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Doctari
06-21-2010, 16:56
After the following story I had an epiphany:

>On May 22 2010 at 1800 hrs, my mini van was TOTALED by a very stoned driver, as my car sat empty & parked in front of my house.

SO, I needed a new car, well, a replacement car anyway. Hey, I’m a hiker I have no spare money.

An affordable car would have been, well, a CAR. A small 2 door car would have been fine for most of my life. 9 months a year most of my driving is 5.6 miles each way to work, for most of July, September & October I also drive 68 miles each way each weekend to the Ohio Ren Fest where I am first aid / street performer. For all of the above a CAR would be best.

I bought a Jeep Cherokee at a cost of twice my stated budget. Why did I do this? For the 8 – 12 times a year I go hiking (KY, VA, Tenn, SE Ohio, etc.) & need to drive about 2% of the time on gravel rds or in snow. With my old 2 wheel drive truck, I got stuck on a hike ONE TIME, & that at Kincora. I live in SW Ohio, & honestly we don’t get that bad of winters here. 99% of my decision to get the Jeep was because it would aid my hiking. The added expense will interfere with my hiking opportunities to some extent, but that was also considered. <

At work last night, the fact that I had spent that much thought on a very large piece of hiking gear SHOCKED me. I started to think what else had I done to further my hiking lifestyle. Then, I wondered what others had done in the name of hiking.

Some of my hiking related decisions:
Even now, I’m not giving up the Jeep!
I’m loosing weight for my health, but not for any other reason than to lighten the load when I am hiking.
I pack lunches to work to save money for,,, Hiking. Yes, we need to replace the money from buying the Jeep, but I only consider that as an after thought. “Hey, if I pack a PB 7 J sand instead of eating at McDs, I can buy an extra dinner (or pair of socks) for my next trip.” Later I think: “Yea, can put a few $ towards Gas & electric too”
The ONLY web sites I go to are hiking related.
I learned to play the flute for when I go hiking.
Even at work, when buying a bottled drink, I think: "how could I use this when Hiking?"

So, what in YOUR regular life do you do in the name of hiking, or am I the only one with this problem? :eek:

FritztheCat
06-21-2010, 17:15
I find myself weighing everything. Not with a scale but with my hand as if trying to determine the weight. My wife and I will walk through a grocery store and I'll pick up random stuff just to see how heavy it is. It has become a running gag around the house.

I'm not an ultra-lighter by any stretch of the imagination but it is fun to make comments like "Ten bandaids in a box? I only need three because I can save .005 ounces by leaving the other seven at home."

I'm retiring from the military next month and as part of the running gag, I'm going to use my backpack to store the flowers/certificates for my family members in attendance. Then I'll "lighten my load" by giving them out. My family and office mates will totally understand so it should be a good time.

Adayak
06-21-2010, 17:30
I think one of the most important was hiking could affect someones life (and maybe mine someday) would be to pack up and move to a new city/state just because it has better hiking close by. You know... moving from the big city to the outdoors - that's a big change

Bear Cables
06-21-2010, 18:40
I sold my convertable sports car and bought an SUV to have more room for packs and...and golf clubs.

Cabin Fever
06-21-2010, 18:56
I am about to relocate for a different job and the number one attribute of the job was location...location that is close to the mountains. I was successful. Going to Chattanooga.

tlap
06-21-2010, 19:08
I can relate to that. A few months ago I sold my very 'green' and practical Prius and bought a Land Rover. OK, the Land Rover has always been my dream car, but I totally NEED it to get to the trailhead. ;)

Heavy G
06-21-2010, 19:36
Doctari,

i am changing professions for hiking. for the past 7 years i have been the lead administrator for a series of homeless shelters for kids. that job has no beginning or end in the work day. even when i go out on the trail my blackberry still blew up with calls and messages.

So i am switching to teaching. i know when my day will begin and end, i have holidays off (a luxury that did not exist in my previous profession), i will have summers off to hit the trail, and i plan on starting a hiking/outdoors club! Certainly i will take a pay in cut and since the job market here in NJ is not good, i have to be patient while unemployed. But i am boat loads happier, and there is no salary or compensation that can match that!

Hikerhead
06-21-2010, 19:59
The banker dude was taken back when I told him I was 50. He thought I was closer to 40. I contribute that to hiking. :)

Cookerhiker
06-21-2010, 20:09
Well my year-ago relocation wasn't directly related to hiking but it does put me closer to a National Forest with good hiking, both for 1-2 days and long-distance (the 281 mile Sheltowee Trace), than anywhere I've lived. However, I also live farther from the AT than ever before.

