Post Thru-Hike [Archive]

blackbird04217

04-04-2010, 22:16

Okay, here is a topic that not many people seem to be talking about - what to do after their thru-hike. I completed mine last year, was the best adventure I've ever had and I wish luck to all those who are doing it this year, and in the future! When I started it was something I'd never consider doing more than once in my life, but I am itching to do it again, or another trail perhaps... I would change a few things obviously, but post hike issues;

Developing photos, making a scrap book, dealing with all the people who don't want to listen to your adventure but pretend to be interested . . . I read somewhere that those who have not hike will never understand, and those who have can never explain. It is very true, and I guess I am frustrated because I have springer fever and I know I need to make career wise decisions... (not that it seems to be going anywhere since I am still without a job : /).

But what other things have you guys/gals done since your thru-hike? I've been putting together my scrapbook for the last 6 months, it has taken longer to add 700 miles of pictures than it took to walk 2178 . . . (well okay, so in terms of actual time spent on the task not quite the same).

What kinds of things do you do to calm your springer fever? I spent a night in my tent the other night, and apparently that was the worst thing I could have done... Made me miss the trail so much more! (I was only 50ft from my house in the backyard... I was testing how cold it was getting at night since it is abnormally warm here this year - wanted to see if it was trail weather, and it just might be.

fw2008

04-04-2010, 22:56

Developing photos? What is that <g>. You don't use a digital camera?
What you're experiencing reminds me of what happens to climbers who achieve the summit of Mt. Everest, K2, or another of the 8K peaks. They love to tell everyone about their adventure, but unless those you are talking to are also enthusiasts of your sport, they just don't understand.

I have not yet completed a TH, so I can't talk about "post thru-hike syndrom", or PTHS.
But I think the fact that you're itching to do it again indicates you had a good experience.

One thing you might do is blog on sites like this. At least those who read your blog here are all interested in what you have accomplished!

Congrats on your TH.

FW

Mags

04-04-2010, 23:15

What kinds of things do you do to calm your springer fever?

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=97468&id=563440020&l=54ced992c0

More outdoor stuff....

:sun

And navel grazing, too...
(http://www.pmags.com/joomla/index.php/Outdoor-Writings/post-trail.html)

Nevermind

04-05-2010, 01:14

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=97468&id=563440020&l=54ced992c0

More outdoor stuff....

:sun

And navel grazing, too...
(http://www.pmags.com/joomla/index.php/Outdoor-Writings/post-trail.html)
That is probably the most inspiring photo album I have ever seen.

I have grown up and done most of my hiking around NC. A one month NOLS trip (Wyoming) when I was 14 has been my only experience backpacking out west. I cannot wait to get back out there.

blackbird04217

04-05-2010, 02:08

Developing photos? What is that <g>. You don't use a digital camera?

I meant getting the digital images printed/ 'developed'. Which I use the term lightly. That said I did need to use a disposable camera for a few months on the trip, which has yet to be developed. . .

Mags seems to hit it on the head, but I think the whole career and other life goals need to take priority. The AT was my first ever backpacking trip, but certainly will not be my last.

Ramble~On

04-05-2010, 03:55

I've only posted 1% of my photos, my trail journal was pretty much kept as a notebook to spark my memory for later edit which I haven't done.
I hiked last year too and the fever is running at about 110.
I try to hike as often as I can and I totally understand not being able to communicate the experience.

Yesterday (Easter) I went to Newfound Gap and handed out Easter bags of goodies to thru hikers and I had some other stuff. I gave 4 a ride into Gatlinburg and talking with them was wonderful medicine to ease the burning fever. I live close to the trail...maybe too close as it is so much easier to hear it calling me. I'd love to open a hostel and I'd love to be thru hiking again....I hope the future holds both.
The PCT.....oh the PCT! Hiking is in my blood and I'm thankful for that....VERY THANKFUL!

Tilly

04-05-2010, 09:32

Working and burying myself in school. Not the best idea but good for the long term. Plus I am learning alot. One more year to go!

I got my bike tuned up and I've started riding to work. It's fun.

I just started going through my pictures. Maybe I'll print some of the good ones out. I typed my entire journal out on trailjournals when I got home. Kind of let me relive the trail again, but the typing took almost 5 months in itself.

Knobstone trail hike, hopefully, in May...but I know that 5 days is going to be a tease!

