PDA

View Full Version : quitting the trail



mweinstone
01-30-2006, 18:28
this thread is about conserns,advice,oppinions and storys of failed thru hike attempts.what happened to your hike and what did you do about it.

my hike 10 years ago started much like my hike this year.planning,purchacing,packing and preparing.but in my head i had worries about my life at home. less than 100 miles from springer,....i stopped,cryed,used a big blister as an excuse,...and paid a guy to drive me to atlanta airport.came home loaded with money and sad.later i came to the conclution ,....that i had set limits on my hike.limits like,...if i get hurt ill quit instead of ,if i get hurt ill stop to heal and then continue.limits like,if my problems dont go away the instant i see blazes,...ill quit.if im not happy,and other limitations that were failure in the works.it took all of five minutes to sit down and convince myself to go home.it wasnt even that hard!ive climbed on the divide for months at a time and hiked alone for weeks but all my skill ment nothing to my unprepared inner self.be carful when you decide to thru hike. be honest with yourself about how free you are to be happy. that time i gave up my dream cause i was still sleeping. we must wake up and carry out our dreams with awareness of our needs.

general
01-30-2006, 18:44
got trail girlfriend knocked up in PA. she couldn't hike anymore. morning sickness that lasted all day. had to come home. that, and they don't have sweet tea up north.

all kidding aside, we're married and have a son who is almost 5 now. i have to say; that is as much fun as the trail.

Lone Wolf
01-30-2006, 18:50
20 years ago on my first AT hike I quit in Gorham, NH. I was tired of hiking. I saved Maine for a rainy day so to speak.

mweinstone
01-30-2006, 19:14
thats pretty darn funny.yo ,,,lick salt from your palm when morn sick. it stopped it cold for my son max's mom.

Heather
01-30-2006, 22:09
I had to get off last year right after the GA/NC border due to unforseen circumstances back home. I was pretty upset over it so I decided to try again this year. I see why you were upset about getting off the trail M when in retrospect I guess you could have spent a little more time thinking about it and talking yourself back into continuing. I don't understand so much when people worry so much about failing their thru-hike. The way I see it is if you want to stop hiking and you thought deeply about it than you should and not consider it a failure, just something you were doing before you started doing something else. Deep huh? ha. I wonder if anyone has said to themselves, "I finished my hike but didn't really want to." hmmm. Did I just contradict myself? Anyway, Ill see you out there M.

colbys
01-31-2006, 00:53
I had to get off last year right after the GA/NC border due to unforseen circumstances back home. I was pretty upset over it so I decided to try again this year. I see why you were upset about getting off the trail M when in retrospect I guess you could have spent a little more time thinking about it and talking yourself back into continuing. I don't understand so much when people worry so much about failing their thru-hike. The way I see it is if you want to stop hiking and you thought deeply about it than you should and not consider it a failure, just something you were doing before you started doing something else. Deep huh? ha. I wonder if anyone has said to themselves, "I finished my hike but didn't really want to." hmmm. Did I just contradict myself? Anyway, Ill see you out there M.
hey i feel your pain.i started a thru-hike in 1994 and made it to va before quitting.i came back and statred from the springer the next year and did a thru.made finishing all that much sweeter...so keep on pluggin and keep your head up.

Nokia
01-31-2006, 02:47
General, is your wife Cola Monkey? At least that was her early trail name. I believe you had a dog. In 2000 right? I think this is you guys. I met you all in GA. Glad to hear( if indeed this is you) that you are all well.
In response to this topic: Never quit while you're cold, wet, dirty, and tired. Take a day or two and think about all the reasons you came out in the first place. If rent, a job, and bills seem like more fun still, then go home. In 2000 and 2001 I made hastey decisions to go home (for different reasons) and I regretted it every day. Now I don't care how far I make it. 6 months 2200 miles or 6 months and 220 miles. Who cares? It's the best life in the world!!!

mweinstone
01-31-2006, 09:03
you should think hard and long on it.as soon as your love of the hike returnes ,man nor beast could pull you away.but the first 6 weeks are hard.

general
01-31-2006, 09:29
General, is your wife Cola Monkey? At least that was her early trail name. I believe you had a dog. In 2000 right? I think this is you guys. I met you all in GA. Glad to hear( if indeed this is you) that you are all well.
In response to this topic: Never quit while you're cold, wet, dirty, and tired. Take a day or two and think about all the reasons you came out in the first place. If rent, a job, and bills seem like more fun still, then go home. In 2000 and 2001 I made hastey decisions to go home (for different reasons) and I regretted it every day. Now I don't care how far I make it. 6 months 2200 miles or 6 months and 220 miles. Who cares? It's the best life in the world!!!

the one and only cola monkey. big red dog named mr. bud too. we hadn't hooked up in GA yet though. she was still hanging out with that "other guy". she couldn't resist me later though. she always says that when she met me, she didn't know who to be more afraid of, me or the dog. folks started calling our band of roving idiots the "Crippled Bloods" cause at least one of us was always crippled or bleeding. miss janet gave us all matching bandannas at trail days, which solidified us as a trail gang. then we got trashed one night and united the clans with the hobo's and the rest is history. it was very moving, unlike my walk out of trail days.

