View Full Version : Regret not finishing...
I made the decision to get off the trail last year and it still bugs me. Have any of you gotten off the trail then started back, years down the road? I made it to Damascus, VA.
B.j. Clark
03-08-2017, 21:59
Injury took me off last year just past Damascus at Grayson Highlands State Park. I sat under a tree halfway down to the park cursing for a good 15 minutes. Less than a day later I told my wife I couldn't let it go. I will be starting at that stopping place a month from now. It has eaten at me all year. So yes, but being retired I don't have to wait for years. I enjoyed the hike too much to pass on finishing.
soumodeler
03-08-2017, 22:13
I was forced off by a major illness in 2015. Started section hiking last year from where I got off. One day I will try another thru but for now section hiking is enough for me. Doesn't mean I don't think about it though.
Tipi Walter
03-08-2017, 22:49
There are alot of trails and alot of days in the year and alot of weekends (or weeks) to go backpacking in any area of your choosing. We all "get off the trail" at the end of our trips and then we "get back on the trail" a few weeks later. No sweat.
capehiker
03-08-2017, 23:27
Yes. I did 649 miles last year before getting off trail. I immediately went to work and tried to keep myself occupied. About a month after being off trail I began to have nightmares and sunk into a massive state of depression. I resolved I would be back in 2017.
Here's the kicker- up until 5 days ago I was all set to start at Springer on March 31. I told my fiends the only way I wouldn't hike is if my dream job called (knowing it wouldn't happen). Well...wouldn't you know it, I get a call from my dream job asking me to submit my resume. My heart is with the trail but job opportunities like this only come so often. As of now I'm still hiking the trail until something concrete happens with the potential job.
rocketsocks
03-08-2017, 23:37
If regret not finishing the trail has got ya down...may I suggest 12 step group :D
B.j. Clark
03-09-2017, 00:12
There are alot of trails and alot of days in the year and alot of weekends (or weeks) to go backpacking in any area of your choosing. We all "get off the trail" at the end of our trips and then we "get back on the trail" a few weeks later. No sweat.
You are absolutely right. Which is why as soon as I healed up I was out hiking in my own neighborhood mountains as soon as possible. But the old competitive runner in me won't let the AT go. So I will get back on that trail this spring. Like races that didn't go well and needed to be competed in again, this is unfinished business. Thank god this is fun unfinished business. Sometimes the races were just business!
Old Hiker
03-09-2017, 00:41
2012 - "once in a lifetime" hike. Broke my right ankle at mile 498 - just past Thomas Knob Shelter, Grayson Highlands. Decided a year later to try again in 2016.
Took 7 months, 4 days to complete the second time. Still hurting, but at least I'm a "thru-hiker".
Try again - keep going.
I quit with the Virginia blues, but committed to finishing "some day." Started doing section hikes a few years later. Worked my way south, finished at the same desolate road crossing where I'd jumped off seventeen years earlier. At this point I'm on my second section hike of the AT, though there's no real plan to do it all over again. I spend at least a few days on the AT every year, and other (more local) trails as well.
Hangfire
03-09-2017, 01:19
I had several friends go down with injuries late in the trail, and it was really troubling for me to see them go home. I hope that all of you make it back to the trail again some day and finish what you started...your story will be better than the average thru-hiker.
swjohnsey
03-09-2017, 08:02
Came down with anaplasmoisis in Pennsylvania in '11. Came back in '12 and started over and finished.
Came off the trail in 2015. It was a long winter wondering if there was anyway I could have plowed through the injury and knowing I missed the opportunity of being a thru hiker. Completed the trail the following year in a different way with slower and lower mileage days being the norm. For me, removing the timeline made the completion fun. No regrets.
Christoph
03-09-2017, 11:00
750 miles in and I pulled off trail for losing 46 pounds in 43 days, a few things that all went wrong back home at the same time, and my hiking partner ended up getting so sick he went to the hospital. This got me thinking way too much and I stopped. This year I'm attempting another thru though and I'm starting at the Falls again and using what I learned the first time around.
