View Full Version : The mental thing
My mental outlook was really great during my hike until a point. Then it went downhill. I think people contemplating a thru-hike might be interested in what sends the mental outlook downhill and things you did to keep going.
My mental outlook went downhill when I started getting lonely. It also went way downhill when I was assaulted by aggressive mosquitoes in Oregon and later in the rain and the soaking wet overgrown trails of Washington.
I met other thru-hikers who managed to keep a really positive attitude through these things that sent me into a tailspin. I might have been helped if I knew their secret.
Did you have a secret to keep yourself going through those times when the mental thing was really hard for you?
Rocket Jones
11-29-2010, 17:55
For me, it's always been humor. Seeing the silly in a situation and laughing it off.
And singing. "The sun will come out, tomorrow..."
:D "That which doesn't kill us probably hurts like a sunuvab*#@!"
Good thread topic. I think it the number one cause of hikers dropping out of a hike.
Mental conditioning/toughness/attitude/outlook, whatever you wish to call it, is key to not only completing a hike, or any goal for that matter, but also enjoying the process.
On hikes, especially the long distance ones I'm accustomed to, I find it imperative to NOT entertain negative thoughts for extensive durations! I think we tend to get what we focus upon. If I entertain/focus on thoughts of quitting, how bored I am, or how much I don't want to be doing what I'm doing it's just a matter of time before I will fulfill those thoughts.
For example, I keep from getting bored/staying bored by maintaining a high level of gratitude. It helps emmensely for me to appreciate what I'm GETTING TO DO and realizing some folks would like to be doing what I'm doing but are not. Gratitude keeps me joyful, at peace, and open to experiencing the wonders of the universe without entertaining negativity or constant complaining. This works not only for hiking!
Another example is in how I now approach ascents, especially long steep ones. I used to laborously approach ascents with a trudging lamenting pissy attitude. Now I look at ascents as part of long distance hiking. It's part of the territory. Part of that territory often includes the outstanding, sometimes not often viewed, scenic vistas attained at the top of a climb. And, it helps for me to realize that where there is a climb, a descent or an awesome ridgewalk, often follows.
I also do other things when hiking that helps break up the hiking, like: visit/travel into towns, learn new local culture and appreciate the differences of various people and places, visit gardens, museums, historical sites, etc, explore different eateries/cafes, etc
And, as Rocket Jones stated, being able to laugh at yourself and stuations, no matter how difficult or silly, is indispensable!
mweinstone
11-29-2010, 18:49
be really really proficient at long distance hiking and enjoy it as a master hiker. thats the only way i can think to put it. at a certian level you will glide thru the exsperience with as much fun as any other lifestyle but with even more due to the communing with nature an stuff. nature, eh,..., comunes,..group living,...aint no joke. wak? chaco? aint no joke right?.... right!? no joke at all. ya want jokes?cyanne pepper. now thats a frikkin joke. ate three pounds this morning. no frikkin joke at all!lol.
...Another example is in how I now approach ascents, especially long steep ones. I used to laborously approach ascents with a trudging lamenting pissy attitude. Now I look at ascents as part of long distance hiking. It's part of the territory...
And, as Rocket Jones stated, being able to laugh at yourself and stuations, no matter how difficult or silly, is indispensable!
On those long ascents, I don't look up to see how far I have to go except for a quick check of any possible problem ahead. Head down, looking a few feet ahead, I'll do a "system-check": breathing - heavy but ok, feet - so-so, heart - definitely beating, feeling the breeze on my skin, the sweat, etc. Sometimes my mind will wander off, and when I mentally come back to the trail I'm amazed at how far I got.
Rocket Jones got it right! I took a short movie of myself when I stopped for the day... I was tired, cold, hungry, trying to set up the tent and swore I'd never do this again. I remember thinking when they play this back, they'll know why I'm dead! I played it back and laughed so much, I had tears in my eyes. I obviously survived, and felt much better.
Lone Wolf
11-29-2010, 21:04
Did you have a secret to keep yourself going through those times when the mental thing was really hard for you?
knowing beer and a buffet wasn't too far off
garlic08
11-29-2010, 21:12
My thru hiker wife says you can be in a bad place or in a good place. Your choice. I try to keep that in mind.
