After your completed your AT thru-hike did you:

[2009ThruHiker]

1. Plan to thru-hike another long trail, but it never materialized.
2. Attempt/ Succeed at thru hiking another long trail.
3. Attempt/ Succeed at thru hiking many other long trails.
4. Limit yourself to smaller hikes after the thruhike of the AT.

[Wonder]

I've been "attempting" for 2 seasons now. If I finish, what excuse do I have to come back!?! Just kidding.....I can't answer this poll

[fiddlehead]

my 1st AT hike just got the passion started and i then did nothing but long distance hike or travel overseas for the next 18 years. Why stop?

[2009ThruHiker]

that's kinda the way i'm feeling its going to be for us when we thru hike in 09. I'm considering the sale of our house before we leave, to be completely out of debt and having some temporary relocation funds at the end of each year until the next trail starts the following year!

[TomScanlan]

Need new poll item: Plan on going to Disney Land.

I'll be starting my first attempt on june 1... so we'll see!

[Mags]

I did the LT again then I moved to Colorado. 8 yrs later, I'm still here. In between, I took up backcountry skiing, trail running and walked a few other trails.

Life's been good.

And part of the reason why it is good is that doing the AT gave me the courage and flexibility to reinvent my life as needed in addition to doing new adventures.

[rumbler]

I didn't see "Sat on my ass and drank beer until I could feel my toes again" as an option.

[chuckbuster]

I highly recommend knocking off the remainder of the Long Trail after completion of the AT. Your still in the vicinity and its only another 166 miles. I finished the AT in late Sept and had peak fall color for the Long Trail. I also recommend that you head south as the weather is getting a little groovy that time of the year and of course nothing beats hiking right into the Inn at Long Trail for a pint to celebrate the end of a fantastic hiking season.

[Big Daddy D]

I planned to thru hike the PCT in 2006, but bounced off the ground thereby breaking my hip, so that hike was delayed.

In April 2007, exactly one year after getting out of my wheel chair for the first time, I began a section hike of the PCT from Campo to Cajon Pass.

I hiked from 13 Apr to 2 May and am happy to say that my hip was just fine.

Looking forward to 2008 to continue and finish the PCT.

Big Daddy D

[weary]

Very few, if any, WB polls provide even an approximate number of available options. A lot of us who have attempted or achieved thru hikes spend years backpacking in over nights, weekend, and week long walks.

Once we return, I suspect, most of us continue backpacking in over nights, weekend, and week long walks.

I suspect that those who quit backpacking after a thru hike experience tend to be those who made the attempt for the wrong reason -- i.e. to "conquer" the trail, rather than to enjoy the luxury of a six month walk in the woods.

Useful polls would confirm or refute my suspicions. Few do, because the authors don't include obvious alternatives.

Anyway, none of the options in this poll reflect what I did, and probably don't reflect what most people did when their walks ended.

Weary

[warren doyle]

Out of the cradle endlessly walking.