Trailweaver
03-09-2017, 11:25
If you can't complete the trail the way you dreamed of doing it the first time, there is no shame in completing the trail any way you can do it. The trail presents challenges to everyone, every year. The trick is to work with the challenges and figure out how to finish. If you have to start over, finish it in sections, finish it taking more than one year, or whatever - you still have done what most people never do!
I wish i could could do a thru hike. I can't do it for several reasons, so I decided to just do what I can do, when I can do it. I do sit at home in between trips dreaming and planning and looking at my photos, reading other's trailjoutnals, but it helps pass the time between trips. And - occasionally I get to meet someone on the trail I've read about here!
Gambit McCrae
03-09-2017, 11:33
You may find this thread of some help :) However it seems most people here speak of not finishing due to injury, the emotional endurance weighs just as heavy.
Throwing In The Towel (https://whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php/118677-Throwing-in-the-towel?highlight=) : By Gambit McCrae
Christoph
03-09-2017, 13:26
Personally, I don't look as me pulling off the trail on a thru attempt as a "fail" or "regret". Other than the fact I had a blast and everyone thought I was crazy for taking on such a challenge, I'm using it as a learning tool so the my attempt (33 days to go!) will be even more enjoyable and (hopefully) able to complete end to end. Lighter pack, in better shape to start with, and not only myself but family and friends know what to expect. Even if I'm not able to complete a thru this time around, I wont look at it as fail either. I will then just start sectioning and complete it that way.
chrisj1567
03-09-2017, 15:11
this is the best answer. I cant do a thru right now but i get out there every chance i get
chrisj1567
03-09-2017, 15:12
that was in reply to tipi's answer
Regret is living in the past. Regret arises out of a negative mindset. Live in the now. Plan for the future. Take it forward from here. Soulsearch. It's your life. Determine your destiny. Make a LIFE plan.Set goals. Follow up on it. Keep yourself regularly accountable. Note the progress. Enlist others to help. Smile. Be grateful for what you have experienced.
One Half
03-09-2017, 15:59
Yes. I did 649 miles last year before getting off trail. I immediately went to work and tried to keep myself occupied. About a month after being off trail I began to have nightmares and sunk into a massive state of depression. I resolved I would be back in 2017.
Here's the kicker- up until 5 days ago I was all set to start at Springer on March 31. I told my fiends the only way I wouldn't hike is if my dream job called (knowing it wouldn't happen). Well...wouldn't you know it, I get a call from my dream job asking me to submit my resume. My heart is with the trail but job opportunities like this only come so often. As of now I'm still hiking the trail until something concrete happens with the potential job.
If they asked you to submit your resume then proceed with the process of getting the job but let them know your "start date" will be "7 months from now."
AlyontheAT2016
03-09-2017, 16:26
I made it 13 miles into New York on my first thru attempt last year before finally deciding to call it quits. 100 degree temps at 10 in the morning plus exhaustion due to too much weight loss is what did it for me. I sort of regret it but I know I would have been miserable if I had kept pushing on. One day I'm going to hike the whole trail over again, and start earlier in the year so I don't feel like I have a time crunch--and so I don't get trapped in the mid-Atlantic states during an August heat wave.
I got off on account of injuries, 2weeks later I got back on trying to skip forward to stay with original group, they got faster an I got slower, then got sick, 3 weeks later started back. So I yellow blazed all the way up to the end hitting all the famous sections, doing 1 week to 10 day sections. I have great notes of all trips, now I am stringing all the missed pieces together. Having a blast, no I will not be a thru hiker, but I am intent on completing every step of the trail. Amazing how the trail provides wheather you are section hiking or thru hiking. It is all good now I am in no rush and take my time, no big mile days, if I decide to nap on a sunny viewpoint I do, an if I stay to long? Oh well I stay the night.
4eyedbuzzard
03-10-2017, 13:08
I've regretted the end of every vacation I ever took - whether it was hiking or sitting on a beach in the Caribbean. There are so many obstacles to successfully completing a thru-hike. Injury, boredom/blues, family issues, money, etc. Most people never even have the opportunity to try. You have to embrace and enjoy the experience regardless of the outcome.
