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Lemni Skate
05-07-2009, 21:07
Well, another spring has sprung and I haven't done my thru hike. I would have loved to hit Springer in March or April and started it, but as usual I find myself trapped at home by finances and work. I did get in a section hike in Georgia over spring break and I'll do Maryland and Pennsylvania this summer (I hope), nut just looking at May 7 on the calendar and knowing I've let another year slip by is depressing....sigh.

River Runner
05-07-2009, 22:12
Hey Lemni, don't get too depressed. At least you are getting in some good section hiking.

WalkingStick75
05-07-2009, 22:32
That is how I had to do the AT too. I would have loved to do a thru but you do what you gotta do. Enjoy your section hikes.

Blissful
05-07-2009, 23:19
Hey you're sectioning...what's wrong with that? Enjoy it!!

karoberts
05-07-2009, 23:26
I feel the same way Lemni.

Mrs Baggins
05-08-2009, 05:53
Yeah, life has a way of interfering. When we moved up here in November we had grand visions of hiking every weekend. We've been out for one 3 day weekend. Every single weekend til the end of June (so far) is taken over by other obligations and my husband doesn't have the vacation time to take any more long weekends. Then our daughter gets married in July so there goes that month. So for now we're looking to August, September and October with maybe a chance to go out over the 4th of July weekend. In the meantime our gear sits spread all over the basement and mocks us every time we go by it.

Wheeler
05-08-2009, 06:33
"don't make it bad, take a sad song and make it better"

World-Wide
05-08-2009, 08:57
Well, another spring has sprung and I haven't done my thru hike. I would have loved to hit Springer in March or April and started it, but as usual I find myself trapped at home by finances and work. I did get in a section hike in Georgia over spring break and I'll do Maryland and Pennsylvania this summer (I hope), nut just looking at May 7 on the calendar and knowing I've let another year slip by is depressing....sigh.

Lemni Skate- Sorry to hear your're feeling a bit low and hope you can complete that thru-hike in soon. Hang in there, but remember the folks who have never had the great opportunity you have to hike the A.T. You're experiences put you a head-above-the-rest!! :)

Ladytrekker
05-08-2009, 09:00
I would have loved to have been into more of this life when I was young I am now looking at 8 years until retirement in which I call FREEDOM, that is the day my life begins anew.

hawkeye
05-08-2009, 09:11
I turn 50 on May 11th and thought I would be on the trail. I planned it 6 years ago be getting laid off this past winter and shoulder surgery changed everything! So talking to my wife I might section hike for a month every year. Better than not doing it. I know how you feel, but it will get better. Springer blues suck.

Lemni Skate
05-08-2009, 21:44
Depressed is probably too strong for what I am. It's just a sense that I've managed to let another year get away. I am happy that I have a job (I know many don't) and lucky to have such a wonderful family.

I'm still 12 years from retirement, and I honestly have no goals except to get thru the 12 years. I know that's pathetic, but it's true. I don't want to be in the rat race and constantly trying to prove myself and get ahead. I've honestly proved to myself everything I ever needed to and now I just want to enjoy God's creation slowly. I also like trail folk. Love talking to them. They don't have expectations for you and let you be whatever you are. I like that and wish the whole world could be like that.

Lemni Skate
11-29-2011, 15:56
It's been 2 1/2 years since this post. I'm 2 1/2 years closer to retirement. I still haven't thru-hiked, but I'm working on doing something rarer. Section hiking. I just read that only about 1/4 of the people who complete the trail are section hikers. So being a section hiker actually puts you in a more elite crowd than being a thru-hiker. My son and I are still thruing when I'm done with this teaching thing. However, if we've already knocked out or very nearly knocked out the AT, we might just to the PCT instead.

grayfox
11-29-2011, 16:15
LS--I know what you mean about time flying and life intruding on the compleation of our dreams. Hang in there and keep dreaming. I think sectioning would be a good way to go even though you might not feel like it being a 'through hike'. I have to settle for short hikes. It seems to take a few days to settle into a routine where I feel good, stay well fed and hydrated, and sleep well. Five days or les and I am glad to see the car--after ten or so I would just as soon keep going. Maybe someday......

sbhikes
11-29-2011, 16:18
If you had thru-hiked 2.5 years ago, you'd still be faced with how you didn't thru-hike this year or didn't section hike enough or whatever. Thru-hiking changes nothing. It certainly doesn't cure the longing to be out on the trail, that's for sure.