Blissful
11-29-2010, 21:19
When it gets bad, keep your thoughts on the good things that have happened. People. Great scenery. A town stop. The ability that you can do this hike while so many are at home vegging out, getting fat and lazy in front of tvs or keyboards. :)
The only thing I got tired of was the montony of hiking every day and I never found a good solution except to keep on hiking knowing that every step brought me one step closer to being finished.
On big climbs, I'd estimate how long it was going to take me to get to the top and then I'd tell myself that amount of time was going to pass and when it did I'd either be still sitting there or on top of the mountain.
Bad weather never got me down....
I did miss my family but I never got lonely because I did have my cell phone and was able to talk with the family regularlly and even spent some nights texting wth my kids....
Sometimes, like Lone Wolf mentioned, the next town was a good motivator...
I guess to directly answer your question I used a variety of coping mechanisms to keep going.
And like I said in another thread, I'm a finisher not a qutter by nature so if I head out I'm going to finish and that's just the way it is.
It was stated above, and I agree..
Laugh at yourself at least once every day.
The lowest I got was when I had Giardiasis on the PCT. I had lost 30 lbs in 20 days. I was supposed to meet my folks for their 50th wedding aniversary in Echo Lake the next day. I had such bad diarhea that I was weak as a kitten and all shaky. I was camped in the "moon dust" of the ski resort just before Echo Lake.
I reached back and felt the protruding bones of my shoulder blades.. I was about to cry but I had to laugh. I mean here I was going to be the "prodigal son" having hiked 1000 miles. The image I had of myself as this big tough hiker dude and the reality of this skeleton with huge calves just made me laugh. the scope of how i had decieved myself into thinking I was invincible was right there.. exposed before me.
I met my parents the next day(My poor 70 year old Mom cried when she saw how sick I was) and got the Metronidazole to beat the Giardia and finish the trail.
The real lesson I learned.. The laughter keeps you sane.:sun
Monotony: MP3 player with a variety of (mood altering) music, and audio books.
Unpleasant circumstances (bugs, wet, cold, etc): I guess just knowing that it will get better, and feeling good about myself for ways in which I'm coping. And thinking of ways to write up the current unpleasantness in some hopefully amusing way in my trail journal entry for the day.
The other thing I do sometimes is in essence "waking dreams" or directed day dreaming or the like --- this works best when I've been hiking alone for days or weeks. Spin out mental fantasies or whatever, mentally put yourself somewhere else, leaving enough attention behind to deal with the current situation --- as well as to pull yourself out to enjoy where you're at sometimes (!).
I'm sure that every thru-hiker works out their own toolbox of mental tricks, off the top of my head those are some that work for me.
To deal with the mosquitoes I got off the trail for 72 hours. When I got back on, I decided to see if I could just laugh them off, tell myself they were the paparazzi. It sort of worked.
I never found anything to help me deal with the rain. I'm just not used to it. I freaked out every time it rained.
For loneliness I carried a picture of me and my boyfriend. I talked to my pets out loud as I went down the trail. I sort of enjoyed the feeling of how the heart grows fonder with distance and tried to think about that.
I can't say I ever really got bored, but I did start to wish I could do something else during the day besides just walking. I had a list of things, but whenever I thought about them I'd remind myself that I'd be working at a job if I was doing any of those things.
I liked going uphill better than down. But my heart would steel itself anytime I reached a summit and saw nothing but endless ridges as far as the eye could see. I knew I'd have to climb them all by the end of the day. Okay then, let's do it. I was also well-trained by the PCT that going uphill means returning to the trail and making forward progress and going downhill means leaving the trail. I was always striving to return to the trail and make progress.
At one point in Oregon I had a vision of myself at the Canadian border. I could feel all the emotions of reaching the border. It was so vivid that I knew it was going to happen. I would remind myself I have to fulfill this vision. I'd already made it, I just had to keep walking.
But yeah, the rain. I never found a way to deal with it.
