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View Full Version : Anyone regret missing an opportunity to thru-hike?



flemdawg1
06-03-2009, 16:00
I keep thinking that when I'd left the Navy in 96, I had some hiking gear, little debt and no plans. Now I have more debt, a mortgage, and 3 kids. And that I missed an opportunity that I won't have for at least another 15 years. :(

Anybody else feel like that?

capref123
06-03-2009, 16:12
Yeah....when I was 15 or 16, I saw a guy at the local library do a presentation on his thru hike...thought it was the coolest thing ever.

My mom told me to go....wouldn't have the time later in life with all the obligations. But I was 16 and knew better...besides, I couldn't walk away from my $1.25/HR job... I was making some good money, you don't just walk away from that! And I can always MAKE time, Mom!!!

Fast forward 30 years. ...my mom was right, no way I can make the time (at least until I retire), and mom is deceased. I think she always knew she was right though!

Still believing I may do it down the road.......

bigcranky
06-03-2009, 16:12
All. The. Time.

Roughin' It
06-03-2009, 16:59
i told myself that i was gonna do it this year, starting in march... but i had 2 construction jobs making some decent money and a girlfriend of 2 years.

but now i have 0 girlfriends and 1 job, so i think i am shootin to do a NOBO in 2010.

The Solemates
06-03-2009, 17:06
yea...its not good to have debt. its especially not good to have debt and be a hiker...

LockJaww
06-03-2009, 17:54
Be patient...I missed a chance years ago..back in the 1980's....for all the usual reasons...wife..kids, job, mortgage etc....I became a satisfied with going out for a week or so at a time a couple of times a year...I even got in to back country horseback riding...YEARS passed and I never even thought of doing the AT....Then a couple of months ago I was screwing around online and ended up looking up my old favorite trail in the Smokies...that led to a search of the AT...that led to me reading journals....and the revelation.....damn....I could swing this now if I wanted to!......So .....spring 2011 I'll be NOBO !!!!!....
If its meant to be....it will happen for you....

johnnybgood
06-03-2009, 18:04
Opportunity existed long before I was bitten by white line fever.:(

Bearpaw
06-03-2009, 18:55
If it makes you feel any better, while I thru-hiked right after getting out of the Marine Corps in 1999, it really wrecked my drive and ability to be a contributing member of society for quite a while.

I finished the trail and got a supervisory job with Bridgestone/Firestone Tires. It was actually a very good job, with excellent pay. But I always thought about being back out in the mountains. When I got accepted with a scholarship to the Instructor Course for the National Outdoor Leadership School, I left the corporate world and jumped on it.

Long story short, it was a great job when there was work (maybe 2 months a year) but as I worked private schools during the year and NOLS in the summer, I got further and further in debt. By 2004, I had to give up the mountain bum lifestyle. I'm still paying off debt.

But I now have my master's degree in special ed and I teach 10 months of the year for decent pay and can hike in my summers. So it all worked out, but the social impact of completing a thru-hike could seriously have waylayed the family you have now. I'm eyeballing 40 years old and really just starting a life with a family since my youth was spent blowing stuff up and roaming mountains.

Not a bad tradeoff, but every time you spent quality moments with your family, remember they might not be there if you had been bitten by the hiking bug as soon as you left service.

elray
06-03-2009, 19:58
Read AWOL's book and and list all your options and detractors, maybe you can swing it yet. Otherwise you section hike it like I do, which isn't all bad. I've been in constant contact with the Trail for over ten years now and have formed a real bond with the AT. I've met some great people and look forward to seeing the parts I've already completed again some day when my turn to Thru finally comes. Good Luck!

Blissful
06-03-2009, 20:04
All. The. Time.


ha, when I first saw this I thought it read - All in good time, my dear, all in good time.

;)

At least go do some sections. No sense mourning the past. The past is...the past. Go on out and hike!

flemdawg1
06-03-2009, 20:11
i do blissful. I'm doing some of Sipsey Wilderness in 2 weeks. And have 2 weekenders on the AT planned. And I travel to CT occasionally for business, I'll figure out a way to sneak in some hiking next time I'm up there.

Blissful
06-03-2009, 20:16
have 2 weekenders on the AT planned. And I travel to CT occasionally for business, I'll figure out a way to sneak in some hiking next time I'm up there.

Sounds good. The trail is always there. And you can take your time and enjoy it. There are disadvantages big time to a thru hike. Sectioning now myself, I am seeing things I never saw before. And enjoying the journey. I don't pay homage to the blazes which got to be ridiculous (I tend to be goal driven). I can now admire the great scenery and the people I meet along the way.

bigcranky
06-03-2009, 20:25
At least go do some sections. No sense mourning the past. The past is...the past. Go on out and hike!