The other thing is hiking is what motivates me to work out and try to stay aerobically fit. My enjoyment of the hike is tempered if I'm constantly huffing and puffing on the uphills.

johnnybgood
06-21-2010, 21:38
When visiting my brother and his wife on a weekend I am always invited to spend the night at their house , but of course I don't . They understand that I'll be backcountry camping somewhere in SNP that night , that's my MO and sticking to it.

sbhikes
06-21-2010, 22:20
Ways hiking has affected my life:
- Suffering from major depression, I went hiking in an area bursting with carpets of wildflowers. I felt so alive. I realized nature had the power to heal mental illness.
- Struggling with a demanding job I found hiking was a great release of energy.
- Struggling with being overweight, I found hiking was great for weight loss.
- I was alone for many years when I met my boyfriend on a Sierra Club hike. We've been together for over 10 years now.
- I decided to change careers so I used my love of hiking to make a hiking web site. I went from earning near minimum wage to a salary above the median US salary by using that for my resume.
- I gave up my above median salary job to go for a PCT hike. I didn't make it to Canada, so I tried again a year later. Hiking the PCT meant more to me than a good salary.
- Hiking the PCT taught me a lot about what is important in life. Taught me a lot about my feet, too. Gave me lingering foot injuries, too.
- When I go hiking now, I'm brought back to life on the PCT. I get flashbacks, I get feelings of happiness that wash over me. I belong on the trail. I love the trail. I love trail life.

Tinker
06-21-2010, 22:38
It makes me hard to be around when I haven't been doing it for a while. :/

garlic08
06-21-2010, 23:46
First thru-hike: Leased out the house furnished, and built an 8' x 8' shed in the back to hold extra "stuff". Had to get rid of a lot of stuff to fit in the shed, and that was good. Came home from hike, and had no idea why we had a shed full of stuff. Got rid of it all. Learned a lot of lessons about what's important in life.

Last thru-hike, four years later: Leased out the house unfurnished, fit everything we own including furniture into a 4' x 8' closet in a friend's garage.

The house is still leased out, and we haven't been home yet though the hike was over two years ago. Everything I've needed has fit into two packs (one for hiking, one for not hiking), or has wheels on it (a car and a bike). I've hiked a few shorter trails (AZT, PNT, WT) along the way. We've been renting furnished houses and apartments all over the West.

That's how hiking affected my life, and it's all for the better.

Sarcasm the elf
06-22-2010, 00:15
It makes me hard to be around when I haven't been doing it for a while. :/

I'll second that. More than once my girlfriend has offered to drive me two hours plus to the trailhead because of the great mood I'm in after my return.

She has been telling me for over a year now that I need to quit my job and do a thru hike and I'm starting to think she's serious.

fredmugs
06-22-2010, 08:58
After my first AT hike I decided to get divorced.

Since then keeping in shape for hiking has been a major motivation for me. I am not one of those people who believes that the trail will get you in shape. Every winter I put on a lot of belly fat and then burn it off getting ready for hiking season. Without my hikes I'm not sure I could be as motivated.

After I (hopefully) finish section hiking the AT next year I plan on hiking out west with the purpose of scouting places to retire to.

max patch
06-22-2010, 09:21
I bought a Jeep Cherokee at a cost of twice my stated budget. Why did I do this? For the 8 – 12 times a year I go hiking (KY, VA, Tenn, SE Ohio, etc.) & need to drive about 2% of the time on gravel rds or in snow. With my old 2 wheel drive truck, I got stuck on a hike ONE TIME, & that at Kincora.

I used to drive a sports car and the only place I couldn't drive on it in Georgia was the road to Blue Ridge Gap. I replaced it with a 4wd car and it couldn't make it up that road either!

I think that for AT hiking, unless you routinely drive the tote roads of Maine, that almost any car will get you to almost all trailheads and that the financially smart thing to do would to rent a trail car the one time a year you probably need it.

Of course I don't follow my own advice.

sbhikes
06-22-2010, 10:26
Why would it matter if your car could get to the trailhead or not? You can always walk to the trailhead. That's what I did last year. I walked out my door, down the street, over the mountains eastward until I reached the PCT.

tlap
06-22-2010, 10:35
Getting through rough roads to the trail is more of an issue for day and section hikers.

When your time is limited, you want to enjoy as much of it as possible on the trail, and not fritter it away in getting there.

weary
06-22-2010, 11:03
....I think that for AT hiking, unless you routinely drive the tote roads of Maine, that almost any car will get you to almost all trailheads .....
I agree -- and it's true even for almost all Maine trails. But during the quarter century I maintained a couple of miles of trail on Whitecap, I kept a 4-wheel drive Dodge Ram pickup going, mostly because it was the only vehicle that would ford two streams that crossed an abandoned logging road.

