mountain summit or up a long ascent or through 5 days of rain. It's all the same. I'll say it again. Brainstorm on ways that can be incorporated into the remainder of your thru to NOT be bored. Don't shut the book when possibly the BEST part of the story(hike) is still to be experienced!

[Symba]

Enjoy Virginia. I must be one of the odd balls, I really loved Virginia's beauty and what it had to offer. I'd do the Virginia section again if asked. ~Hike on my friend.

[mattyoc20]

One way I like to look at things that I don't like doing is that it has to end sometime. Whether it is in 2 hours or 5 months. And in 20 years you are not going to be thinking to yourself "My god why did I do that. That was a terrible idea". You will be thinking "Man, I'm a BAMF. I hiked over 2500 miles." and that feeling of accomplishment pride and excitement will out weigh the pain that you endure for a couple months. Much like what Another Kevin said about the hills. Keep your head up. It wont last forever and you will have some awesome memories.

[Hatteras Jack]

Just stopping back in to say I made it! Thanks for the uplift when I needed it, guys and gals. Missing the trail already.

[Autummyst]

Just stopping back in to say I made it! Thanks for the uplift when I needed it, guys and gals. Missing the trail already.

Congratulations!!!!!

[Marta]

Congratulations!

[Nutbrown]

Awesome! I love to hear that!!!

[q-tip]

Off the chart good stuff. I walked from Springer to HF, and wanted to quit every other day. My goal was to finish half. It is one of the great accomplishments of my life (behind getting sober and getting educated). This accomplishment I believe is more about who you are, not what you did. Congratulations.

[Marmaduke]

I was thinking about this thread earlier. Awesome!