Lots of great comments in this thread! My mental outlook typically started to go downhill when the physical agony began to set in. This was usually the result of days on end of rain or the entire state of New Hampshire (which was almost my nemesis).
I utilized several techniques acquired from marathon and ultra running to avert a total mental breakdown.
First, I always reminded myself I'm hiking to complete not compete. That usually kept me from pushing too hard and burning out on the tough days.
Second, I remember what Ann Trason, the famous ultra marathoner, once said "It hurts up to a point and then it doesn't get any worse." This is similar to what Mr. Edmond Morris (Author, "Colonel Roosevelt") recently said regarding the mental stamina of President Theodore Roosevelt- "He believed all shocks to the body should be transcended and ignored".
Third, rhythmic deep breathing and practicing Five Treasures Qigong tends to always lull me into an altered state of consciousness.
Cheers!
neonshaw
11-29-2010, 22:37
Compartmentalize, break up the task into a series of smaller goals such as 6 days walking / 1 day rest, that way you can accomplish the smaller goals and subsequently experience success along the way.
envision success, envision how it will great it will feel when you complete the trail, think of the added self confidence you will attain after accomplishing the goal - and at the same time how lame and embarrassed you will feel if you quit and have to tell your friends how you wimped out
dont dwell on how far it is, dont be hell bent on getting it done quickly. i see a lot of hikers starting out in GA trying to do 20 miles a day to "get it done" - forget that, take your time, enjoy
walking will be your job for a while, but like any job you need time off so take a zero day, chill out a bit in a town, etc..
Yep, Ron Haven tells hikers the three things that will get them off the trail the quickest are:
1- Hiking with too much weight
2- Hiking to catch up with someone who hikes faster than you do
3- Failing to give your legs a day off every week or so
Very true......
SBHikes,
2008 was a bad year, especially for mosquitoes - from Yosemite to mid Washington. So don't be to hard on yourself. I remember hitching back to Sonora Pass (Northern Yosemite Park Boundary) from a resupply, and a trail builder gave me a ride. I told him how bad the mosquitoes where up there, and he told me there are about three weeks in the year you don't want to be up there with the snow melt mosquitoes and this was one of them.
Those mosquitoes followed us almost to Canada. I remember almost praying for rain to keep them away, until Washington when it was snowing/freezing rain. There were days in Oregon after hiking near 30 miles the group would stop around seven or so, and I would just continue hiking until near midnight (40+ mile days) when the mosquitoes would settle down. Gadget endured the mosquitoes too.
The rain and cold are tough to deal with. It rained 17 days in a row into Washington, and a triple-crowner and 3rd time PCT hiker skipped up from Snoqualmie to Stehekin (~100 miles) to just finish the hike. We would hold up in a hotel when it got bad and take a zero to dry out and lift our spirits, but it was really hard leaving a warm dry place in the rain and cold.
We had wildfires to deal with in 2008 also. Hiking with no maps or guidebooks, because the Belden post office was in the wildifes and resupply boxes were rerouted to postal hell. At first I joked around and called us the lost boys, it bothered me when I got lost and had to hike bonus miles. But I kept thinking that I would get my maps and guidebooks in the next resupply. Only around 2 dozen hikers I know of went back that year from Canada to hike the burn sections. Gadget was one of us.
We even hiked through Glacier Peak instead of doing the detour. I guess it was a way of saying, we can take anything the trail throws at us. Poor Lucky spent a week out there, and when he walked into Stehekin his new trail name was Dead Man Walking.
My point is 2008 was rough and we had been through the ringer. I've been hiking for years and had many rough experiences in those years too. So I knew there was always going to be something I would have to deal with while I was hiking. My take on it is, might as well hike it now. When things would go bad, daydreaming about how good I would feel at the Canadian border really helped me.
