View Full Version : post trail changes and reactions
twowheeler
11-05-2006, 18:49
Finished up a thru-hike in july and am definetly having some post-trail withdrawl. what kind of changes have people noticed after a thru hike and how did you react to them. i didn't really notice anything until i went to college in sept, and it hit hard.
max patch
11-05-2006, 19:24
The only difficulty I had when I returned was an annoying habit of falling asleep at 9:00 pm or so for a while.
Jan LiteShoe
11-05-2006, 19:25
All my joints hurt until at least January.
I had to stop thinking of Snickers as a food supplement.
No more snot rockets!
Post Trail adjustment can be interesting:
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=15547&highlight=trail+adjustment
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=11320&highlight=trail+adjustment
Mountain Maiden
11-05-2006, 20:38
Finished up a thru-hike in july and am definetly having some post-trail withdrawl. what kind of changes have people noticed after a thru hike and how did you react to them. i didn't really notice anything until i went to college in sept, and it hit hard.
TwoWheeler--you think it is bad now--wait til early Spring!! You will be completely Trailsick and have a hard time thinking about anything else!
A lot of hikers experience post-Trail depression in a very real sense.
The good news is there are several ways to get a "hiker-fix." Go to the SORUCK, PA Ruck, Trailfest, Trail Days, etc. Or, you can do Trail Maintenance or have a mini-ruck in your own hometown.
ALso--stay in touch with your hiker-buds, like here on WB. It helps.
And, you can spend time thinking about your next hike!
Sunrise :sun
Footslogger
11-05-2006, 20:43
No more snot rockets!
========================
...aw, but don't you get the urge now and then to cover a nostril and let one rip ?? C'mon Jan, tell it like it is !!
'Slogger
Footslogger
11-05-2006, 20:46
For me it's about my toes. I have never regained normal feeling in my toes. Standing in the shower I often curl my toes under to see if the feeling has returned ...but nah, still numb !!
And then, Like Liteshoe said, I will never look at a Snickers the same way again.
But I did master the whole snot rocket thing and still practice my technique whenever possible.
'Slogger
Jan LiteShoe
11-05-2006, 20:47
========================
...aw, but don't you get the urge now and then to cover a nostril and let one rip ?? C'mon Jan, tell it like it is !!
'Slogger
Hey Toots, how are you handling that little post-trail "methane" problem? :)
Footslogger
11-05-2006, 20:50
Hey Toots, how are you handling that little post-trail "methane" problem? :)
=================================
Still offgassing ...after all these years !!
'Tootslogger
(...and Jan, you're the only one allowed to call me that !!)
Mountain Maiden
11-05-2006, 22:10
One of the things it took me a while to get used to was the fact that I had to LOOK for a BATHROOM :o !
A Cathole or behind a tree is just so much more convenient!
And, I still throw away all boxes, containers, etc. Everything goes into a ziploc.
:sun
Lone Wolf
11-05-2006, 22:11
Finished up a thru-hike in july and am definetly having some post-trail withdrawl. what kind of changes have people noticed after a thru hike and how did you react to them. i didn't really notice anything until i went to college in sept, and it hit hard.
About 1 month after my 1st through hike 20 years ago I got tossed in jail for disordely conduct. I got out and vowed to be hiker trash the rest of my life. Here I is.:D I wrote the book on "blue-blazin hiker trash".:)
About 1 month after my 1st through hike 20 years ago I got tossed in jail for disordely conduct.
What was your offense? Not showering? :eek:
SGT Rock
11-06-2006, 08:03
Impersonating a hillbilly.
About 1 month after my 1st through hike 20 years ago I got tossed in jail for disordely conduct. I got out and vowed to be hiker trash the rest of my life. Here I is.:D I wrote the book on "blue-blazin hiker trash".:)
Same thing happened to me after departing the military, Had forgotten all the laws of civilization.
[QUOTE=Footslogger;266848]For me it's about my toes. I have never regained normal feeling in my toes. Standing in the shower I often curl my toes under to see if the feeling has returned ...but nah, still numb !!
