the accomplishment of an AT thru hike some thoughts

[DavidNH]

I want to throw some thing out..and especially for the veterans to answer..but surely everyone welcome to chime in. i am looking here for reflective answers on what successfully thru hiking the AT actually means to the individual.

Many have told me that Thru hiking the AT is a tremendous accomplishment and I tend to agree. However, is the accomplishment any less or any greater if one completes the journey in 3.5 months, 5 months, 6.5 or more months?

What specificially do you think makes an AT thru hike a tremendous accomplishment?

Having completed the trail this year (and all in this year) I have become the object of wonder and admiration of my non hiking family and relatives and friends. I took 6 months and a week to complete the trail, taking about 15 zero days in the process. Yet I noticed amongst the actual hikers on the trail, there was 1) a tremendous desire among many to get the hike over with and 2) an emphasis among many along the whole trail to either hike fast or cover as many miles as possible over the course of a day, week, month etc. On the trail I felt often just average or even out of sync. This became especially true in the 100 mile wilderness of Maine. Here, others speeded up to get it done. I tried to stretch it out to make it last!

I have the feeling that my non hiking family and friends don't really understand what I have done, what I have experienced, and for some reason I don't feel quite as impressed as they do. I mean.. You don't have to beat anything or race the clock to hike this trail...you just have to keep going! They also seem to be less relaxed, busier in life, unable or unwilling to to take time for things. One thing I did gain from my hike is a far more relaxed outlook on life than I previously had. Yet, hiking 2200 miles in just over 6 months to me seems more like a journey more so than a tremendous feat or accomplishmet.

Finally, does any one have any idea, or can one even determine, what percentage of hikers who set out from Springer intending to hike to Katahdin actually made it? It seemed to me that most of those who wanted to thru hike did. The crowds slackened northward I felt because many folks were just out to hike a section no the whole trail. Or where many perhaps stopped in their tracks by circumstances?


Did the reaction of your family and friends (especially if non hikers) differ from your own reaction to your hiking the trail? How so?

I hope my post makes sense to folks. I look forward to reading all your thoughts.


David (Snickers).

[Lone Wolf]

For me personally I didn't think it was a great feat or accomplishment. All's it is, is a bunch of section hikes thrown together. Slackpacking makes it easier. So many hostels will slack you for 3-4 days. A 3 month thru-hike with no days off or slackpacking is tougher and more of an accomplishment than a 6 month with lotsa time off and slacking. The toughest part of a thru-hike is getting the time off and saving $$ for it.

[MOWGLI]

What specificially do you think makes an AT thru hike a tremendous accomplishment?



Accomplishing a goal, fully & completely. That's it!

In the scheme of things, in my opinion, it is only a "tremendous" personal accomplishment.

[Footslogger]

I think the time it takes a person to complete a thru-hike as it relates to "significance" is more a funtion of goals than the hike itself.

If hiking fast and getting done in 4 months is your goal then it seems to me to be more about "time" than the hike itself.

I knew going in that it would take me around 6 months. I finished in 6 months and 10 days. I met my goal.

To me what makes the completion of my thru-hike a significant accomplishment is that I hung in there and saw it through. It's not something EVERYONE does ...or would even want to do.

I have no accurate idea of the percentage of hikers who complete a thru-hike and it is not of any importance to me personally. Hiking the AT was something I did for ME.

'Slogger

[Jim Adams]

your family and friends, although proud of you will never understand what you now know. they don't think of the little daily nags like putting on wet shoes...again. they will look at the pictures and see the steep climbs and know that you expended alot of energy to climb it but they don't realize the 92* heat or the 25*cold that you did it in. most can't comprehend washing up every day but going for maybe a week w/o a real shower. they understand perhaps the great things but totally miss the little things that mentally take their toll and force alot of others to quit. be satisfied to show the photos and tell them how much fun you had because they did not live your hike day to day and they will never totally understand.
before my first thru, i was a total adrenaline junkie, beyond help. when i finished, my family noticed that i was changed to a certain extent but they just couldn't figure it out. my best definition to them was that now i really, really like electricity but i also now know that i don't need it.
stay in contact with your trail family and they will, as my friend Boudan calls it "talk you back down to the real world".
i like to hike fast and then take zeros but my hike only took 6 months because i could not afford for it to take a year.
congrats and good luck,
geek

[Blue Jay]

For me personally I didn't think it was a great feat or accomplishment.

I agree 100%. Working for money, even at a job you really like, even one day, is much harder and more of an accomplishment. I'll take a full day of being cold, wet, tired and hungry over any day of occupation and the money that binds you to it. Slavery is slavery, freedom is freedom, its as simple as that.

[The Solemates]

A successful through hike is one in which you thoroughly enjoyed yourself the whole time. Whether that is 3 months or 7 months, it doesn't matter.

[MOWGLI]

A successful through hike is one in which you thoroughly enjoyed yourself the whole time. Whether that is 3 months or 7 months, it doesn't matter.

I donno. I certainly didn't enjoy myself the "whole time", but I believe my hike was still successful.

Every thru-hike is an intensely personal experience. Wouldn't you agree?

[warren doyle]

"One must know the end to be convinced that one must win the end." Mallory

To end where you wanted to end when you started your journey - in a physical, emotional, spiritual and intellectual sense.

