PDA

View Full Version : Extreme reactions to thru-hike.



skeeterfeeder
08-22-2004, 03:56
I have another question for former thru-hikers. I am surprised at the extreme reactions I am getting from friends and family about my plans for a 2005 NOBO. Some are extrememly supportive, and one said it best, "It is what makes you..you." But others would be more accepting of me getting a sex change operation than spending 6 months on the AT. I received less flack when I traveled down the Amazon. Is this reaction unique to me or have others encountered strong reactions to their thru-hike?

SargeAT
08-22-2004, 04:26
In planning my 2005 thru-hike, I have received mixed reactions as well. From the extremely supportive, to the "tsk tsk tsk, your wasting your time". Simply put, not everyone is blessed with the love of the outdoors that we are. Thank god. :D

art to linda
08-22-2004, 08:56
I've had the same reaction here. My two sons think I'm out of my mind but my daughter supports me all the way. Reactions from friends and family range from "that sounds like something you would do" to "a woman, your age, out in the woods for that long, ridiculous, it will never happen!" As I have been slowly getting gear together my boys have been getting use to the idea though a temporary medical glich has them on my case to change my start date. Being only "willfull" not "stupid" I'll let the Docs decide that, major reconditioning to do if I want to make my 2005 start date. The reactions of others has been interesting and will more then likely be more so once I am on the trail. ;)

orangebug
08-22-2004, 09:30
If you've had a "medical glitch", then your gender and their concern for you probably lead to the extreme apprehensions. You know how dangerous it is for "girls" to be alone in the woods. :rolleyes:

You don't mention a spouse's reaction. Hmmmm.... (I think I know something about that.)

I expect that as you prepare and gain more confidence in your athleticism, your friends and family will share your enthusiasm.

bill...

Jaybird
08-22-2004, 09:34
hey..i'm just a lowly section-hiker...& i get the same reactions when i tell people i'll be hiking for 2 or 3 weeks on the A.T.!

everything from the simple...."Why?" to "..how can you stand to be without companionship, shower, bed, real food, etc, etc, etc, for that long?" to....(a popular one on WhiteBlaze).."are you gonna carry a gun?" hehehehehehe!

most of the people speak/question out of ignorance of hiking/backpacking community...so, i just let the questions (especially the stupid ones) slide!

Good Luck with your hike!

weary
08-22-2004, 10:37
I have another question for former thru-hikers. I am surprised at the extreme reactions I am getting from friends and family about my plans for a 2005 NOBO. Some are extrememly supportive, and one said it best, "It is what makes you..you." But others would be more accepting of me getting a sex change operation than spending 6 months on the AT. I received less flack when I traveled down the Amazon. Is this reaction unique to me or have others encountered strong reactions to their thru-hike?

I had been doing strange activities all my life so most weren't surprised. MATC gave me an assignment: to check out trail maintenance practices elsewhere and report back.

Several people subtly asked what cause was I supporting -- subtly? Well they sort of let me know that I shouldn't expect them to contribute. I told them I had no cause other than to see if I could do it.

I was surprised at the number of people who told me they had once dreamed of doing a thru hike, "but, of course, it's too late now." None were as old as I was. Most much younger. No one seemed to detect any irony in that.

The nine-year-old who had walked Maine with me two years earlier -- and who had complained bitterly at times while on the trail. Announced that he was joining me as soon a school was out. Which he did -- and complained bitterly at times while on the trail.

Then, there was the guy in Virginia, who when I asked directions, demanded, "Don't you have anything better to do with your life?"

Weary '93

Footslogger
08-22-2004, 13:51
People's reactions to the thought of a thru hike are as varied as the day is long. Just imagine yourself as a non-outdoor person (if that is possible) being told by someone you know that they are going to put everything they own in storgage, put their lives on "hold" and spend 6 months walking on a trail with a heavy pack on their back.

When I was planning my thru-hike I got everything from total support to strong warnings and questions regarding my sanity. It actually got amusing after a while. At one point I typed out the 20 "most often asked questions" and then filled in my standard answers. I carried a few of these pages with me and handed them out when someone seemed amazed that I would even consider such an endeavor.

Bottom line ...it's just not something that most people are familiar with, much less even seem themselves doing some day.

'Slogger
AT 2003

oruoja
08-22-2004, 15:34
I can understand the questions or concerns some naive folks have about a thru-hike, but what really amuses me are the responses from folks that are purely reflective of economics and maintaining status in a competitive world. I plan to pull off the hike somewhere in the 45 to 50 year age span and some folks are shocked that anyone could not be working in those "prime" years of earning potential. What many of these folks disregard is that many of the middle age are not in fast track well paying jobs with portfolios they manage day to day. Then again, most of them that I know think and outdoor experience is a trip in their Excursion or driving down a scenic road in a caravan of RV's.

smokymtnsteve
08-22-2004, 15:43
from the gospel of Abbey

"Run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, that lovely, mysterious and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to your body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much: I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those deskbound people with their hearts in a safe deposit box and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this: you will outlive the bastards."
~
THANKS BE TO ABBEY


I hope to meet you next week in ANC...RED is driving down to pick me up at the Airport ....

Ramble~On
08-22-2004, 15:48
Yeah. Some people are bitten by the hiking bug and others are not.
Good thing too cause if everybody got the bug it would be harder to find solitude.
More power to you. Those that knock it have probably never had much adventure in their lives. While you take time for yourself and an adventure of a lifetime those that knock you will probably stay home and read a book.
I have never understood "staying home and reading a book" rather than taking the book to a more ideal reading location so to speak.

steve hiker
08-22-2004, 18:54
Let's face it, most people are sheep who do as they are told. They have been following others since grade school, and literally are unable to think "out the box." I see this daily on my commute, when 97% of the drivers sit passively in a loooong line of cars awaiting their turn at the light/road construction delay, while there's an empty service road or shortcut in plain sight. They're sheep.