Slogger; I'm glad others have got that numb toe thing too.
I'll always remember a couple of years ago being at Trail Days You, your wife, and some others were at a hamburger joint talking about the same stuff. I got a kick ot of Bad Ass saying, " I can't fart and blow snot rockets around others any more".
Just more fond memories of the trail to share.:sun
Spirit Walker
11-06-2006, 21:52
For me, after thruhiking the first time I felt unwilling to 'settle' for ordinary life, working 9 - 5 for the rest of my life. I knew that two weeks a year vacation just wasn't going to be enough. So I got into a lifestyle of working for a few years, then traveling for six months, then back to the salt mines to earn money for the next adventure. In between, I hike as much as possible and do trailwork but I can barely wait until the next time I can be back on the trail again.
Jim Adams
11-06-2006, 22:05
hate to put this under this thread but i don't know what else to do, i do not know how to start a new thread or find if one already exists for what i need.
i am looking for robert rothberg aka mule in 1990. he started in march and finished the trail in oct. anybody know where he is?
geek
I was in a similar position. After finishing my hike a couple yrs ago, I returned to college a month later. I had a really tough time adjusting. Despite all the good my hike has brought me, I do regret how it affected my college life the year after. I didn't feel incredibly social, was more withdrawn that usual (i'm a social person) and didn't feel like I fit in. Maybe it was partially feeling superior or just misunderstood, I don't know. I quickly got into a relationship with a girl which I now regret entering. I feel like I sorta wasted a yr of school (socially, not academically) and regret not making more out of it. I broke out of my shell for my final year, and got more involved. As I say, the hike benefitted me a lot, and I was a more focused student afterwards, but it did wreak havock on my social life.
My advice: stay/get involved in school activities, and try new things. Join a team, or sporting event, and stay in shape. I found working out and running as a positive outlet. Call your trail friends and stay in touch. Emailing, visiting and calling can help ease the pain and nostalgia.
Attend a hiker event: a Ruck, Gathering, Trashgiving, Traildays next year (go!) etc. These are good places to re-establish your inner hiker-trash and realize you're not alone.
Good luck, and hang in there!
I was in a similar position. After finishing my hike a couple yrs ago, I returned to college a month later. I had a really tough time adjusting. Despite all the good my hike has brought me, I do regret how it affected my college life the year after.
Hmm, I had a very similar experience upon returning to college after a semester at NOLS. But I don't regret it at all... of course, I didn't like college that much to begin with, but I think the experience of spending so much time on the trail and outdoors is much better as a learning and personal growth experience than any amount of time in classrooms or dorms or any other part of college life. It always seems to me like the people on the trail are a lot wiser than everyone I've met at school, so it's kind of strange going back to that after the trail. A friend of mine who took a year off between high school and college to work on an ambulance said it pretty bluntly when he got to living in the dorms: "It's like I'm living with a bunch of kids." Even though he was only a year older than any of them, that year of experience was a huge difference.
On a similar topic, does anyone else think it's kind of strange how people refer to getting back from the trail as "going back to reality" or similar phrases? My reality is still out in the woods, not a desk and computer.
Same thing happened to me after departing the military, Had forgotten all the laws of civilization.
that's it. there are no laws on the trail except for the ones you choose to go by. laws don't really exist unless there is someone to enforce them. you can drink, smoke, hike above or below the speed limit, drink and hike at the same time, basicly do what ever you want to do, when you want to do it. when you get back there are all these social restrictions on your actions. something makes you mad, you can't yell out *** at the top of your lungs in public. showing up for something at a specific time is totally a forgotten concept. when i got home, i went back to work 2 days later, and wanted to blow up at any given moment over any little thing, because it sucked, it sucked, it sucked. it does get better though. although still, i can go hiking for a couple of days or a couple of weeks, and when i get to my predetermined stopping point, i just want to keep going. 6 years later, i still want to throw it all away, and go hiking.
The only difficulty I had when I returned was an annoying habit of falling asleep at 9:00 pm or so for a while.
I'm having the flip side of this problem. No matter how late I stay up the night before, I always wake up at sunrise. :(