The culverts had been pulled out, so the truck had to go down a steep banking, across a boulder-filled stream and up the other side. Of course I needed a four wheeler. If I didn't cross those streams, I'd have to walk two miles further before reaching my trailhead, while carrying clippers and a two pound bow saw, and sometimes twice a year, no less. I like to keep my priorities straight. :-?

Weary

McPick
06-22-2010, 11:06
"Ways hiking has affected my life:"

Please allow me to include that because of your willingness to share your experiences, the way hiking has affected your lives has certainly, and most positively, affected the lives of others.

Example: We LOVE our Wishbone! :)

See ya!

Lone Wolf
06-22-2010, 11:09
hiking has no affect on my life

Spokes
06-22-2010, 11:19
hiking has no affect on my life

Sounds like the story of Oblio and Arrow being banished to the Pointless Forest.....

"A point in every direction is the same as no point at all"

-from The Point by Harry Nilsson

Lone Wolf
06-22-2010, 11:27
huh?..........

Dogwood
06-22-2010, 11:45
For me, hiking equals sanity, clarity, and health!

Tilly
06-22-2010, 11:49
Actually, I have to say that hiking, in a way, has negatively affected my life.

Such as, I really want to get a dog, cat, and maybe a bunny. And have a baby. My SO would like to buy a house so he can garden as much as he wants. But I am putting things off so I can hike later, but I can't wait much longer, as I am not getting any younger.

I have a good job that I like well enough that has excellent benefits. More importantly, it is a goldmine in terms of learning new things, but already I am thinking, when I leave in 1 1/2 years and I'll be doing xyz, then...

It is really difficult to be constantly be pushing things away and waiting for what's next. I try to concentrate on what I am doing right now but it's hard.

I guess I will just have to choose and commit and not think of what else I could be doing. Or maybe just move to a better place and be more content with staying in one place for a long time.

It actually stinks. In a way, I wish I did the college/marriage/kids thing and be content with that.

Doctari
06-22-2010, 12:10
It makes me hard to be around when I haven't been doing it for a while. :/

Yes, I can tell when I'm getting bad cause my wife who said when I was leaving for my first long section hike 12 years ago: "I hate you for leaving" NOW says "Don't you have a hike coming up soon, VERY SOON? Can you leave tomorrow?"
:p

And, I am a section hiker so would rather park AT the trail head than do a road walk to it. Even if that road was a gravel or dirt road.

DapperD
06-22-2010, 12:18
After the following story I had an epiphany:

>On May 22 2010 at 1800 hrs, my mini van was TOTALED by a very stoned driver, as my car sat empty & parked in front of my house.

SO, I needed a new car, well, a replacement car anyway. Hey, I’m a hiker I have no spare money.

An affordable car would have been, well, a CAR. A small 2 door car would have been fine for most of my life. 9 months a year most of my driving is 5.6 miles each way to work, for most of July, September & October I also drive 68 miles each way each weekend to the Ohio Ren Fest where I am first aid / street performer. For all of the above a CAR would be best.

I bought a Jeep Cherokee at a cost of twice my stated budget. Why did I do this? For the 8 – 12 times a year I go hiking (KY, VA, Tenn, SE Ohio, etc.) & need to drive about 2% of the time on gravel rds or in snow. With my old 2 wheel drive truck, I got stuck on a hike ONE TIME, & that at Kincora. I live in SW Ohio, & honestly we don’t get that bad of winters here. 99% of my decision to get the Jeep was because it would aid my hiking. The added expense will interfere with my hiking opportunities to some extent, but that was also considered. <

At work last night, the fact that I had spent that much thought on a very large piece of hiking gear SHOCKED me. I started to think what else had I done to further my hiking lifestyle. Then, I wondered what others had done in the name of hiking.

Some of my hiking related decisions:
Even now, I’m not giving up the Jeep!
I’m loosing weight for my health, but not for any other reason than to lighten the load when I am hiking.
I pack lunches to work to save money for,,, Hiking. Yes, we need to replace the money from buying the Jeep, but I only consider that as an after thought. “Hey, if I pack a PB 7 J sand instead of eating at McDs, I can buy an extra dinner (or pair of socks) for my next trip.” Later I think: “Yea, can put a few $ towards Gas & electric too”
The ONLY web sites I go to are hiking related.
I learned to play the flute for when I go hiking.
Even at work, when buying a bottled drink, I think: "how could I use this when Hiking?"

