View Full Version : open ended section vs. thru hike
squeezebox
07-29-2015, 04:38
The stats say only 20% finish a thru hike. So I think many of us realize the chance of finishing a thru is pretty small if we have bad knees, bad feet, time or $ constraints, and a whole pile of other reasons.
So how many hikers out there consider themselves open ended section hikers rather a thru hiker. "I'll hike as long as I can" rather than "I know I'm gonna finish this" ?
It's like the joke in an old fiddle tune, city slicker asks the farmer "so farmer have you lived here all your life"? Farmer answers "not yet".
So if someone asks me if I'm a thru hiker I might answer "not yet" (would also make a good trail name)
But on the other hand you pretty much set yourself up for quitting when the trip gets real tough.
Your opinion?
bigcranky
07-29-2015, 06:24
I've met several folks heading north from Springer who said something along those lines. "I'm hiking as far as pleasure will allow."
My feeling is that a thru-hike is so demanding that one needs a burning desire to complete the hike, otherwise it's just too easy to quit when it gets hard or boring. But that's me, I'm fairly goal-oriented, and no one has ever described me as "laid back."
jimmyjam
07-29-2015, 06:52
It's funny that you should mention the trail name "Not Yet" because I met him at the Yellow Deli in Rutland VT this past June.
I would say "I'm thru-hiking until I'm through hiking"
Problem I had was that a some point I had so much invested in the hike that even though it wasn't fun any longer I refused to quit.
squeezebox
07-29-2015, 09:05
jimmy jam
How is your hiking going? Let me know if you meet another Squeezebox.
ExNihilo
07-29-2015, 09:12
Thru "Not Yet" summited Katahdin the other day.
When I started SoBo this year, I always made it a point to tell people that I was "trying" to get to Springer, not going to. In the back of my mind, I think I still held a little more esteem for somebody that can walk the whole thing in one shot, versus sectioning (or even flip-flopping).
Here I am, though, off the trail after 45 days and 639 miles, and I'm glad I wasn't too gung-ho about actually getting there. I'll get there when I get there, and it'll be a thru-hike of the AT.
MyFeetHurt
07-29-2015, 11:27
When I did my thru there was no doubt I was finishing it, baring injury of course. I had it set in my mind for so long and I had the time/money to do it that I was 100% confident only an injury was forcing me off the trail. I was reading my journal again this week and there are times where I was clearly very nervous that an injury to my knee might force me out, and you can still see the disappointment in the words.
I think others though, not in the situation I was in back in 06 (no family, no job, big severance package and savings, etc) may need to be more open about not finishing in one season. I met a lot of hikers really struggling with missing their families, and it would be a shame if they had set themselves up before the hike to consider themselves a "failure" if they didn't finish. There should be zero shame in not finishing the trail in one go, it's not going anywhere and if you're not enjoying yourself you should allow for going back home and tackling it later.
Odd Man Out
07-29-2015, 12:59
I would say "I'm thru-hiking until I'm through hiking"
Problem I had was that a some point I had so much invested in the hike that even though it wasn't fun any longer I refused to quit.
So I guess we can call these people "Through Hikers". I often though this is what I would want to do someday. I did a section in in central VA last July and met several people who might be classified as "through hikers". They said they were thru hiking NOBO, but since they hadn't made it to Daleville by mid July, they had no realistic chance of finishing, but none of them seemed to care.
I think of it this way. I'd rather be the person who hikes 1900 miles and goes home happy having had the experience of a lifetime than the person who hikes 1900 miles and goes home dejected because their thru hike was a failure.
Another way to think of it is that as a section hiker, you technically never fail unless you die before hiking the whole trail (in which case, you won't have to live with that failure), whereas thru hikers fail every time they they don't do the whole trail in one season.
Spirit Walker
07-29-2015, 13:56
Big Cranky is right, it does make a difference having the determination to complete the hike, no matter what. Most of the time when I hear/read someone saying, "I don't care whether I finish or not," they don't. There are days when hiking isn't fun, when you miss home and family and good food and hot water, when you hurt and are tired of being tired. It takes a certain mindset to persevere, regardless. You really have to want it, especially on the hard days.
When we went out to the PCT in 2009 to attempt a second PCT thruhike, it was with the understanding that we might not make it since DH was still recovering from his knee replacement. We just told ourselves we were out for as long as it was fun. When he got injured (other knee) it wasn't a big disappointment because it wasn't that much of a surprise and we weren't as committed to the endeavor. If the same thing had happened on our CDT thrus, it would have been much harder, because we really cared about finishing that trail. In fact, when we were on the CDT in 2006, he continued hiking in a great deal of pain, because he did care about finishing so much and because he knew I cared. It was worth it. But I don't think we would have been able to finish without total commitment. On the PCT, we didn't have the commitment, so we didn't finish. We went back a year later to try again, and he got injured again. When we went back a third time, we did even less mileage, because he really didn't care. At this point, I doubt we'll manage to complete a PCT section hike.