Which is a good thing. As several others have said, there would be NO solitude, and NO wilderness (or semi-wilderness) if a large part of society started thinking for themselves and doing what they are capable of doing. Come to think of it, all the commuting shortcuts would be congested too. :D

weary
08-22-2004, 20:07
Let's face it, most people are sheep who do as they are told. .... They're sheep.Which is a good thing. As several others have said, there would be NO solitude, and NO wilderness (or semi-wilderness) if a large part of society started thinking for themselves and doing what they are capable of doing.... :D

That's true only if you assume that what now exists is all that will ever exist. That is not true if people can be convinced to fight for more. How do you get people to fight for more. You show them, you entice them to experience wildness, so that they will have the insight and knowledge and sense the importance of fighting for more.

I was criticized for years for writing about Bigelow in Maine. You will destroy it, I was told. Too many people will destroy what we love about Bigelow.

But the developers also eyed Bigelow. They proposed creating the "Aspen of the East." An unappreciated -- and to be honest -- a much disliked Mainer, Lance Tapley, took my advice and hiked Bigelow with his girl friend -- later his wife and the mother of his kids. He returned from his hike with a single message. "We need to save Bigelow." I reported his comments. Even climbed the mountain one February and photographed Lance planting a flag, proclaiming Bigelow "the mountain of the people of Maine." A few weeks later he began a petition drive to put the issue on a referendum ballot.

I didn't collect signatures. I was an objective reporter. Not an Advocate. But Lance was. He organized. He lead field trips to the mountain. He enlisted garden clubs, hiking clubs, anti-poverty groups, anyone he could find. Almost everyone signed on except the mainstream environmental groups.

I was canoeing the Allagash Wilderness Waterway on the weekend before the vote came. I missed the Governor's last minute opposition. And all the mainstream environmental groups strange last minute silence.

But we won anyway by a few thousand out of a few hundreds of thousands of votes. Why? Who knows? Certainly we would have been swamped if Lance had not organized a grass roots drive. But I kind of think that without all those stories that hikers had objected to -- even Lance's enthusiasm wouldn't have been enough.

Weary

Kerosene
08-22-2004, 21:12
hey..i'm just a lowly section-hiker...& i get the same reactions when i tell people i'll be hiking for 2 or 3 weeks on the A.T.!Same here. I head out for at least a week every year (more if I can finagle it with my wife) and the reactions range from "You're kidding!" to "That's great!" (and then my father's "Aren't you getting too old for this?"!). I have the ATC map of the AT hanging in my office that makes for a good conversation piece.

Jack Tarlin
08-23-2004, 14:54
Skeeter---

Friends and family members tend to become more supportive once they learn more about the Trail, and once they see how important this trip is to you, they'll become more positive. Another way to bring people around, especially family members, is to address their concerns about your well-being, especially as regards personal safety, etc. A lot of family friends and others don't become truly positive until you're actually out there hiking; when they see how serious you are, and once they get into following your progress, I think you'll see a lot more support.

There will ALWAYS be some negative folks---people who either don't agree with what you're doing, scoff at it, tell you you're crazy, harp on your chances of success, etc. It's best to ignore these sad, bitter, negative people. Folks who are essentially unhappy in life because they've abandoned their own dreams will try and find reasons to disparage and discourage yours. Don't let 'em!

Spirit Walker
08-23-2004, 16:09
I had more trouble on my second thruhike than I did on my first. "Why would you do that again? You've already done it."

Most people would not want to do a thruhike, even most hikers. It's not an all sunshine and butterflies, even at the best of times. Most people don't want to disrupt their lives as completely as a thruhike requires. That's a good thing, the trails are already too crowded. Some have a hard time even understanding how you can take pleasure in a peripatetic lifestyle in which you sleep on the ground, are dirty and hungry most of the time, walk long distances, etc. (One PCT hiker said his South American wife thought it sounded disgusting.) And they don't really know what it's like - they only see a part of it. (Funny - when you tell people you plan to walk 2100 miles, it gets very little reaction. But if you tell them you will be camping out for six months, then they react.) You can't convince them of the value in what you do if they don't understand. But some few will understand, even if they've never hiked a day in their lives. Those are the ones who have had dreams, and have dared to try to realize those dreams. You can see the difference in their eyes. Some people will support you even though they don't really understand, just because they love you and wish you happiness. Others will try to tear you down, because they are afraid to try to do what they really want to do, and can't stand to see you succeed where they haven't. I always enjoyed feeling like an instigator - by daring to live my dreams, I showed others that it was possible for them to live theirs. Maybe I don't want to sail around the world, but I can understand why you would want to do it. I don't want to start my own business - but go for it if that's your dream. There are worse things than failure - like not starting at all. There are always dreamstealers around - but you don't have to listen to them. If this is something you need to do, then go for it. Just laugh at those who tell you that it's a stupid thing to aspire to. They don't have a clue.

MedicineMan
08-26-2004, 01:10
I was doing a little mini hike in a city park this weekend with the youngest daughter (still trying to plant seeds in her head)...while there we saw my old scoutmaster who was working on an Eagle Scout project and building a connecting trail. He knew we worked on the Big Dig on the Cumberland Trail this summer and he asked if what they had done would have passed the test on the Cumberland, I told he that it would not, that I could see no mineral earth! so back to digging they (the scouts) went.

I'm sure hikers/maintainers are sending report to the ATC all the time, maybe even a thru-hiker or two has accepted the task of sending in the same as they travel NoBo or SoBo.