It has been nice out and oddly enough it is depressing. I miss spring on the AT. Not hiking or being outside is depressing.

I NEVER talk about my hike. People I work with have never been camping, let alone LD hiking. Plus, ultimately, most people are only interested in their own thing and don't care about what others are doing. Non hikers will never understand.

sbhikes

04-06-2010, 22:36

It's hard coming back from such an adventure. Real life is on the trail. This other life is just waiting time until you can get back. The sooner you accept this, the better.

I actually got me a job, but a part-time job. Seems better that way, but I blew it. I should have asked for less days per week instead of less hours per day. I still have to try to cram backpacking trips into a two-day weekend.

And two-day backpacking trips are what I'm doing now. As many as I can.

Fortunately I talked about my hike enough to make my boyfriend want to try it. He's leaving in about a week. It's my turn to ship the packages and be the support person. I'm going to go down to Campo and hike with him the first two days. If I can do it, I'll try to meet him on the trail on weekends if he's near somewhere I can get to. If not, then I'll just do another two-day backpack trip or set up a lemonade stand for thru-hikers.

I've been trying to get involved in things. Music, classes, stuff like that. I decided I liked being able to walk 30 miles in a day so I've been dabbling in trail running and might try an ultramarathon someday.

You have to get involved, stay active, do the things you enjoy. Keep living life to the fullest.

Spokes

04-06-2010, 22:48

I started brewing beer!

Kel, the "Stickman"

04-06-2010, 23:06

I started brewing beer!

Hmmm... would that make you REMEMBER? ...or FORGET?:-?

fw2008

04-06-2010, 23:13

That is probably the most inspiring photo album I have ever seen.

I have grown up and done most of my hiking around NC. A one month NOLS trip (Wyoming) when I was 14 has been my only experience backpacking out west. I cannot wait to get back out there.
I have to second that. So inspiring that I just want to be there myself.
I've got a Nikon D200 with a couple lenses; would love to get some serious photos like yours. Weighs 2lbs plus the 300mm lens, it's going into my pack anyway.

Really nice work Paul. Are you planning another AT TH? Maybe I would like to join you.

FW

Kel, the "Stickman"

04-06-2010, 23:24

Hey Blackbird!

The ANSWER IS... I don't know!

Hope you are fine these days. I met you on top of Katahdin, the day that you, Bark and Berry, (Crazy Lady?) finished... and maybe THAT'S the answer. Keep hiking! Dayhike... section hike... thruhike... HIKE! Although I didn't complete the trail yet, I did enough of it to "catch the fever". My cure is to go out and hike, when I can, where I can. One of my best hikes to date was with my young Grandson, an eight year old. It was his first hike! It was a short hike, on a short hill, just outside of town. The view was magnificent, and I wouldn't trade my hiking partner for any other! It opened up great conversation with him, not only about hiking, but much deeper subjects. All in all a great time!

So... you're in Bethel, right? I'm in Madison, and frequently drive through there on my way to Fryeburg, etc., making lumber deliveries. Maybe we could co-ordinate a dayhike sometime. Also, my wife and I are considering going to Trail Days this year. Any interest? I know that Bark and Berry will be there...

Yeah, Blackbird... it is an illness...

Stickman

blackbird04217

04-07-2010, 11:49

Hey Stickman!

It's been a little while yes, and I do remember you meeting us at the top, it was a great time up there on the big mountain of Maine. Which I certainly need to do again at some point, during a nice day. I've been debating a weekend trip out here, since Bethel is only a few minutes from a very beautiful spot on the AT. I just haven't got my butt out there. It's strange, I am itching to get out there - but afraid that a weekend won't be enough. I am also waiting for the weather the calm down. It has been nice for the last week, and this week so maybe that time has come - I just don't want to be on the trail during some random temperature drop - I am sure a lot of you know what I mean. Although it is probably safe to go out by now, I've already spent the night in my tent to make sure the nights are warm enough...

But the weekend thing, from what I've read a weekend won't be enough - but it will be better than nothing. So likely, very soon, I will get out there and go to the top of Baldpate again. It should only be a few hours of unfit hiking to get up, and a few more to get down. But I could always stop at the shelter and stay the weekend.

Thanks all for the replies. How many of you have made a photo album/scrap book of your adventure(s)? And how many have started and not completed one? I am about half way through the trail with my book, but not half way through the pictures by any means - considering it rained almost non-stop for 1800 miles... But the final two states had perfect weather.