UNITE THE CLANS!

Lone Wolf
01-31-2006, 09:37
Yup. That's the way it was. Except for Cola not being able to resist general.:D

general
01-31-2006, 10:01
beer lessens resistance.

Nokia
01-31-2006, 17:02
I was scared as hell of your dog too lol. But then Lurch and I went into Suches and I brought back a package of ham just for that dog. I bribed your dog so it wouldn't eat me. :) I saw Lurch again in NH that summer. Always wondered what happened to the rest of you all. Once again, it's great to hear you are all doin' well. Oh and sorry for being off topic.

CreakyBonze
01-31-2006, 23:09
got trail girlfriend knocked up in PA. she couldn't hike anymore. morning sickness that lasted all day. had to come home. that, and they don't have sweet tea up north.

all kidding aside, we're married and have a son who is almost 5 now. i have to say; that is as much fun as the trail.
-----------------------
GENERAL, you, wife and son came up to Trey Mt. Shelter last March and brought trail magic...I never did get to thank you...it was SO welcome. Cute little boy.

I lasted until Fontana then had to get off the trail because of foolishness in not taking care of my joints and tendons. Starting again this year...not because I feel like I failed,.. but because I need to be there.

digger51
01-31-2006, 23:15
In 2001 I mangled an ankle twice and had to quit just after entering NY. Last year I had to stop for family issues in Franklin, NC. Years between have just been hiking the southern part for fun and exercise. This year the kids understand I will only stop for their emergencies..spurting blood, bones sticking through skin, death or near death. Anything short of those they know to not call me.

mweinstone
02-01-2006, 09:47
i quit for no bone!two large bones sticking through my skin no.only three bones ,all comming thru at the top of my skull will send me home.and maby a call from my son saying he got his 16 year old girlfriend pregnant would interupt my thru as long as it takes to beat him and come right back.

freefall
02-10-2006, 05:35
...and maby a call from my son saying he got his 16 year old girlfriend pregnant would interupt my thru as long as it takes to beat him and come right back.

No, don't quit for that. Just make sure you call at least once a week and tell him you're gonna do it. Anticipation is much worse than the actual beating.:D

mweinstone
02-11-2006, 00:49
im going to take my cell dammit. if my son was more respectfull of others i wouldnt have to carry a rock to maine. im ashamed my son has bad grades,smokes pot,humps his 14 jail bait year old girlfriend and then skips class and had an attitude.but im so glad hes my son and no other. i love him to death. i only wish i could snatch the life out of him sometimes.i wish i could hike him straight. im gonna send him to the national outdoor leadership school this summer if i can swing it. thats what my parents did to me when i was bad.

Panzer1
02-11-2006, 03:27
humps his 14 jail bait year old girlfriend

Life is hard, isn't it.

Panzer

freefall
02-11-2006, 04:55
Life is hard, isn't it.

Panzer


:datz On 2nd thought, not going there.....:datz

TACKLE
02-11-2006, 05:56
Not leaving enough days to complete and way too many Zero days did me in.

dc101
02-17-2006, 12:46
I was doing a section hike from Harpers Ferry to GA. Exactly a month into it, 1.5 miles North of Laurel Creek Campground (around Bastian), I somehow sprained the hell out of my ankle on an easy section of trail. I knew my trip was over when in minutes I felt it swell right up inside of my shoe. After limping down the trail, I spent the evening with my ankle soaking in the cold, fast-moving creek there.

The next day I limped 5 miles towards the Bastian Medical Clinic, and then finally was able to catch a ride the rest of the way there. I can't say enough nice things about the ladies at that clinic! They checked the ankle out, and let me hang out there all day until I was able to arrange some transportation. I was so fortunate to have been near there when this
happened

Anyway, I live close to the trail in MD, and barring a job opportunity arising that is too good to pass up, I'll be heading Northbound from the Lambs Knoll area when the weather warms up. Hopefully, I'll be able to get back down to Laurel Creek, and finish up down south afterward. I can't wait. It's been a long winter of looking up at that ridgeline...

-Greg

Tin Man
02-17-2006, 15:41
Not even attempting to do it when I had the opportunity (pre-family obligations) did me in. I really admire anyone who even makes the attempt. If the first six weeks is hard, doing the first six days every year is even harder. Next year we start our six days in Hanover and hike over Mousilauke - yikes!