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View Full Version : What the trail did for you; a counselor's perspective.



Simba
04-18-2010, 21:50
As a student researcher, and hiker, I am playing around with a research topic concerning the AT. I'm looking at suggestions from other's experience as long distance hikers. What got them to hike the trail, were they suffering from lack of self-esteem, or something else, or what? How did the trail experience and solitude help them after hiking?

I know with my own thru hike, and coming hike of the New England section of the AT, the trail trained my brain in seeing more forward (i.e., four steps ahead without thinking about it). I also boosted my self-esteem and discovered I was suffering from depression and social anxiety disorders. It gave me time to reflect with a clear mind. The constant exercise allowed my brain time to redevelop; though I do not have scientific (i.e., MRI's) data to prove that, nor the funds to find out. But I can still say the AT helped me take more chances with life. I would have never gone on to higher education over my BS if it wasn't for the trail.

So...I'm greatful for anyone who is willing to share while I comb over this and other sites about experiences and theraputic change from the phenomenon of hiking the AT. I'll be rediscovering myself on the AT for at least a two month stretch this summer. Peace.

Simba (aka, Ryan)

Spokes
04-18-2010, 22:46
I passed a section hiker on last years thru and who said he always asked people why they were on it. According to his informal survey of countless thru-hikers the top three reasons given were divorce, graduating college (or other life change), and retirement. No particular order.

The only thing the post thru-hike has done for me is made me constantly wish I was back on it.

Good luck.

RedneckRye
04-18-2010, 23:55
What?

I read and re-read the original post and don't quite get the question.
Maybe if I'd spent some time in grad school instead of hiking it would be clearer.
Or perhaps my self-esteem isn't correctly calibrated to answer a topic of such gravity and convolutedness, or what?

TheCheek
04-19-2010, 08:28
I think improved morale has to do with 2 things: exercise and low stress.

guitboxdude25
04-19-2010, 09:53
As a hefty kid, Hiking the AT has done two things for me: Woke a newfound need to be active and proved to myself that I can do things my skinny friends can't.

sbhikes
04-19-2010, 10:20
I was not suffering from depression or anything like that. I just wanted a change, to get out of my cold (air conditioning vent blowing on my head) dark (lights off all day) cubicle (mind-numbing, life-stealing work) and go outside the see the sun again.

I came back with a lot less worry about the future. Everything always works out. I also know that real life is on the trail, that I belong to a world of birds and wind in the trees and drinking from creeks and physical effort, not of money and striving and careerism or any of that other stuff. I just wish I could return to trail life every year. Maybe someday I will be able to.

Wise Old Owl
04-19-2010, 10:38
I passed a section hiker on last years thru and who said he always asked people why they were on it. According to his informal survey of countless thru-hikers the top three reasons given were divorce, graduating college (or other life change), and retirement. No particular order.
The only thing the post thru-hike has done for me is made me constantly wish I was back on it.
Good luck.

I heard that too, for me it was a life change, "age"


I think improved morale has to do with 2 things: exercise and low stress.


Not quite-add getting back to nature and away from population noise. Or perhaps to experience a quiet moment in life that is uplifting.

K2
04-19-2010, 11:27
My desire to get on the AT has to do with reducing my internal "noise", being able to
"step back" and figure out where I'm going from here. Sometimes, one can't see the forest for the trees; in my case, for all the traffic and urban drift.

I also want to increase my level of physical fitness. I also want to get closer to the beauty that has been created for us.

Having said that, I should add that these are things I want, but I'm trying to approach the trail with no expectations, and accept what it offers.
K2

P.S I should mention that a full-on hike has been deferred this year, but there are always section hikes, also next year.

fredmugs
04-19-2010, 11:28
You're a counselor? That is scary.

You appear to have some pre-conceived notion that people hike because they have some mental flaw or are trying to get away from whatever position they find themselves in.

I hike because of the physical challenge and the beauty of being in the mountains.

Perhaps you should find a real researcher to do a case study on you.

Jim Adams
04-19-2010, 11:41
You're a counselor? That is scary.

You appear to have some pre-conceived notion that people hike because they have some mental flaw or are trying to get away from whatever position they find themselves in.

I hike because of the physical challenge and the beauty of being in the mountains.

Perhaps you should find a real researcher to do a case study on you.

I think that this is probably true for almost all day hikers and section hikers but the reason thru hikers are out there is usually not because they like the beauty and physical challange of mountains...that may be their reason for picking the AT but not the reason they're out there. Most thrus that I know / have met / talked to / BS'd to etc. are out there because of some type of change in their life or life style. I had a long term relationship end unexpectedly. It (AT) changed me drastically. I was such an adrenaline junkie prior to my first thru...it slowed me down. I still like being on the edge but now I don't have to be...I have time to think and contemplate instead of just reacting....sort of like now realizing that I really like electricity but don't necessarily need it.:sun

geek

TheCheek
04-19-2010, 12:32
Not quite-add getting back to nature and away from population noise. Or perhaps to experience a quiet moment in life that is uplifting.

ah yes how could I leave that out? Nature, exercise, and stress reduction.

d.o.c
04-19-2010, 13:02
trail made me smile...unless i hike i fall into deep depression i just cant get out of.. mkes me wonder.

modiyooch
04-19-2010, 22:58
My initial hike was a life changing/saving event and I understand his question completely. I'll PM my comments.