Kel, the "Stickman"

04-07-2010, 12:22

[QUOTE=blackbird04217;998139]Hey Stickman!

It's strange, I am itching to get out there - but afraid that a weekend won't be enough.

You'd better pack full gear and a week's worth of food, just in case!:)

Stickman

sbhikes

04-07-2010, 22:46

But the weekend thing, from what I've read a weekend won't be enough - but it will be better than nothing.
You said you live close, to somewhere beautiful, so why don't you go there several weekends in a row. I've gone backpacking the last two weekends and am planning to go again the weekend after this one. Heck, maybe I'll sleep outside this weekend, too. If I'm not backpacking, I'm almost always doing a dayhike. I've been getting into the dayhiking thing again. It is really quite fun. Recently I did a day hike to reminded me SO MUCH of the PCT I felt totally homesick. It was wonderful.

Thanks all for the replies. How many of you have made a photo album/scrap book of your adventure(s)? And how many have started and not completed one?
I swear, after I got home, I uploaded and put captions on all my photos practically before I took a shower. I couldn't wait to see them and to live it all over again. I also transcribed my journal into two books and uploaded them to lulu.com so I could sell them, mostly to my mom and her friends. I loved reliving my journals, too.

Mags

04-07-2010, 22:55

I've got a Nikon D200 with a couple lenses; would love to get some serious photos like yours. Weighs 2lbs plus the 300mm lens, it's going into my pack anyway.

Really nice work Paul. Are you planning another AT TH? Maybe I would like to join you.

FW

Thanks for the kind words. Believe it or not, it was all with a P&S camera. I plan on buying an DSLR soon, though! :)

So many trails to do..who knows if an extended hike on the AT will happen soon. The Pinhoti Trail is on my wish list, though! :D

moytoy

04-08-2010, 07:42

Be happy in the fact that what you are feeling and going through is something that some of us can only wish we were going through!

TheCheek

04-08-2010, 22:59

You are not alone blackbird. My wife and I thru hiked in 2005 and she is still working on a scrapbook.

Lauriep

04-09-2010, 07:20

Find a way to volunteer and give back. It's a fantastic feeling knowing you are helping other people have the same experience you had.

There are so many different things you can do: do trail maintenance (adopt your own section or join a group), join the MATC trail crew or one of ATC's trail crews elsewhere, monitor corridor boundaries (great if you like challenges and tromping around in the woods away from people), maintain/build/repair shelters, give presentations about the A.T., do web work for your local trail club, join a committee and share your expertise in an area you'd like to see change, take a kid on the Trail, lead a hike, monitor water quality. Take a Leave No Trace course so you can teach it, take a wilderness first aid course so you can better assist other hikers in an emergency.

You know how you have a sense of ownership when you hike the Trail? When you volunteer you get a different type of ownership. It's pretty cool to be able to call a section of the footpath or boundary your very own, or look at a water bar or rock steps or sidehill and know you made that piece of the Appalachian Trail.

The A.T. needs you.

Check out www.matc.org and www.appalachiantrail.org/volunteer. Look up "WalkinHome" from Maine here on WhiteBlaze, a year 2000 thru-hiker who's done a lot of the above. There are a number of other thru-hikers in MATC too. Admittedly, there are not a lot of young ones, but who's going to change that, if not you?

Laurie P.
PATC Maintainer Blackburn Trail Center to Wilson Gap 1995- present
PATC Corridor Monitor Duke Hollow 2006 - present
Alum of ATC Rocky Top, Konnarock, and Mid-Atlantic trail crews

Mags

04-09-2010, 08:38

I try to give the equivalent of 1 wk a year in volunteering.

As I've always said, even if you can't volunteer on the AT, your local trail org, open space board, city park, etc could always use a hand. :)

It is not practical for me to do work on the AT, but I've had lots of fun volunteering with the Colorado Trail Foundation, CDT Assoc, Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado, the local Boulder Open Space folks and others.

Sure other areas has similar orgs and needs.

Volunteering is fun....and they often feed you! :D

fiddlehead

04-09-2010, 09:47

Find a career that let's you take summers off perhaps.
Then you can hike a lot more.
Or winters off and go south of the equator.
Life is priorities.
What's yours?

wolfpackcruiser

05-05-2010, 23:00

Hey Blackbird, I think we met in southern VA last year.