Got about 700 miles complete in sections. Working on the rest. Might take me 20 more years, but what else am I gonna do?

Lyle
06-03-2009, 20:40
Yeah, I missed some times when it would have been easier. I have learned tho that I will make the time at some point. That is the only way to be able to do a long hike. Without this mindset, you will always tell yourself:

If I have the time, I won't have the money

Or

I have too many obligations

Or

I don't have a stable enough financial situation to risk it now

Or

I have too good of job to risk loosing it now.

Or...


You get the point. If it's important enough, It'll happen. But if you are waiting until the "right" time, it probably won't.

Stir Fry
06-03-2009, 21:34
I wish I would hade done the hike 79 when I had the time, and was still young, and a lot stronger. All though I think I have a better chance of finishing now, (2014) provided I stay healthy. I'll have more support, money, will power, time, a life time of built up desier, and I'm a lot smarter about hiking now then I was in 79.

Two Tents
06-03-2009, 22:57
Yea you got that right! I was supposed to do my thru years ago- but never did. I was going to start this year from Springer. Now it is set for mid June sobo.

When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us. Alexander Graham Bell (1847 - 1922)

Dogwood
06-03-2009, 23:54
Flemdawg1, that is one way to think about it, but here's another. There are people who have found a way to hike the trail with tons of debt, more than one mortgage, and a lot more than 3 kids. You can find a way to do it if you keep looking for the solution. If you can find a way to manage debt, get a mortgage, and raise 3 kids you already have within you the ability and power to achieve a hike! Stop regretting and start thinking big. Tap into that same place and power where you were able to do all those amazing things. Life is too short to not achieve your dreams. Hey, at least you aren't blind like Bill Erwin and he made it.



I keep thinking that when I'd left the Navy in 96, I had some hiking gear, little debt and no plans. Now I have more debt, a mortgage, and 3 kids. And that I missed an opportunity that I won't have for at least another 15 years. :(

Anybody else feel like that?

stranger
06-04-2009, 02:49
Don't worry about what you should have done 15 years ago, worry about what you can do tomorrow.

If you want to thru-hike, you can thru-hike. Make a realistic plan that is timebound, stick to the plan and change your behavior, not the plan.

It really is that simple

Lone Wolf
06-04-2009, 04:46
thru-hikin' ain't all it's cracked up to be. section hiking is more rewarding

Jeff
06-04-2009, 05:13
thru-hikin' ain't all it's cracked up to be. section hiking is more rewarding

Totally agree.

Section hiking gives you something to look forward to all winter long. And it keeps you motivated to stay in decent shape.:)

Wolf - 23000
06-04-2009, 05:43
I join the Army 10 years ago now and often look back at what I had. I miss being out there just total free of the BS people deal with in normal life. I miss being around people that don't wine because they don't have a cell phone, or don't have the latest fastion or can't leave the TV because it is wet out.

Out there I feel like I'm home. Something I haven't felt in a long time. I keep on thinking in 10 more years, I can give this all up and just remain a full time hiker, over and over again.

Wolf

Mrs Baggins
06-04-2009, 06:28
We had the the chance and the time in 2007 after selling our house, putting things in storage and getting a 7 month leave of absence. It was the perfect time. But 70 miles into the hike we had to quit due to injury. We still took the time to do a long road trip but after that hubby went back to work, we bought another house, another car, more stuff...........now we're locked into his very demanding job, a much bigger mortgage than we had before, and no chance for another leave of absence for at least 5 years, maybe longer. We still do sections when we can and we still say "when we finish that thru-hike." We don't look at age as the determining factor - it's more state of mind as long as you can stay reasonably healthy. We know an 86 yr old man who is going back out next year to attempt his 2nd thru. He never lets his age get in the way. Think positive. The time will present itself again.

sharky
06-04-2009, 07:12
I regret not going after I graduated college last year since the economy was in the tank and there wasn't any jobs for Anthropology majors...and there isn't now. I should of just gone.

BackTrack1
06-04-2009, 07:48
thru-hikin' ain't all it's cracked up to be. section hiking is more rewarding

I havent missed an oppertunity yet , but i am planning to thrue hike in 2016, but maybe i will start doing sections, that way it WILL make it easier to get thrue these long NE winters. :sun

fredmugs
06-04-2009, 09:12
I was never interested in multi-day hiking until my first AT hike when I turned 40. Now I'm hooked and determined to section hike the whole thing. I honestly don't believe my knees could withstand a thru hike so I don't look at it as a missed opportunity. After I section hike the AT I can't see wanting to do a thru hike and will probably look to hit other trails like John Muir or the CDT.