Good for you for feeling better now than you did then.

Malto
11-29-2011, 18:40
If you had thru-hiked 2.5 years ago, you'd still be faced with how you didn't thru-hike this year or didn't section hike enough or whatever. Thru-hiking changes nothing. It certainly doesn't cure the longing to be out on the trail, that's for sure.

That is for sure! I am wishing to be out on the trail soooooo much more now than before my thru.

Lion King
11-29-2011, 18:48
hiking one LDT either makes you never want to stop or stop altogether

johnnybgood
11-29-2011, 19:18
The perseverance it takes to complete the trail as a thru hiker is well known but has anyone ever documented the sacrifices that are made yearly as a section hiker ?


Money spent on gas , time spent traveling , arrangement for shuttles , family schedule changes , etc. True , the section hiker has more time to complete the trail but at what cost ?

hikerboy57
11-29-2011, 19:36
"life is what happens to you while you're making other plans."
Since 1976 when I first stepped on the trail, its been a life goal to complete a thru hike. since then, college, marriage, kids and career would only enable me to section hike, and Ive completed about 2/3 of the northern half.over the past few years, after meeting and talking to a quite a few thru hikers, i finally decided that for me, Id rather do the trail in 2 sections. last year I asked my boss for 3 months off to hike from springer to DWG and he agreed, so I set a start date for march1, 2012, to hit DWG by memorial day.Next year, my younger daughter turns 21, my child support is done(although its never really done, just the legal aspect, shes still my daughter), and my expenses drop down big time. as Im turning 55 next april, I decided it would be the best year for my first half attempt.
2 weeks ago my daughter told me she was pregnant for the 2nd time(she lost the first this past march) with a due date of may 30. we have a history of preemies on both sides of the family , so I assume she probably wont go full term, deliver sometime in May.
Now we've also bought another dealership and my boss wants to promote me to manager, which would mean not taking the time off I want to for one of my last life goals. I havent yet decided what to do, still planning on a mmarch1 start date, but these newest developments do throw a monkey wrench into my plans(ed abbey fan).Im not depressed, but i am flusterd and dont know what I shold do. the "responsible "thing would be to postpone the hike, take care of business and daughter, but ...........

Wise Old Owl
11-29-2011, 20:10
Well form a long term plan based on two years - jump on a treadmill and work up to a new goal - and stick to it - stop whining about the minutia of life - for some its a circle. For you and me its a sign with "wrong turn..."

http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/files/1/1/5/5/2/wrongway.jpg

hikerboy57
11-29-2011, 20:18
thanks, woo.im not whining though. its the constant challenges of life that make it meaningful.theres always plenty of hiking to do, and ive gotten quite a bit of satisfaction from my section hikes, have met plenty of great people, had my share of trail magic, and looking forward to more of the same, maybe even meet up with you on the trail sometime. its all good, its just life.and from what ive learned here on WB, flexibility is the key to both a good thru hike, and life in general.

Wise Old Owl
11-29-2011, 20:43
Oh when I said whining - it was in general - I try not to point talons at folk. We are all here to get along.

Blissful
11-29-2011, 21:19
Section hikers are never thru

(courtesy of Captn Blue)

Wise Old Owl
11-29-2011, 21:26
Section hikers are never thru

(courtesy of Captn Blue)

Yea and the reply to that is "we grow olde and moldy."

Whats that smell? - that's not hiker funk - that's Icy Hot....

sbhikes
11-29-2011, 22:43
Now we've also bought another dealership and my boss wants to promote me to manager, which would mean not taking the time off I want to for one of my last life goals. I havent yet decided what to do, still planning on a mmarch1 start date, but these newest developments do throw a monkey wrench into my plans(ed abbey fan).Im not depressed, but i am flusterd and dont know what I shold do. the "responsible "thing would be to postpone the hike, take care of business and daughter, but ...........