I'm having some of the same struggles as you are post-trail. I'm on my second job since returning home from Maine, but neither have been much of a career. I'm eking by living with my family.

I'm looking for a career where I can spend time around people who enjoy hiking and spend time outdoors. I've found my best moments since the trail have all been centered around being outside, going hiking or kayaking or running, anything to get away from the world for a little while.

I'm starting to think about another long distance hike, so then I have a goal and am motivated to get a job and work for a while, anyways.

Cheers
-WolfPack

blackbird04217

05-06-2010, 20:42

Yea I think I remember seeing you on there at some point!

I just finally got a job within my industry of choice, it has nothing to do with the outdoors or even being active at that, but it is what I wanted, what I studied and what I will continue trying to do for quite some time; make video games.

But beyond that I will take hiking up as a passtime a lot more than I had before, the AT was my first hiking trip longer than a few hours... But I will say it will not be my last! Th unfortunate side about this current job is the temporary side of it. But staying busy is helping ease the fever a bit more than I expected. It could also be that I moved to a new place and basically went INTO the city for the first real time of my life.

Have a good one, and happy trails to everyone!

Dogwood

05-06-2010, 23:17

I have found it hard for me to think in the terms: what am I going to do now that my thru-hike is over? I am absolutely obsessed with hiking that I continue from one thru-hike and jump/prepare for the next as soon as the last is finished. And, truely, the last thru-hike is never really finished. It just lives with me, joins me, and is part of who I've become on my next thru-hike. I remember this everynight as I lay on my back looking up out into the heavens and stars from wherever I'm camping, even if it's just the backyard.

For me, every post thru-hike is the beginning of the next pre thru-hike!

Gunner81

06-01-2010, 15:04

Blackbird ~ Great question(s). I've been wondering many of the same things.

I remember when I got off a former thru-hiker picked me up. I asked her what life was like after the trial. She said she felt like she was in limbo. Now I know what she means. I've been struggling since I got back from my thru last year. I have a job but I'm not exactly happy with it and it doesn't help that the economy sucks and good jobs are slim. For me, I think it boils down to the fact that I'm not exactly sure what I would be happy with at this point (other then living out on the trail again ). So I'm trying to take the job(s) I have now in stride and see all the opportunities they provide me (i.e. decent amount of time, money etc.) and know that I'll slip into something great if I keep my eyes open.

To help keep my spirits up and my Springer fever down I go hiking a lot. I did a week long backpacking trip around the same time I left for Springer in 09 which was a big help. On my days off I try to do long day hikes. Its fun, but admittedly not the same. I've also started looking for volunteer ops in my area - both on and off the area.

The Unknown Hiker

06-03-2010, 15:46

After my first thru-hike I didn't have a clue what to expect. I mean, I knew I would have to go back to work (government contractor) and start taking regular showers.

But what I didn't expect was the change in mental attitude - at least for me. I'm neither a 20-ish or a retired hiker, somewhere in between. I found that while on the trail I "soaked up" the atmosphere and the wonderful freedom to do whatever I wanted to (at least until the money started to run out). But after reaching Springer (SOBO thru-hike) I honestly felt like a positive part of my life had been taken away. And that I wouldn't be able to fill the void.

It was somewhat depressing because (as others have mentioned) there are few people who can relate to what you have just accomplished. So there wasn't much sharing - more like trying to explain why the heck I'd do such a thing.

On my second and third thru-hikes I new what to expect (pretty much). During the last month of the hike I began to focus more on the "real world" that I would be returning to. I worked on mentally planning what I would do after getting back. I tried to make a conscious effort to dwell on both the hike completion and the thereafter. This mental "preparation" really helped when I got back home.

One thing I would suggest (if practical) is to perform trail magic for other hikers. My wife and I go out near Harpers Ferry and feed the folks burgers and dogs and drinks. This interaction with the current thru-hikers is wonderful, even a chance to share some war stories. I feel that this type of activity help keep me mentally "in touch" with the Trail and the hikers.

Those who aren't able to directly provide trail magic - how about sending a resupply package to a hostel with "for any hiker" on the address. I remember going through Kinkora Hostel and being given just such a box filled with wonderful sweets and snacks. It made all the difference in the world.

Ladytrekker

06-03-2010, 17:00