The trail has never let me down simply because I didn't let myself down.
I have given it (the trail) what it asked for and what I asked for myself.
This asking, giving and receiving is intensely personal which only a few can understand.

[Grampie]

Dave, I don't think that it matters much, as to how many start and how many finish. I look at a thru-hike, for most of us, as a personal thing. You know; "Hike you'r own hike". You can get out what you want and everyone has a different idea as to what that will be.
Some folks enjoy it more than others. Some enjoy it very little and quit soon after they start. Another group keeps going until the daily grind gets them down and than they leave. Others think too much about the real world, off the trail, and think they would rather be there. They will than leave.
There becomes a time, during a thru-hike, when you know you have a very good chance to finish. You enjoy most of your days. You understand that the bad days will pass. That's what drives us to finish.
It's very hard to relate the true feeling of having accomplished what you have so why try. The only folks that understand are those who have walked the 2200 miles. Seek them out and "talk trail" with them because they will understand.:)

[khaynie]

What specificially do you think makes an AT thru hike a tremendous accomplishment?



For me at least...was that I created the opportunity to thru-hike, followed through with it, realized my dreams while keeping my wife in the process. The former, and particulary the latter, is a tremendous accomplishment, IMO:D

[vipahman]

Generally if friends and family are in awe of your achievements, that would make them couch potatoes or under-achievers or both, especially if you think you didn't do anything great. Yes completing a thru' does give a great sense of accomplishment. It is an achievement if you made some hard decisions to go about it. Otherwise, it is a journey. You said it right.

For the record, I'm only a weekend hiker. If I were to attempt a thru', I would consider it to be an achievement for 2 reasons : a bad ankle and quitting my job. Those are my hard decisions.

YMMV

[swift]

Life is very complicated, the choices you have on the AT are so simple. wake up, eat, walk, eat, walk, get wet, eat, walk, eat, go to sleep. I think the biggest acomplishment is finding out that so much simplicity can be so darn good for you.

[Pokey2006]

It all depends on what you hoped to accomplish on your hike. If you sought a new perspective on life, and found it along the way, then who cares how long it took you, or how far you got? If you wanted to be able to say that you hiked the whole trail in one stretch, and you did that, then who cares if it took you six months instead of three?

Me, I really wanted to renew my love of hiking, get back into a sport/hobby I had enjoyed in my youth and had neglected over the past several years. I didn't finish the trail, but I did accomplish my goal -- I am now proud to call myself an enthusiastic weekend warrior -- and that's all that matters to me.

[Downunda]

When I look back now I still can't believe I did it, wow!

[swantekkie]

All ur insights are very inspiring, i am going to do a three week section hike this spring but am planning to thru hike in spring of 08'. Reading everyones threads on this sight gets me so excited. For me its about the journey and people u meet along the way not the time it takes. Half the fun i think is planning the trip. Hope to see everyone out there soon.

[rafe]

I started a thru in Springer in 1990 and left the trail near Roanoke VA. Hiked for a couple weeks with L. Wolf, Indiana Dan, Freebird, et. al., from Hot Springs to Damascus. I did the 100-mile Wilderness later that summer. In the 16 years since, I've sectioned from Monson down to Lehigh Gap. With some luck I may finish this summer.

It won't be quite the finish I'd imagined at Stover Creek Shelter, on April 4, 1990. It will have been a 16-year adventure, with all sorts of side trips. I'm not the same person I was in 1990, and the trail isn't the same, either. Hardly a day goes by without a memory of the summer of '90. But most of the sections had their moments as well.

In any case, I'm gonna throw a big party when it's done. And then start thinking of what to do for an encore.

Folks in the "real world" can't really imagine what thru-hiking is about. I don't think anyone can, until they've done it, or at least given it a serious try. The satisfaction is your own.

[saimyoji]

Bump.

I was just thinking about this topic today...was your hike really a life changing experience, or was it just a 3-6 month vacation in the woods?

[Programbo]

I think it would mean different things to different people...If someone were say a long time long distance AT hiker who had a number of multi-week trips under his belt a thru might mean something spiritually or emotionally but would just be an extra long trip experience wise..However if it`s one of the speed demons then a successful sub 50,60 or 70 day trip might be a successful physical challenge which is seperate from the traditional thru-hikers feeling...And if it`s one of these people who set out on a thru with no hiking experience at all and in some cases no real physical conditioning and they make it to Maine then my hat is off to them as that is an amazing feat in my book on a number of levels

[HappyGoLucky]

Hiking the AT was something I did for ME.

Was that pun intended? :D

Yeah, a lot of friends and family really have no clue about what's involved - and those can be the well-meaning ones. Then there are those who think you're an idiot for and trying and that you won't make it or will be killed. Of course, you don't hear from them afterwards... :sun

[Wolf - 23000]

Hiking the AT is not that hard. The trail goes up ... you go up, the trail goes down ... you go down. It's not that hard ... it just depends on if you want to do it or not.

After hiking the AT a couple times it help me relies it's more about being out there then the journey.

Wolf

[saimyoji]

I was hoping to hear more personal experiences. Sure, its different things to different people, but what was it to YOU?