When we hiked the CDT the first time, we hiked northern Montana with a friend. He was young and fit and a really good hiker but was distracted by events at home. He told us, "If it was just a matter of physical fitness, I'd finish and you wouldn't. But it's the fire in the belly that you have and I don't that will make the difference." He got off at Yellowstone.
And before I left for this thru-hike, I didn't know any of this. I'm really pretty glad that I made the mistake on the AT, where I was able to just get off the trail near home. And now that I've not completed the AT, I much better understand what it'll be like to hike the PCT next year.
Seatbelt
07-29-2015, 14:25
So how many hikers out there consider themselves open ended section hikers rather a thru hiker. "I'll hike as long as I can" rather than "I know I'm gonna finish this" ?
Your opinion?
I'm merely a "section at a time" hiker, but I stay pretty focused on finishing the chunk that I am working on at that time. I hope to finish the entire AT someday, but I won't lose sleep over it if I can't. Got started backpacking pretty late in life and have many other responsibilities.
totally enjoying my section-hiking. . .2010 my first 50 miles off of springer. . .2015 i have 70% finished. . .focused on the most difficult sections first, then planned sections in the most feasible direction at the time. . .some NOBO, some SOBO. now planning my final miles, hope to finish fall 2016.
i will totally miss it when i'm done. . .
.com
Here's my take on this: If you want to minimize disappointment and regret, tell yourself that your thru hike attempt is a section hike. If it ends early, you will feel better about the situation. If you want to minimize your chances of dropping out prior to finishing, always consider yourself a thru hiker, thinking that I WILL finish the trail. The power of positive thinking is huge. There are going to be difficult days. The person who says that he or she is a section hiker is much more likely to mentally check out early.
I attempted the PCT this spring and completed over 850 miles with over 900 miles including side trips, backtracking, and detours but I can say that, in retrospect, this 900 miles of hiking was much less satisfying to me than the 220 miles I completed on the JMT or the 500 completed on the Colorado Trail or even the 80 miles completed on the Foothills Trail. (The time on the trail was wonderful, but looking back at it, I didn't achieve my goal).
In my opinion, success is very much psychological. I did not do what I set out to do. As a goal oriented person who has, for the most part, set and achieved goals in life, it can be a blow to not finish what one started. So if the paramount concern is minimizing regret, by all means hedge and say that it is just a section hike, not a thru, but realize that this probably reduces the probability of finishing the thru. Just my two cents.
bigcranky
07-29-2015, 15:05
My wife and I hiked the Long Trail last summer. Having a goal - the Canadian Border - made a HUGE difference in completing the hike. We did skip one 20 mile section in the middle due to weather, and it still bugs the living ^&% out of me. I know we will go back and hike that last section in the next couple of years, just because that's how we are.
If it hadn't been for the goal, we would have quit many times.
When I got ready for the AT and when I get ready for any big hike or climb (back when I did that still) I always caveat the hell out of my comments - if I can do it, if I don't get hurt, yada, yada. But I fool no one that knows me. A number of times they have told me right to my face; "Oh just shut up and say you'll be back when you finish as everyone knows you will finish if you have to crawl half way."
I can't help myself. I always tell myself to just take it easy. But it does not work. When I start something like the AT I know inside that I am going to make it. I never doubt it and I don't care how much it hurts. I hate failure and for me to not finish would kill me. I am not at all relaxed about such things. I have to hike every foot of the trail too. My wife knows me so well that I am under strict orders at all times to carry my SPOT and have it in tracking mode so she knows where I am at all times. She thinks I am too old and does not trust me to back off when I probably should. I tell her to just leave my carcass under a bush or tree as that is where it really belongs anyway.
Heliotrope
07-29-2015, 18:10
Great posts! I haven't thru hiked yet. im not prepared to leave my 10 yo daughter for too long. So I've set my first thru hike goal for the AZ trail where we have family. It's funny, psychologically some of us feel we have to complete something or we have failed. I am one of those that has to finish what I set out to do. So completing an 800 mile trail is a success when ending early after 1200 miles or so on a longer trail may be seen as failure. It seems a lot of people think first of the AT and many have little experience backpacking. A woman I know declared she wants to hike the AT yet she has no experience. Perhaps choosing a shorter trail may be a way to avoid setting oneself up for failure. Being determined is great but there is an advantage in having the experience and training to make the choice to take on such a challenge. Imagine deciding to run a marathon but you have never run even a 5k and have done no training. A great read is the Thru hikers guide to America by schlimmer. It changed my thinking about tackling a 2000 + trail first. Lots of great trails up to about 1000 miles.
The stats say only 20% finish a thru hike. So I think many of us realize the chance of finishing a thru is pretty small if we have bad knees, bad feet, time or $ constraints, and a whole pile of other reasons.
So how many hikers out there consider themselves open ended section hikers rather a thru hiker. "I'll hike as long as I can" rather than "I know I'm gonna finish this" ?
It's like the joke in an old fiddle tune, city slicker asks the farmer "so farmer have you lived here all your life"? Farmer answers "not yet".
So if someone asks me if I'm a thru hiker I might answer "not yet" (would also make a good trail name)
But on the other hand you pretty much set yourself up for quitting when the trip gets real tough.