So, what in YOUR regular life do you do in the name of hiking, or am I the only one with this problem? :eek:I don't think you have a problem necessarily, but I do think you are what one would say and consider to be a hardcore hiker:D Myself I feel that the hiking I do (dayhiking currently) is simply something that contributes to my overall health and happiness. I don't singlemindedly pursue any one interest, but rather a multitude of interests. In this way I feel one is leading a well rounded, healthy lifestyle, and I am able to avoid "burnout" from say devoting all my time and attention to any one singular interest/activity. This is not to say your intense pursuit of the "hiking lifestyle" is wrong, as they say "Hike your own hike" or I guess one could also translate that to "Live your own Life" but for myself "variety is the spice of life" or in other words a multitude of different interests for me personally is the way to go.:sun

Dogwood
06-22-2010, 12:22
Maybe, it's fairer to say it's not hiking that has negatively effected your life, but the decision you made to hike? Perceptions are often our reality. I find, if I change my perceptions I change my reality. If you change the way you look at things the things you look at change!

weary
06-22-2010, 13:03
hiking has no affect on my life
Well, there was all that trail food, that you once speculated may have caused your heart attack.

Mags
06-22-2010, 14:14
Lead me to moving to Colorado...which lead me to seeing new places, making great friends, trying (and embracing!) new outdoor activities and having a much healthier life style than if I had stayed in my home area. :)

solstice
06-22-2010, 16:35
I tend to separate my small pack items in ziplock bags. That said, whenever I see a ziplock bag in public, I analyze it to see how I could possibly use it and in what ways. Same thing for water bottles. To me, SmartWater bottles (1 liter) are the most awesome bottle ever invented. They fit perfectly into my pack's outer side pockets.

Ladytrekker
06-22-2010, 18:12
Bought a Toyota Tundra and started a meetup hiking group so I would have people to hike and camp with. Now I spend most waking hours planning trips for 115 members. What was I thinking?

d.o.c
06-22-2010, 21:15
hiking has made me depressed

Windcatcher
06-22-2010, 22:05
I drive an old car to work during the week and leave my new truck in the driveway at home. I use my truck on weekends for outdoor activities.

I brown-bag my lunches for better health and cost savings.

I will retire early, earlier than I should, so that I can get closer to the trails, closer to the real world. I could work longer, make more money, be more comfortable in my older retirement years, but I'm going to abandon that for the opportunity to really live.

wcgornto
06-23-2010, 00:43
I completed an AT thru hike last year

I am moving to Alaska in two weeks. I was determined to relocate somewhere in the west with lots of mountains for good hiking variety. This definitely fits that definition.

I just bought a Nissan Xterra for the 4WD, both for Alaska winter roads and for off road / trail access ... also for cargo / gear storage ... also to have a bigger auto to give added protection in case I collide with a moose.

max patch
06-23-2010, 11:43
hiking has no affect on my life

24,000 posts on this internet hiking forum and 2,000 on another. right.

Lone Wolf
06-23-2010, 12:11
24,000 posts on this internet hiking forum and 2,000 on another. right.

hiking has no affect on my life. correct

thelowend
06-23-2010, 12:37
hiking and music are my two outlets. nothing cures the blues like a fat romp in the woods. i am definitely considering starting my exodus from the city and moving outward along the 75 or 575 corridor, up towards my favorite backyard trails (bmt, the cohuttas, rich mountains, at). that would first require a job in that direction though.

rickb
06-23-2010, 19:11
hiking has no affect on my life. correct

But isn't that true for everyone when it comes right down to it?

I have enjoyed reading this thread though.

max patch
06-23-2010, 19:17
But isn't that true for everyone when it comes right down to it?



Rick, hasn't hiking affected your life probably more than anyone else here?

Mags
06-23-2010, 20:11
Rick, hasn't hiking affected your life probably more than anyone else here?



It's a rather nice story. Does the ATN have archives? :)

(It really is a cool story..if Rick should decide to share it, it would be very pertinent to this thread)

I met my current girlfriend (and most of my past ones. :) ) while hiking. Still TBD how that will effect my life in the long term. :sun

rickb
06-23-2010, 22:43
I can get rather philosophical when thinking about the impact hiking (and the AT in particular) has had on my life.

Recalling that Lone Wolf has written about meeting his significant other on the Trail (I did too, thanks for remembering that Mags and Match Patch!) his comment about hiking not having any affect on his own life struck me as very odd.

Then I got to thinking.

Perhaps its not hiking that affects your life. Perhaps its a larger power gives us everything and hiking and the outdoors is just part of the bundle some of us end up getting. Not sure what I am saying exactly-- something about cause vs affect.