In the end I believe in a few trail mottos which may seem corny: "The Trail will Provide", "Embrace the Brutality", and "Hike Your Own Hike"
Hey Flippy --- wow, I didn't realize that 2008 was so epic on the PCT! :-)
Everything you said is true, but apart from so many friggin' fires in NorCal, I think we had it pretty easy in some other ways. For me at least, the water wasn't as hard to get nor was it as hot as it can sometimes be in NorCal, and the Sierras melted out enough that one could get through there at a decent time of the year. I suspect that every year on every trail there are some special challenges. The mosquitoes certainly were bad at times in Oregon. For me, the blowdowns and associated snow on the AT in GA and TN/NC were a bit challenging on the AT this year. I don't know how well I would have held up to truly and extended hot weather in SoCal; a lot of night hiking and siestas, I guess.
I think that part of it is that few thru-hikers have many other really long trips to compare their experiences to, so it's hard to put certain challenges into perspective. And different things can hit folks in different ways. For Piper it's rain that's her kryptonite, whereas I live in Western Washington --- you don't get used to rain here you just don't hike much.
I do ~okay with bugs too, but that's also relative --- typically I would be scrambling to set up a tent and get away from the bugs while Lucky would just be laying relaxed against a log with no bug protection, contentedly chewing his no-cook dinner. They just didn't seem to bother him. I want to get to be more like that ... no doubt at least (and maybe completely) another aspect of the whole "mental thing" (see, no thread drift here ...)
stranger
11-30-2010, 09:40
Alright I'm kinda outing myself here so keep that in mind please...
I have suffered from anxiety my whole life, and I must say, hiking is where it comes out the most. I would be keen to hear from anyone who has been thought similar experiences, it has to be common with other hikers at some level, it can make hikes very difficult for no reason.
I agree with what Dogwood said (see we do agree on things!) about entertaining negative thoughts, I have done this in the past and it has made life alot more difficult than it needed to be. Always find the positive, and there always is a real positive if you look for one.
However, anxiety can come on like a freight train for me...and it's one thing to keep positive, it's another to be blind sided by a panic attack, alone, in the rain, on a mountain, 60 miles from the nearest road. I become paralyzed by this for a short time, I then recover, and keep walking. I have learned to understand anxiety to some degree, meaning when it happens, I give in and let it happen, recognize it, accept it, but also realize it's not real, the panic, the fear, all that crap...it's not real, and it always passes. It's one of the reasons I prefer longer days, I find I stay more positive on the move, probably because there is progress with every step.
If this makes sense to anyone, send me a message or something, it would be good to talk more about this with others who get it.
envision success, envision how it will great it will feel when you complete the trail, think of the added self confidence you will attain after accomplishing the goal - and at the same time how lame and embarrassed you will feel if you quit and have to tell your friends how you wimped out
dont dwell on how far it is, dont be hell bent on getting it done quickly. i see a lot of hikers starting out in GA trying to do 20 miles a day to "get it done" - forget that, take your time, enjoy
if you are reading this and thinking about a thru-hike, go and meet as many thru-hikers as you can. Before I did that, I envisioned someone who could walk from Ga. to Me. as some sort of mythical modern-day Daniel Boone. As I met these people it dawned on me that while some were young, skilled backpackers, athletic,etc. alot were "just ordinary people". At times on the trail, when we would get discouraged, we would think of some of the other hikers on the trail or people whom we had met that finished the trail and think, if they can push on then I certainly can too. I also realized that the short-term relief of quitting would be replaced in the long run by dissapointment in myself for quitting. While there are valid reasons for doing so, I knew that no matter how much I put spin on it (burnt out, homesick, tired of the trail, etc.), that for me personally the real deep down reason for quitting would have been that the trail was simply too hard. No matter how many books I read or people I talked to in my research, I was simply unprepared for how difficult a 5-6 month hike actually was/is. For me, it was difficult enough that I knew I would never atttempt another one so I knew it was "now or never". (I have the utmost respect for those who have made multiple attempts or even the section hikers who get out for a week or two at a time and never get their trail legs.)
However, neonshaw has it right...don't push yourself too hard and allow yourself some zero days to recharge. Also, meet as many thru-hikers as you can on the trip...it is nice to have a support group that will encourage you when you get down as happens to most on the journey.