I got off on account of injuries, 2weeks later I got back on trying to skip forward to stay with original group, they got faster an I got slower, then got sick, 3 weeks later started back. So I yellow blazed all the way up to the end hitting all the famous sections, doing 1 week to 10 day sections. I have great notes of all trips, now I am stringing all the missed pieces together. Having a blast, no I will not be a thru hiker, but I am intent on completing every step of the trail. Amazing how the trail provides wheather you are section hiking or thru hiking. It is all good now I am in no rush and take my time, no big mile days, if I decide to nap on a sunny viewpoint I do, an if I stay to long? Oh well I stay the night.
Sounds like bliss to me! The only way I could ever do a thru hike of the AT is if I started in January, because I am Soooo SSSlllloooowwww, partially because I just am but also because that is my hiking style. I like to go slow. See everything. Appreciate each every little thing that grabs my attention and take my sweet merry time. My every day life is a constant state of go, go, go. Always somewhere to be by a certain time. Hiking is the antithesis of that for me. It's what I love most about it.
This year will be my 3rd attempt. I've finally learned to listen to my body and take it slow as needed. It may turn out to be another section hike, or if it feels right it will turn into a thru. When I obsessed about the hike, it controlled my life and the outcome was not good. If I don't complete the thru, no regrets, just lots of amazing memories.
bamboo bob
03-10-2017, 18:11
In 2000 I made it 1500 miles and had a foot injury so I got off. In 2001 I came back to that spot and went to Maine. In 2002 I thru-hiked GAME. Then I did a SOBO to HF and then at NOBO to HF. The point is just keep at until you are happy with what you've done. I've done a lot of other trails but I'll be on the AT SOBO this summer !
Patrickjd9
03-12-2017, 17:10
Just keep hiking, whether near home, on vacation, or a few hours carver out of a business trip.
Hiking doesn't have to be a single big event like a thru-hike.
I quit after 850 miles, but by that point I was ready and I knew it. I've never wished I had kept going. I still hike and still backpack. I do weekend trips with an occasional 3-4-5 day trip. I'd like to do some long sections, but not necessarily on the AT. I wouldn't want to attempt another through hike. Seems to me that many places have a 'best time of year' to do them and you're not going to hit that time frame in most cases doing a thruhike.
Tipi Walter
03-13-2017, 10:25
Just keep hiking, whether near home, on vacation, or a few hours carver out of a business trip.
Hiking doesn't have to be a single big event like a thru-hike.
Amen, brother. And a backpacking trip doesn't have to be a single big event, either. Squeeze a dayhike into an overnighter.
4eyedbuzzard
03-13-2017, 10:44
I quit after 850 miles, but by that point I was ready and I knew it. I've never wished I had kept going. I still hike and still backpack. I do weekend trips with an occasional 3-4-5 day trip. I'd like to do some long sections, but not necessarily on the AT. I wouldn't want to attempt another through hike. Seems to me that many places have a 'best time of year' to do them and you're not going to hit that time frame in most cases doing a thruhike.You made it almost twice as far as I did. I quit in Damascus. Regarding the best time - you can't thru-hike the entire AT in September or October. But you can section it over multiple years in prime months.
you can't thru-hike the entire AT in September or October. But you can section it over multiple years in prime months.
i once mentioned this as a clear advantage to section hiking, and one of the moderators on here proceeded to tell me how great it could be to hike in unpleasant weather. to which i said, well if thats your thing section hiking still allows you to pick your preferred weather. that argument didnt resonate. i guess some people like random variables.
i also wondered how many thrus who got to traverse the whites during a string of rainy days would feel about the suggestion.
