I like adventures, but just smaller ones for now.

[RiverRock]

I started my thru-hike the 24 of march, and after dealing with 5 straight days of rain to start, the excitement began to dwindle a little. despite the weather i pressed on, and found that the pshyical part of hiking came quite easy to me (being able to do 16-21 mile days in the first couple weeks) it was deffinatley the mental part of things that got to me. heading out on my Thru was really the first time i had ever been away from home for a long period of time. seeing as how im only 18 years old. i found myself missing my family, missing being dry, and especially missing my girlfriend.

i went in to this trip with the attitude, as long as i was having fun and felt like continuing on i would. maybe i should have been more determine? who knows. When i made it in to hot springs i had had my fill of hiking, and found myself hitching a ride to ashville and a bus home.

all in all i had an awesome trip. i realized that i still like hiking and adventures. just adventures that won't take 4-6 months to complete. one day i may be ready to attempt another thru, but for the time being i have shorter trips in mind. such as the long trail or the hundred mile wilderness.

oh yea, and when i got home my girlfriend diden't want to go out with me any more. so that kind of bummed me out as well.

Thru hikeing isent for everyone.

[Bearpaw]

Nothing wrong with making a choice that makes you happy. The freedom to make those choices is a big part of what a long hike is about. You hiked further than many who started this year (or many other years for that matter). Be proud and start planning your next adventures.

As for the girlfriend, I symapthize. I broke up with mine by phone in Pearisburg, Virginia. If it's not meant to be, it's best to move on. Sort of like a thru-hike I suppose.

[Lone Wolf]

I started my thru-hike the 24 of march, and after dealing with 5 straight days of rain to start, the excitement began to dwindle a little. despite the weather i pressed on, and found that the pshyical part of hiking came quite easy to me (being able to do 16-21 mile days in the first couple weeks) it was deffinatley the mental part of things that got to me. heading out on my Thru was really the first time i had ever been away from home for a long period of time. seeing as how im only 18 years old. i found myself missing my family, missing being dry, and especially missing my girlfriend.

i went in to this trip with the attitude, as long as i was having fun and felt like continuing on i would. maybe i should have been more determine? who knows. When i made it in to hot springs i had had my fill of hiking, and found myself hitching a ride to ashville and a bus home.

all in all i had an awesome trip. i realized that i still like hiking and adventures. just adventures that won't take 4-6 months to complete. one day i may be ready to attempt another thru, but for the time being i have shorter trips in mind. such as the long trail or the hundred mile wilderness.

oh yea, and when i got home my girlfriend diden't want to go out with me any more. so that kind of bummed me out as well.

Thru hikeing isent for everyone.
you're a wise young man. you'll go far

[waywardfool]

Kudos to you for having the man-bits to come (back) here and tell what happened and why. It seems that many of those that "take another path" (I don't/won't call it failing or quitting, because it isn't) don't show themselves online again, at least under the same username.

Good luck, do what you enjoy...if it ain't fun, it's time to do something else.

[Reid]

Hey don't feel bad, I'm the same way.

[Reid]

....and women grow on trees

[Blissful]

Good idea. And yes it is the mental game out there. But sounds to me like a section hiking adventure is just the thing for you, and that's great.

[Phoenixdadeadhead]

Losing the girl was prolly the best part of the story. Gotta find ya a hikin mama. 16-21 miles, dang I do 7-10 lol. I like to stop and see the sights, maybe that makes me weird lol. Here's to ya findin a Hikin Mama, and goin on a major through hike that only ends because she doesn't understand why she keeps missin her time of the month lol

[Many Walks]

RiverRock, I'd say your trip was a success. You went pretty far, had a good time and learned a lot about the AT, distance hiking, and this great community. That's a lot more than people can say who have the dream and never try. Everyone here has made good points. I hope you stick around WB and keep us informed of your upcoming adventures and share things you learn. The AT will be waiting for you whether you section hike or if the thru hiking bug bites you again. Wish you the best and enjoy your adventures!

[stranger]

Hey brother I had a similar experience back in 1995 when I was 19, I ended up getting of the trail in Pearisburg, this was after my first Long Trail thru-hike the previous year and this was a big setback to my confidence.

I went years before doing another hike, but did another Long Trail thru-hike in 1997 and hiked 500 miles along the mid-atlantic in 2001. Last year I hiked 540 miles from Springer to Atkins and I'm doing another hike either sobo in July or leaving from Springer again in April next year.