I am thinking too hard. Or perhaps I should not have licked that toad I found out in my garden earlier this evening?

On a totally different level, I now find my self spending way to much money on Massachusetts $20 MEGA Cash scratch tickets. Part of me thinks that the with MEGA in the name the 1 in 6 million odds don't really apply to me. The BIG GAME MEGA bucks tickets has also cost me a lot over the years, not to mention more than one diversion to buy a ticket right on the Trail.

One thing is for sure, a lot of peoples' lives would be far less than if they never found the Trail and learned how to love the outdoors. Mine certainly would be.

sbhikes
06-23-2010, 23:18
hiking has made me depressed

You know something, for all the good that hiking has done in my life, including healing clinical depression, it also makes me depressed. I mean, the tiny little bit of time I get to spend doing it makes the rest of the time when I'm not doing it so much harder to tolerate. I went for a really great hike this weekend, I felt like I could walk all day and do it again tomorrow... But unfortunately, I got in the car and drove home and the next day I went to work and boy oh boy was I ever cranky. I just did NOT want to be there. I still feel cranky.

Hiking has also given me chronic foot injuries that I'm having difficulty healing.

I'd like to hear Rick's story.

TIDE-HSV
06-23-2010, 23:29
Affecting me negatively at the moment because I can't do it. I injured a knee two months ago on a steep trail (training, of course) and I haven't bounced back from the surgery like I usually have...

Lumberjack2003
06-27-2010, 06:33
My wife and I narrowed our home buying to two places in a small town in Massachusetts. I made her pick the one that was walking distance from a bunch of hiking trails.

Lumberjack2003
06-27-2010, 06:40
My wife and I narrowed our home buying to two places in a small town in Massachusetts. I made her pick the one that was walking distance from a bunch of hiking trails.

TIDE-HSV
06-27-2010, 09:17
My wife and I narrowed our home buying to two places in a small town in Massachusetts. I made her pick the one that was walking distance from a bunch of hiking trails.

Hmmm... Hadn't thought about that. I've lived for 25 years on a mountain, next to a state park with an extensive network of trails. Some are steep, going down into ravines (where I hurt my knee). The hiking was definitely a factor in locating here. It's also a lot cooler...

DLANOIE
06-29-2010, 15:51
1. I would be interested in Ricks story as well.

2. Before I got married and had kids and bought a house, I hiked every weekend and sometimes I would go after work. Being single made it alot easier to do such a thing. Plus I lived less than an hour from the Presidentials in NH.

3. If I am lucky now I might hike a dozen times per year. I might get to camp overnight once or twice. I live less than an hour from the AT.

4. I have always considered hiking therapy for me. Even if it is downpouring and the trails are rivers and the ups and downs are fruitless, I am still happy to be out there.

5. A bad day on the trail is still better than a good day at work.

weary
06-29-2010, 16:37
My wife and I narrowed our home buying to two places in a small town in Massachusetts. I made her pick the one that was walking distance from a bunch of hiking trails.
My wife and I bought a home in a town near the small city where I worked for nine years. Since the town had no trails and the AT was 100 miles away, I helped form a local land trust, helped raise money to buy land, and built some local trails. That all began 48 years ago. I'm still at it. I can't think of a better hobby. It's a comfortable feeling as I grow older to realize that my town now has 31 miles of trails on 5,000 acres of public land -- and that I've had at least a small role in creating 20 of those trail miles and 1,400 of those protected acres.

Weary

flemdawg1
06-29-2010, 16:47
Hmmm... Hadn't thought about that. I've lived for 25 years on a mountain, next to a state park with an extensive network of trails. Some are steep, going down into ravines (where I hurt my knee). The hiking was definitely a factor in locating here. It's also a lot cooler...

Cool. Now I know where I can park and save the $3 entrance fee. :D

TIDE-HSV
06-30-2010, 20:26
Cool. Now I know where I can park and save the $3 entrance fee. :D

You oughta pay the $30 annual pass, like we do. And I throw in free the trail and poison ivy maintenance... :)

Nean
06-30-2010, 23:40
I had to buy a new pair of shoes....:o

Gray Blazer
06-30-2010, 23:54
Recalling that Lone Wolf has written about meeting his significant other on the Trail (I did too, thanks for remembering that Mags and Match Patch!) his comment about hiking not having any affect on his own life struck me as very odd.



He was prolly being funny. He is a funny guy.

HIKER7s
07-01-2010, 07:18
It makes me hard to be around when I haven't been doing it for a while. :/
I am with TINKER