4eyedbuzzard
03-13-2017, 11:31
i once mentioned this as a clear advantage to section hiking, and one of the moderators on here proceeded to tell me how great it could be to hike in unpleasant weather. to which i said, well if thats your thing section hiking still allows you to pick your preferred weather. that argument didnt resonate. i guess some people like random variables.
i also wondered how many thrus who got to traverse the whites during a string of rainy days would feel about the suggestion.Yeah, been up on the ridge in the Whites several times in 40/40/40 conditions: 40°F, 40 mph winds, 40 ft visibility, PLUS sideways rain - memorable, but not really my idea of what I'd LIKE to plan for. Nor was the freezing fog on another trip. Perhaps it's good to have a few of those experiences just for comparison's sake, but it's nothing I'd intentionally seek out again. Spring hiking in May in GSMNP and VA would be good time albeit a bit wet, summer and early fall north of MA. I always liked the idea of the "cool breeze" and some of the other alternative itineraries for a thru-hike as a result. http://www.appalachiantrail.org/home/explore-the-trail/thru-hiking/alternative
Amen, brother. And a backpacking trip doesn't have to be a single big event, either. Squeeze a dayhike into an overnighter.
This is what my husband and I do. Partly because we are in terrible physical shape and partly because I am just naturally very very slow, but another really big part is because we just like to stroll all lazily through the woods and check out the funky tree formations and pretty flowers and funky looking spiders (that I HATE, but can still appreciate at a distance) and just sit and stare at a pretty view for a while. I go to walk in the woods to slow down. It will take us an overnight and 2 days just to do the approach from the top of the falls this weekend and we can't wait!!
Berserker
03-13-2017, 12:03
I'm gonna represent for the section hikers since I haven't attempted a thru. For us things are a little different because most section hikers can't take off 6 months, and therefore the hikes are usually run on a pretty tight schedule due to vacation time, travel, etc. So for us not finishing a section can feel like big failure.
So anyway, I've had to rearrange a couple of long hikes, and I don't regret either one. At the time it sucked, but in hindsight things worked out just fine. First one was VT. I was gonna section all of VT in 10 days, and 3 days in I was definitely overdoing it. I pulled the mileage back and got off at Maine Junction. I had been playing with the mileage on my hikes for a few years before that, and that section showed me what was too much for my personal enjoyment so I've dialed things back since then...for the most part.
The other one that got me was last year. Was gonna go from NH 25 on the North side of Moosiluake to Grafton Notch SP, and I only managed 74 of the 122 miles of that section. That was an absolute arse kicking if I've ever had one. I felt like I failed at the time, but limping into town multiple times where it was clear that I had wayyyyyyyyy overdone it changed my mind on how things went.
So I guess mine are more stories of regret at the time, but feeling good about things later on.
4eyes makes some great points. I feel bad for thru hikers coming through the White Mountains in bad weather. I've never thru-hiked the White Mountains but have spent more time there than most WBers. The weather makes all the difference. But of course the same holds true for other parts of the trail. Eg., most thru-hikers go through the Smokies when the weather is very likely to less than perfect.
I can think of many AT miles where views were nil, weather sucked, and I wondered what it might have been like on a better day.
No two thru hikes are alike. Revisit the same mile in different seasons, on different days, or even different time of day, and it's a very different experience.
Recalc, I was happy to hear that you went back and finished your hike. DNo and I got off in Rangely Maine with an injury. We are planning on going back this August to finish up. My concern is starting in that section without "trail legs". Did you have a problem with that?
evyck da fleet
03-13-2017, 14:16
i once mentioned this as a clear advantage to section hiking, and one of the moderators on here proceeded to tell me how great it could be to hike in unpleasant weather. to which i said, well if thats your thing section hiking still allows you to pick your preferred weather. that argument didnt resonate. i guess some people like random variables.
i also wondered how many thrus who got to traverse the whites during a string of rainy days would feel about the suggestion.
You can count me in the variable group. 130 days of sunshine would have been boring to me. As for a string of rainy days in the Whites, just because you're doing a thru doesn't mean you can't take a few days off in town to wait out the weather if you really want to see something. Actually doing a thru could be an advantage as you don't have the time crunch of a section hike where several rainy days in what's supposed to be the best time of year could be half your trip. In the Whites, I was happy I got to see a little of everything with a mix of walking in a cloud or rain for two days, sunshine along the ridge for two days and a couple of mixed days where the clouds were below the mountains.
