View Full Version : Reasons for Hiking the Trail
Sir Evan
02-06-2007, 17:28
I'm just curious to hear what you all have to say about reasons for hiking the AT. What do you think it is that drives people to the trail, for weekend hikes, section hikes, or thru-hikes? What is it that takes you there? So many people think I'm crazy to go backpacking for several days at a time, especially if the weather isn't ideal. Sometimes I lose track of why I enjoy it so much. I just do. Just curious to hear some different perspectives!
To get away. Peace and quiet. Physical exercise. Good views. Sense of well-being and accomplishment. It's physically difficult, but far from impossible. A "reasonable" challenge. (Unlike, say, a climb of K2 or Everest.)
I always wish I had someone to remind me of this during my first few days out. As I'm hot or cold, too wet or too dry, feet hurt, legs tired, etc. I always think, "what the hell am doing this for again???" "Because I like the outdoors....er...nature is good....ahh...ahhh....this is fun....oh hell I don't know just keep walking."
I guess for me it's about opening up the space in life for something different. Maybe different perspectives, realizations, or sometimes just a good story.
For me there's something purifying(in a dirty way)about wearing the same clothes everyday. Sleeping on the ground, eating the same thing out of the same pot, etc.. everyday.
Hell I don't really know why else and I believe that's the biggest reason of all. It just is what it is.
joedannajr
02-06-2007, 18:09
The reason that I enjoy hiking and backpacking is just simply the good feeling it sparks inside me. It is hard to place this feeling in a box but it always puts a smile on my face.
To walk. To see. To see what you see. --Benton MacKaye
I think that is the pure essence, at least for me.
mweinstone
02-06-2007, 18:17
trail = crack. cant stop. more please.reasons? do you smoke them? more trail now or everyone dies! touch my trail wrong and you die. trail may be a hidious scar on the earth but ill defend it with my dieing fart.thats long after breath.
Fannypack
02-06-2007, 18:18
I enjoy the exercise as well as people who I meet on & off the trail.
Also I think these comments (http://www.andrewskurka.com/AT02/faq.php) from another AT hiker are very intesrting.
Lone Wolf
02-06-2007, 18:18
AYCEs are so much better
Chaco Taco
02-06-2007, 18:22
To walk. To see. To see what you see. --Benton MacKaye
As usual Mags, you hit it on the money
mambo_tango
02-06-2007, 18:23
I enjoy the exercise as well as people who I meet on & off the trail.
Also I think these comments (http://www.andrewskurka.com/AT02/faq.php) from another AT hiker are very intesrting.
He said he didn't have 'fun' on the trail. Maybe because he only took 95 days. I plan on having fun even when I am miserable:sun .
hopefulhiker
02-06-2007, 18:24
You can see things on a long distance hike that you can't see on a weekend trip...
4eyedbuzzard
02-06-2007, 19:09
He said he didn't have 'fun' on the trail. Maybe because he only took 95 days. I plan on having fun even when I am miserable:sun .
As MacKaye said late in his life when discussing the subject of those who thru-hiked in the shortest time, "I would give an award to those that took the longest." :-? :sun
I'm just curious to hear what you all have to say about reasons for hiking the AT. What do you think it is that drives people to the trail, for weekend hikes, section hikes, or thru-hikes? What is it that takes you there? So many people think I'm crazy to go backpacking for several days at a time, especially if the weather isn't ideal. Sometimes I lose track of why I enjoy it so much. I just do. Just curious to hear some different perspectives!
same as some of the other posts....peace, quiet....away from the "real world"...i work in a technical environment....for me...it's getting back to nature!
weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!:D
Peace and quiet, solitude, a different perspective on the world that doesn't involve asphalt. And the kind of euphoria when I come to a really great viewpoint that beats any drug.
Not just enjoying nature and all that comes with it, or meeting all the wonderful people the trail have introduced me to, or the excellent physical workout i get from hiking and doing trail maintenance or the wonderful feeling of accomplishment and fullfilment of giving back something to the trail, but to get away from all the stupid people and idiots in the city and the responsibilties and hassles of having to deal with work, decisions and stressful situations and dealing with only: how far, where to camp, what to eat, where to get water, etc, simple life compared to the rat race. Did I say rat ?? LOL
RAT
And the kind of euphoria when I come to a really great viewpoint that beats any drug.
On the summit of Unaka (and some other alpine like places) that would be "eufernia" ;) !!!!!
RAT
To live with the trail instead of just getting through it.
To experience the changes in myself that take place while hiking: awareness, sociability, sharpness, self-sufficiency.
To meet interesting people who are more like peers than folks back home.
To have a reasonable challenge, and to meet the challenges that present themselves daily.
Blissful
02-06-2007, 21:44
I thought the idea of a trail from Georgia to Maine was so neat I just had to do it (back at age 14 and has stayed with me ever since). And I like a challenge. But it also makes me a tad nervous - esp since I got just three weeks to go in a 30 year dream. wow. :)
Fannypack
02-06-2007, 22:04
He said he didn't have 'fun' on the trail. Maybe because he only took 95 days. I plan on having fun even when I am miserable:sun .
I guess that depends on your definition of fun.
little bear
02-07-2007, 03:55
It beats being at work with all the stress there, bill collectors cant find me on the trail either:D . Internal peace I find walking thru the woods.
LB
Pokey2006
02-07-2007, 07:10
Do you really need a reason?
Waking and living by the natural rhythms is what humans were meant to do. Seeing the country on foot is truly a remarkable experience. Plus, the people on the trail are pretty darn nice.