RGB
04-20-2010, 03:31
You're a counselor? That is scary.

You appear to have some pre-conceived notion that people hike because they have some mental flaw or are trying to get away from whatever position they find themselves in.

I hike because of the physical challenge and the beauty of being in the mountains.

Perhaps you should find a real researcher to do a case study on you.

The majority of the "why" that I have heard when it comes to thru-hikes has dealt with depression and another thing that I find hard to describe. Just being disgusted with society, I guess. I think OP has something here. If one is going to leave work for 6 months, then it must be assumed one is quitting, making a big life change and/or getting oneself out of one's current situation.

The beauty and physical challenge are part of it, but they are more or less the skin of the experience. Walking 2175 miles for 4-6 months takes more mental and emotional strength than physical strength. IMO. I haven't thru-hiked, but I'm a marathoner and know that you better be training your mind twice as much as your body in preparation. When it comes to beauty, again, you will be seeing the same sights for months, so there is something deeper here. Rather than just exploring the outdoors, you explore yourself, which usually helps to resolve any issues that may have encouraged you to hike in the first place.

In regards to your last paragraph: I don't pay troll tolls.

sbhikes
04-20-2010, 09:14
Not everybody quits. I met some people who were disgusted with their jobs but they had to go back the day after they finished, which they said made for a very strange transition. They said the whole experience felt like a dream.

I do think many people take on a multi-month hike because they are in transition somehow. Sometimes it's good transition like graduating college or retirement and sometimes it's less good like divorce, mid-life or wanting to find oneself.

That reminds me of when I was in Warner Springs at about the 100 mile mark on the PCT there was this young, sad-looking guy there. His family had come to get him. I heard him say that it was no fun out there, that he wasn't finding himself or anything. I felt sorry for him.

fredmugs
04-20-2010, 13:20
Most (well over 90%) of the thru's I have talked to are either college students taking advantage of their oppotunity or people who have recently retired. I guess if there is a significant portion of hikers out there trying to escape their lives I just naturally avoid them.

Jonnycat
04-20-2010, 14:24
That reminds me of when I was in Warner Springs at about the 100 mile mark on the PCT there was this young, sad-looking guy there. His family had come to get him. I heard him say that it was no fun out there, that he wasn't finding himself or anything. I felt sorry for him.

Poor guy, it sounds like he was expecting it to something, and was dissapointed when the reality hit him. Ten to one says that one day he'll be sitting at his desk doing his job and dreaming of going back.

wcgornto
04-20-2010, 16:07
Most (well over 90%) of the thru's I have talked to are either college students taking advantage of their oppotunity or people who have recently retired. I guess if there is a significant portion of hikers out there trying to escape their lives I just naturally avoid them.

That puts me in the other 10%. I quit my job after twenty years for a variety of reasons, some internal to the job / company / industry issues and some external to the job driven by my desire to do a number of things that take more time than the one or two weeks afforded by vacation to do. After spending a year or so roaming around Latin America learning Spanish, being culturally immersed and hiking in the Andes, I returned to the US and hiked the AT SOBO.

You can call my decision to take time off insanity (or sanity), mid-life crisis, sabbatical, accelerated retirement, or whatever. All I know is, I wouldn't change anything for the world.

I didn't hike the AT for any therapeutic or cathartic reasons. I hiked the AT because I love to hike, I had done a lot of it for a weekend, a week or a month at a time and I wanted to do more of it. I did not want to wait until I was 60 plus to do it. I loved every second of it and I would start tomorrow and do it again (on a different trail) if I did not have the necessity of returning to work.

johnnybgood
04-20-2010, 16:55
What ! Governor Sanford hasn't commented on this yet ???

sbhikes
04-20-2010, 18:31
You can call my decision to take time off insanity (or sanity), mid-life crisis, sabbatical, accelerated retirement, or whatever. All I know is, I wouldn't change anything for the world.

I'll call it sanity.

Simba
04-20-2010, 19:45
Thanks for the replies so far; I forgot to mention that it is completely okay to PM me on this topic; as to not put personal info out there for this forum. When I thru hiked back in 2000 I too had just finished getting my BS in Psych; a transition was occuring. But while out there on the AT I had time to think about my past and why I did things the way I did. As others mentioned, it started as just the love of nature and backpacking, but then it turned into something else. My feet learned to see four steps ahead while my mind wandered on personal issues. Like Bryson, I started out with a friend like his; but after 21 days he left and I moved forward. I was also able to take a sabatical from my crappy job as a ranking security officer; after the trail I didn't go back, but instead went back into retail as a career; which ended in October. Hitting the trail again around July now is a goal; one that I have put off for years and I am only implementing the research into it because I need to finish school too. Afterward, maybe I'll be a counselor. I promised a friend, Bill who died of colon cancer and an avid hiker, that I would say hello to Katahdin for him one day; and I will this year. I always keep my promises.

I was also wondering what multi thru hikers got out of the experience over just a section hike or single thru hike? I know of a few individuals who accomplished at least two full thru hikes in their years; I know if I had no attachments at home I would have lived out there as long as possible.

SImba