You can count me in the variable group. 130 days of sunshine would have been boring to me. As for a string of rainy days in the Whites, just because you're doing a thru doesn't mean you can't take a few days off in town to wait out the weather if you really want to see something. Actually doing a thru could be an advantage as you don't have the time crunch of a section hike where several rainy days in what's supposed to be the best time of year could be half your trip. In the Whites, I was happy I got to see a little of everything with a mix of walking in a cloud or rain for two days, sunshine along the ridge for two days and a couple of mixed days where the clouds were below the mountains.
the argument still falls flat. if you dont want to hike in the same weather all the time, a section hike gives you a better chance of accomplishing that than a thru hike.
for whats it worth, every thru i meet south of glencliff who will listen gets told by me to stop and wait for clear weather when they get there if its raining. i doubt many listen.
x
Recalc, I was happy to hear that you went back and finished your hike. DNo and I got off in Rangely Maine with an injury. We are planning on going back this August to finish up. My concern is starting in that section without "trail legs". Did you have a problem with that?
C-Shell, I'm glad to see that you and DNo are going back! I tried to compensate for "starting cold" by 1) making sure my injury was healed, 2) walking through my neighborhood with a loaded backpack around 12 miles per week, and 3) going to the gym to do core exercises. Once on the trail, I kept my miles per day low due to the terrain and the fact that I didn't feel a time constraint. The unexpected benefit was my ability to actually enjoy Maine. (Excuse thread drift)
ScareBear
03-13-2017, 21:38
Having to get off in Maine...that would suck so bad....dang...
Thanks for all the comments!
I hope one day everything will line up again for a second attempt.
I made the decision to get off the trail last year and it still bugs me. Have any of you gotten off the trail then started back, years down the road? I made it to Damascus, VA.
Perhaps, the circumstances surrounding that decision is more the cause of the regret than anything?
...Hiking doesn't have to be a single big event like a thru-hike.
Amen, brother. And a backpacking trip doesn't have to be a single big event, either. Squeeze a dayhike into an overnighter.
+100
MANY would have a higher rate of success by organizing and planning for an AT section hike from the beginning than planning for an AT thru-hike. The stats don't lie in this regard. 8 out of 10 hikers who label themselves AT thru-hikers - hikers aiming to go from one end to the other end of the AT - don't complete their thru-hikes. They have failed in this regard no matter the chit chat that might ensue. In effect those 8 were section hikers. I assert it would be mentally and positively patterning empowering behavior to succeed at section hikes with a higher degree of completion success, no matter the distance planned for, rather than attempting and failing at completing an AT thru-hike. Failing at your goal, if indeed the goal is to complete a thru-hike, which is what it means when someone says they are thru-hiking, while trying to justify questionable causes of quitting, when one holds themselves to a high standard of honesty and goal achievement, can be the cause of some folk's regret.
glassman
03-21-2017, 23:47
I made the decision to get off the trail last year and it still bugs me. Have any of you gotten off the trail then started back, years down the road? I made it to Damascus, VA.
I started off hiking someone else's hike a few years back it started as a day hike with a thru-hiker I had met in NC longish story made short after many events I decided to make my own attempt only to injure myself. Just recently I had a life changing event with major physical damage, and I'm heading back to complete the trail. Has always seemed like something I want to accomplish, and it doesn't seem to be getting any easier to give a go as time goes by. As long as the orthopedic surgeon says it's okay I'll be out there this year!
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Bubblehead
03-22-2017, 09:04
My thru hike attempt ended in Pearisburg, Va. last year. I had lost 40 pounds, and I missed my wife. I came to the conclusion that 2 months on the trail is the right dose for me. That being said, I do want to finish what I started. I'm hiking Pearisburg to Wingdale, NY this year and I want to finish the final third next year. Doing the trail in thirds over a three year period is what I believe will work for me. I won't be a "thru hiker", finishing in a one year period, but I will have still hiked the entire trail over three years.....something I've wanted to do my whole life. I'm so looking forward to getting back on the trail on 5/29!