Your opinion?
the VAST majority of people leaving Springer intend to do a thru regardless of what they say. however, the vast majority also have little idea what will be needed to finish which is why there is such a low completion rate. this doesn't mean they are a failure but they did fail to meet their goal. I actually believe true section hikers are some of the toughest hikers out there. they know full well what they are in for to be rehardened into trail shape yet they willingly do it anyway. that is every bit as cool as any thru hiker and I always cringe when I hear section hikers say "no, I'm just a section hiker."
A friend of mine named Nancy (Why Not?!) did just that. She said she was going to hike the PCT for as long as it was fun. Before she started she figured probably Kennedy Meadows or so. She ended up hiking the whole thing, making it her second thru-hike of the PCT.
In my own case, I never set out to thru-hike. I intended to hike the whole state of California. I didn't make it and I was really sad to leave the trail (my feet hurt too much.) I was sad not that I didn't complete my goal, because I had been considering extending my goal to either Crater Lake or Bridge of the Gods. I was sad because I wasn't out there anymore. I was shocked how incredibly easy it is to step off the trail and fall out of that whole world. I really wanted to go back to that world.
So the following year I sort of made up my own crazy scheme. I decided I would hike out my front door and hike TO the PCT. The nearest spot on the PCT to my house is Hikertown. So I did that, hiked out my front door and through the Los Padres National forest to Pyramid Lake. I got a ride the final 22 miles of highway to Hikertown. Then I rehiked that whole desert section all the way through to Horseshoe Meadows. Then I kind of bummed around the Sierras a little bit wishing the terrible weather would go away. Then I did my own thing in Section I: instead of the official PCT trail I hiked down the Grand Canyon of the Tuolomne and then up the Paiute trail back to the PCT in Kerrick Canyon or somewhere. When I got to Sonora Pass I took a bus to Reno, hung out a few days with my mom, then cleaned up a missed section near Quincy, then re-hiked the Lassen National Park section. Then I got a ride to where I had left off the year before and hiked from Castle Crags all the way to Canada.
I sometimes feel like when I tell people I never thru-hiked the PCT, that I did it my own way, that they get this look in their eyes like disappointment. Oh, you didn't do a thru-hike, you didn't do that amazing thing we all think is so awesome. But I loved the way I did it and I would do my own thing again in a second. Someday I would like to hike out my door and go SOBO to the Mexican border. Or maybe start at the Mexican border and walk home. This all-or-nothing thru-hiking deal just doesn't interest me that much, I guess.
I don't think there's a single "right way". In context, it can make excellent sense for a person to set out with a sort of low pressure mindset, saying "I'll hike as long as I'm enjoying this".
But of course there are times and days and even perhaps strings of days that aren't so enjoyable. The idea that "this is my dream, and by god I'm going to make it no matter what ..." --- that attitude is just excellent. At times, for the right person in the right context.
I think where we can go wrong is if we project our own approach to the trail onto others. So many of these topics all seem to come back to HYOH, don't they?! :-)
Another Kevin
07-31-2015, 14:39
I'm never going to make a thru-hiker. I just can't ever see walking away from my life, and my other responsibilities, for six months.
So I'll hike until my vacation is up. Or I'll hike as long as I'm enjoying it, but I'm capable of enjoying some pretty strange things. I sometimes have a goal in mind, but the overarching goal is always to recharge, to see cool places, to have fun. But what is fun? I think everyone with any amount of outdoor experience has grasped the three kinds of fun (http://www.ducttapethenbeer.com/three-types-of-fun/).
Type 1: Fun to plan, fun to do, fun to talk about but makes everyone yawn.
Type 2: fun to plan, the process involves a bit of suffering, but it makes for some conversation in the pub.
Type 3: Doesn't sound like a great idea even in the planning process, is painful, committing, even deadly in execution, but makes an epic story and maybe changes your life.
When the process involves me postholing over a mountain while coughing and feverish, or hobbling out fifteen miles on a sprained knee, I think of where it fits in the story that I'll tell. A lot of times that's enough to keep me going with a wry smile on my face. But I know that once I've healed up from those trips, I always want to go back and finish. Because they were fun. Or because I'm barking mad. The "failed" trips have made some of the best memories, the best pictures, the best stories.
Even when I do have a goal in mind, it's usually an unreachable one, because as a weekender and short-sectioner I'm in the habit of leaving a detailed safety plan. My people know that I may turn back or bail out short of knocking off the entire list, but I will not go beyond the plan. Someday, that may save my life, or at least save a lot of SAR effort. If that means that I bag three peaks instead of four, or leave part of my section to next season, that's fine. I plan aggressively and scale back on the trail. There's only once in the last few years that I may have planned less aggressively than I ought. I finished my planned mileage in 2.5 days instead of 3.5. That was ok, too, because I was coming off the trail hurt. If I'd been well, I'd have simply spent more time photographing, or fishing, or writing, or just bumming around.
I've never had, and most likely never will have, a trip that's been a life-changing experience, at least not in itself. The sum total? Surely. I'm definitely a different person than I would be had I never begun venturing Out There.
I like your style, Kevin.