And Then What....

[frequency]

As a hopeful thruhiker, and especially as a hopeful thruhiker who can get it in before global warming radically changes the trail, I enjoy reading all kinds of experience and gear related posts. My latest information need is aimed at past thruhikers:"... AND THEN WHAT? ..."

What happened after you completed your thru-hike? Did you return to IBM and work 80 hours a week so some incredo-jerk-management-type would get a really huge bonus? Did you go west? How was life and your previous vision of the future changed after you completed your hike?

[Pacific Tortuga]

As a hopeful thruhiker, and especially as a hopeful thruhiker who can get it in before global warming radically changes the trail, I enjoy reading all kinds of experience and gear related posts. My latest information need is aimed at past thruhikers:"... AND THEN WHAT? ..."

What happened after you completed your thru-hike? Did you return to IBM and work 80 hours a week so some incredo-jerk-management-type would get a really huge bonus? Did you go west? How was life and your previous vision of the future changed after you completed your hike?

Global Warming I'd be more concerned of what "A Walk in the Woods" movie will do to the Trail.

[Footslogger]

Did you return to IBM and work 80 hours a week so some incredo-jerk-management-type would get a really huge bonus? Did you go west? How was life and your previous vision of the future changed after you completed your hike?

====================================

Didn't work for IBM before my hike ...so NO.

What the hike did for me was cement in my mind what I did NOT want to do for the almighty buck.

Yes ...I did go west, but it had nothing to do with my thru. We had moved out here in 2002 so that my wife (BadAss Turtle AT 2001) could accept a teaching position at the Univ of WY.

As far as my visions of the future go ...it made me very conscious of the importance of experiencing things while you are young.

'Slogger

[sparky2000]

Hiking will give u the chance to be polite.

[Lone Wolf]

Hiking will give u the chance to be polite.

hmmmm. i meet LOTS of rude hikers as they pass thru damascus

[bfitz]

hmmmm. i meet LOTS of rude hikers as they pass thru damascus

They had the chance, though, just didn't take it.

[bfitz]

I paved this road

I broke myself in two

This I know

Up and down, In between

There's nothing I haven't seen


Where I've gone and where I've been

One only knows

One more mountain, one more mile

Two thousand told


All these scars which bear my name, yeah

My eyes are wide, ain't nothing's the same, yeah

I tried to run, but the damage is done, yeah

The damage is done

Oh yeah, oh yeah

The damage is done


-Black Label Society from the album "Hangover Music Vol. VI" (2004)

Once you've been there there's no going back. You can sit in that office but not for long. You'll have trail fever every year for the rest of your life...you'll try to run but the damage is done, oh yeah, the damage is done.

[Spirit Walker]

Total change in life goals. First I moved to California, two years later I hiked the JMT, then 2 years after that I did another AT thruhike, then I married my hiking partner and moved east. Seven years later we hiked the CDT, the next year we hiked the PCT, six years after that hiked the CDT again.

I never expected that one long hike would lead to so many more. I work in between, but hiking has become my life in ways I never envisaged.

[maxNcathy]

Total change in life goals. First I moved to California, two years later I hiked the JMT, then 2 years after that I did another AT thruhike, then I married my hiking partner and moved east. Seven years later we hiked the CDT, the next year we hiked the PCT, six years after that hiked the CDT again.

I never expected that one long hike would lead to so many more. I work in between, but hiking has become my life in ways I never envisaged.

WOW!!! that's a lot of hiking.
How did you get/choose such a neat trailname?
Take good care,
Sandalwood

[Spirit Walker]

Sorta long story - but the short version is that I wanted my hike to be more than just a physical walk on the trail - more than just fresh air and exercise. It is easy to let the logistics of hiking get in the way of the reason I enjoy hiking. Among other things, I want a spirit journey. My name keeps me mindful of what I am looking for in the experience.