If you hike, you will lose your job. Maybe not immediately, but eventually. You will never get another promotion. You probably will never get another raise. Gosh how I hate the US and our lack of decent vacation time sometimes. We should not be slaves like this.

hikerboy57
11-30-2011, 08:14
If you hike, you will lose your job. Maybe not immediately, but eventually. You will never get another promotion. You probably will never get another raise. Gosh how I hate the US and our lack of decent vacation time sometimes. We should not be slaves like this.if i just stay in sales, Ill have a job when i get back, theres zero doubt about that.but at this point of my life, I would be better off going into management, and i dont know if that opportunity would be there when i returned. The bigger issue is my girls. In addition to my older daughter being pregnant, Ive been estranged from my younger one for the past three years. Last week we met for the first time in a long time and agreed to try to get to know each other again. I dont think going away for a few months would help with that.
Again, Im not depressed, if I stay home , I get the chance to repair a relationship long broken, and get to see my first grandchild be born. not so bad.the trail will always be there, I always have a great time on my sections, and i can still take a month off in the summer. Im still looking to leave springer March 1,but as i "let go and let god" as they say, my instincts are telling me to postpone.
"life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."
but its all good.

nitewalker
11-30-2011, 08:44
i finally finished work for the season and i was planing on starting a hike this week. my son went into the national guard on the 21st. i planed on hanging around till monday the 28th. well between the 21st and 28th my life has been changed for the worse but i will be okay. its the people around me that will feel the brunt of the sorrow. on fri the 25th my brothers 35 yr old exwife deanne bastow [still close, 9yr old neice] had a heart attack that has put her in a comma up to now. there has been no change and she is in a deep sleep. on sunday the 27th my daughters gram on her moms side was rushed to the hospital with shortness of breath and confusion she is still there being tested. i woke up monday went and cut some firewood. after cuting firewood i went in for lunch got on the computer only to find out that my friends wife passed away after being struck by a car....hopefully this is the end of the bad news around here because its geting ridiculous.


its okay to be depressed over a hike but a hike can always be done later on in life. so what if u dont complete a thru. just get out and hike any trail because if its only hiking your depressed over then your doing just fine. now if your depressed over something similar to what i mentioned above, then u got something to be depressed over.

hike on and happy trails. life isnt always fair but we have to be strong for those who may need help.......peace and love

nitewalker
11-30-2011, 08:51
so much for paragraphs......

Chenango
11-30-2011, 08:52
Well form a long term plan based on two years - jump on a treadmill and work up to a new goal - and stick to it - stop whining about the minutia of life - for some its a circle. For you and me its a sign with "wrong turn..."

http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/files/1/1/5/5/2/wrongway.jpg

Is this picture in NJ? Looks kind of familiar.

Gray Blazer
11-30-2011, 10:43
Oh when I said whining - it was in general - I try not to point talons at folk. We are all here to get along.

We need to dissect your pellets to see if you are telling the truth.

:eek:

Berserker
11-30-2011, 13:25
I still haven't thru-hiked, but I'm working on doing something rarer. Section hiking. I just read that only about 1/4 of the people who complete the trail are section hikers. So being a section hiker actually puts you in a more elite crowd than being a thru-hiker. My son and I are still thruing when I'm done with this teaching thing. However, if we've already knocked out or very nearly knocked out the AT, we might just to the PCT instead.
Yeah, I'm section hiking too, and I don't run into many hikers who are truly sectioning the AT (i.e. actually have a plan and intent to finish the entire trail). I may be on the same plan as you. Hoping to finish the AT in sections, and then maybe do part of or the whole PCT.


The perseverance it takes to complete the trail as a thru hiker is well known but has anyone ever documented the sacrifices that are made yearly as a section hiker ? Money spent on gas , time spent traveling , arrangement for shuttles , family schedule changes , etc. True , the section hiker has more time to complete the trail but at what cost ?
I'm a nerdy engineer by trade, and I have actually thought of doing this. It would vary greatly of course depending on how the trail is broken up into sections. For me I've done 787.7 miles in 19 sections up to this point over 4 years. 15 of the sections were weekend hikes and the other 4 were longer (usually a week). The weekend hikes have run me around $150 on average, and the week long hikes have been about $700 each. So at this point I've spent around $5 K. I think a lot of people thru hike the entire trail with that budget. Projecting that out to the rest of the trail it looks like I'll spend at least $15 K. I do have to admit to splurging on things a little here and there though like unnecessary hotel rooms and decent steak dinners, but hey that's what vacation is for. Plus it will be spread over more than 10 years.

lemon b
11-30-2011, 13:28
All we can do is what our individual lifes will allow. Just Grateful we have the AT. Although my goal is the same as yours, I'll never feel incomplete if the time and body and family stuff, including working, do not allow.