My point is, just like the point you made, thru-hiking isn't for everyone, but that doesn't mean you can't still go hiking. I love the AT, I love hiking in New Zealand and Australia, I've been all around the world, but never a thru-hike - who cares?

You got to Hot Springs, that's almost 300 miles, that's a long walk my friend. Just do me a favor and don't let this affect your confidence, because I went through years of doubting myself before I was able to look at my 1995 hike in a positive light.

As for the girlfriend, been there too, but the good thing about hiking is that you can always do it and if you got to Hot Springs you have what it takes to kick ass along any trail, not many people can hike 270 miles straight. You will be back out there most likely, the trail pulls you back, whether it's the AT or something else.

Just the other day, I've had the "fever" come over me again and I'm starting to sort things out to hike this year, it's not really a choice, it just kinda happens. Hope to see you out there someday.

[Christus Cowboy]

........oh yea, and when i got home my girlfriend diden't want to go out with me any more. so that kind of bummed me out as well. Thru hikeing isent for everyone.

I know this is part of your experience was probably one of the toughest shots you took... but I take my hat off to you.... You had the guts to try it.... and you had the courage to post your experience for all of us to see...

While it is not much comfort right now, the trip did give you some valuable insight into the relationship that you had with your ex-girlfriend which will help you further down the road of life...... There are alot of tough circumstances in life that really put a relationship to the test and having said that you will probably look back on that someday and realize that it was for the best..... Hang in there!

[Nicksaari]

let me prefect this by saying that it has taken a minute or two for me to be able to say this the most understanding way:
if i was not you, but in your shoes, i would have at least made it to rockfish gap, and that eighteen year old

on a serious note though, its sobering and humbling to me to read of your ending your thru. i often wonder that when i eventually long distance thru hike, no matter all the excitement and planning, if the psychological strains and aspects would get me off the trail in such short time.
on the contrary, im single, have NO debt service, havent lived at home since i left for school when i was eighteen, and i want to GET LOST in the woods and surf untill im 30.
but i havent been out there long enough to say that i have what it takes. but i dream about backpacking, filtering water from springs, walking under leaves electric yellow and crimson. these dreams are vivid like the ones i have about surfing: sounds, smells, emotions. i think i have the hiking gene.
i hope that you make it back out to the trail sometime up the road

nick.

[DuctTape]

you're a wise young man. you'll go far

This is true.

[schnikel]

Well said!

[Powder River]

I have heard it put this way: (probably by someone here on WB) Those who get off the trail do so because there is someplace else they would rather be. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, you should feel no more shame in getting off the trail than you would in choosing one college over the other. It is simply a choice about where and how you want to spend your time.

Reading your post it sounds like you had a lot on your mind and a lot of factors working against you; homesickness and a girlfriend. Those are tough things to deal with for six months, especially with the solitude of the woods amplifying them.

If you are telling yourself that you will stay on the trail only as long as you are having fun and feel like continuing on, then you are leaving yourself vulnerable to the option of giving up. Everyone I met who got off the trail had given themselves that same option. It makes it tougher on yourself mentally because you have put the option of quitting foremost in your mind, and of course it is the easier option. Most (but not all) of the folks I know who finished had the attitude that they were going to finish no matter what, barring a serious injury. This changes everything, because thru hiking is not always fun and there are plenty of times when you're not going to feel like continuing on. Speaking for myself, there was also a significant element- where else would I go? I had quit my job, given up my apartment, and had hundreds of people reading my blog and cheering me on. I was also using up almost all the resources I had access to just to attempt the hike- when would I get a chance to do this again? How could I let all those people down? What better place do I have to be?

So I guess all I'm trying to say is I'm not so sure a successful thruhike is a measure of one's drive so much as it is the situation you put yourself in, and the options you give yourself. If it is too easy to go home, there are places you would rather be, there is a girlfriend waiting and the opportunity to hike was easily come by, who can resist that? Hold your head high knowing you made it 300 miles under these circumstances, and undoubtably made lots of great friends. Do some trail magic this summer when your friends come by, and hike when and how you want to. Nobody can fill your shoes, and nobody can judge you. Not to mention you've just joined a pretty proud and distinguished group of people (section hikers) whom I think deserve the highest respect, as they have a much tougher hike than any thru hiker.