Thats three reasons I can think of.
Limbohiker
02-07-2007, 14:47
Im thru hiking the AT to indulge in my fantasy of becoming a mountain woman!
minnesotasmith
02-07-2007, 20:11
I wanted to lose weight, for one thing, not wanting to keel over from a heart attack just yet. I went from 258 to 204 pounds, so that's a big improvement.
I wanted to get in better physical condition aside from weight. It's almost 3 months since I finished my thru, and I'm walking well over 3 hard hours a day 2 out of 3 days. Check.
I had a bee in my bonnet, an obsession with THing the AT, a box I had to check, an obsession I needed to satisfy. I did so, albeit I get wist-ful re the Trail enough that more hiking is in my future...
I wanted to get involved much more than I was in the hiking community. Did that, too. I met some of the most interesting, most wonderful people on the Trail. From SteveM and Matthewski to Darwin and Baltimore Jack, all the Trail angels, and just the people (nonthrus/nonhikers) I chatted with along the way were often revelations as human beings. Starlyte and Wonderfoot, to name two of the most worth-remembering ladies, were absolute delights to get to know. (Whichever guys end up with them longterm should consider himself lottery-jackpot-winning lucky.)
Still, though, the Trail was often a trying, lonely experience. Starting early, ending late, and doing a flipflop meant I had time with days of no one else on the Trail. There was a personal loss of great value to me directly attributable to taking the time to thruhike that I will never replace, and did not anticipate.
And, when I consider the lost wages from that time, it's hard not to wince. OTOH, I just did something seriously interesting that will give me a unique conversation starter the rest of my life (hopefully 40 years or so more). Too, when some corporate interviewer asks me my health, and I tell him what I did during 2006, he's likely to go "Uh, next question...". ;)
It was a heck of a thing to do, both ways.
applejack
02-07-2007, 20:50
It was a heck of a thing to do, both ways.
huh, huh, he said 'both ways'
The Weasel
02-07-2007, 21:01
It allows you a total withdrawal from the world, into a very tiny society and environment that is about 4 feet wide most of the time, allowing much solitary thought and meditation, while also forcing a focus on what is truly essential to function: Some food, some water, a place to sleep, a bit of companionship. Most will admit that it's a pilgrimage, and that however far they were able to go, they came to the end of their personal trail when they stepped off the AT for the last time.
The Weasel
Most will admit that it's a pilgrimage, and that however far they were able to go, they came to the end of their personal trail when they stepped off the AT for the last time.
Why should there ever be a "last time?" Aside from death, that is. Seriously, I expect (and hope) to spend the rest of my days within reach of the AT, and I can't imagine ever taking a hike on the AT knowing that it will be my last... unless it's a matter of terminal illness or some such. Strange concept.
Hikers are way better conversationalists than the guys at the bar.
Lone Wolf
02-07-2007, 21:23
Hikers are way better conversationalists than the guys at the bar.
how do you figure. all hikers talk about is friggin gear, miles and more gear.
how do you figure. all hikers talk about is friggin gear, miles and more gear.
What do guys at bars talk about?
applejack
02-07-2007, 21:30
how do you figure. all hikers talk about is friggin gear, miles and more gear.
funny cause its true?
how do you figure. all hikers talk about is friggin gear, miles and more gear.Not those hikers, the blue-blazin party scum I hang out with!
The Weasel
02-07-2007, 21:55
Why should there ever be a "last time?" Aside from death, that is. Seriously, I expect (and hope) to spend the rest of my days within reach of the AT, and I can't imagine ever taking a hike on the AT knowing that it will be my last... unless it's a matter of terminal illness or some such. Strange concept.
Well, gosh, Terrapin. I'm sorry you didn't like how I put it.
But I think there's something unique about starting a thru hike, and how it ends, whether at Katahdin or in the dust of some side road. Whether there will be another one some day or not, it's the end of one pilgrimage, and, however one does it, the start of a new one back in the 'real' world.
The Weasel
The Doctor
02-07-2007, 22:04
Hiking is great to me because it offers a chance to get away from the world and spend time in one of god greatest creations. Hiking the A.T.(at least the southeast) is appealing because of the diverse landscape you encounter along the way and the great people you will meet along the way. It's also a chance to experience another great thing, goodness in people!
Well, gosh, Terrapin. I'm sorry you didn't like how I put it.
It's just the phrase you used, "...stepped off the AT for the last time." Struck me as a very odd notion. The trail itself may be of finite length, but I expect that it will be part of my life for as long as I'm physically able to get to it and walk it.
I've lived within a short distance of the AT for my entire life and have hiked most of the trail local to me, some sections many times. When I was young the places the trail went seemed like far away lands. I would wonder what Maine or Geogia was like and think about how that little path could take me to these places. I would imagine seeing mountains and moose.
I've since been anywhere and everywhere the trail goes many times, on business, vacation or just traveling. Even though I've been to the places where the trail goes the fact that that little path leads there still seems magical to me.
It's hard to put into words, but I compare it to visiting your childhood home, elementary school, playground or fishing hole. As an adult you feel amazed at how small and insignificant these places have become. As a child these places were so big and important.
I get the same feeling walking on the AT today as I did 40 years ago when I first stepped foot on it. For me its an amazing feeling looking South and knowing that little path goes all the way to Georgia, then turning around and knowing that Maine is somewhere on the other end.
As it relates to the trail I hope I never have the misfortune to grow up.