I was depressed by how many zero days I ended up taking. I thought I was a wimp or something. 72 hours in Elk Lake. Two nights in Gov't Camp followed by two nights in Cascade Locks. Four nights at Snoqualmie Pass. Two nights at the Dinsmores. Three nights in Stehekin. Whenever I did only one night somewhere I thought finally I was a real hiker. But honestly, I really needed the time off for my feet and my mental spirits.
fiddlehead
11-30-2010, 15:00
One of my best friends hiked the PCT in 2008 and he had only good things to say.
But then again, he's getting ready to go out on a 4 day hike on the AT right now and it's raining pretty hard.
sbhikes,
I hiked way too fast on the AT in 2004, with too little time off in town. When I went back to the AT in 2006 I slowed down and took time off to enjoy the experience. I used to be a mileage nazi, and now I am on the wagon. Occasionally I fall off the wagon and hike big days.
I went back and counted my zeros from Elk Lake to Canada in 2008. 10 zeros and one nero at 5 mile camp into Stehekin which was followed up by a zero. We arrived at Elk Lake on Aug 2th and reached the Canadian border on Sep 9th. In 39 days of hiking, I took 11 days off. I was hiking with a group of ten hikers for the most part - so you are not that far off from us with your time off.
Chin up, thru-hiker!
During my 16 day Smokies hike we got to Fontana Dam and off the AT. Both of us had been really really looking forward to the end of the AT and getting to Fontana and we'd be done with our AT portion of the hike and would come back up through the park on the BMT and the Lakeside Trail was going to be flat and easy and no big ups and down and life was cookies and candy and gumdrops because we'd finally made it to Fontana Dam!
Then the next day we started up from Twentymile. We weren't thirty minutes into the hike then we had what was more or less a crash. We were so hyped up on getting to the halfway point that we put out of our mind the idea we were only halfway through. We were both in a funk for the next two days. The only thing that cleared up my funk was calling the prettiest blonde girl I know and having her tell me I could finish the hike.
Rocket Jones
11-30-2010, 17:09
The only thing that cleared up my funk was calling the prettiest blonde girl I know and having her tell me I could finish the hike.
That Betty White is something. But you do know that she's not a true blonde anymore, right? :D
That Betty White is something. But you do know that she's not a true blonde anymore, right? :D
The only thing that got me through was the sound of her voice and the thought of her dusty muffins.
I heard from a lot of people on the PCT that when they got to the 25% mark they thought, No problem, I can do three more of these. When they got to the half-way mark they thought, Oh my god, I can't do a whole 'nother one of these.
Sounds about right for the PCT, AT, & CDT. From a NOBO standpoint.
The first part of the PCT can be easier if the weather cooperates and you have water. Most people do a 20 mile day from the Mexican border to Lake Mareno on the first day. 20+ mile days are the norm until the High Sierra. With good weather I only pitched my tarptent 3 times until Kennedy Meadows. Then you reach the High Sierras - which are beautiful and amazing, but doing a 20 in the snow can be tough and one must deal with it past Yosemite NP, before 20+ mile days are a reality again.
Starting at Springer it takes most people 3-4 days to hike to Neels Gap only 30 miles away, and I was really happy to when I made it to Damascus (symbolic 1/4 point). Virginia is a long state on the AT (550 miles, but nothing compared to California on the PCT ~1700 miles) and many first time long distance hikers get the Virginia blues. By the time they reach Harper's Ferry the pack has thinned out quit a bit - even though most hikers for the first time are hiking 20+ mile days in Virginia.
Hiking from Crazy Cook on the CDT 20+ miles days are the norm. You can have a little weather to deal with in New Mexico (~700 miles) and navigation can be tricky and frustrating but it is fairly easy to hike 20+ mile days on trail (mileage doesn't include the bonus miles off trail and finding one's way back to the trail). Just south of the Colorado Border elevation gets up to 10,000+ feet. The snow can be very deep and the San Juan Mountain range is rugged . 20 mile days are almost a fantasy, your daily mileage can drop into the mid to high teens for a while.
centsless
12-01-2010, 11:21
this is a great thread, and is certainly very interesting to read each one's unique approach to the 'trail mentality'.
In his book, Miracle in the Andes, Nando Parrado talks about his mental struggle/s early on in the situation. Eventually, his zest for survival motivated him to the end. (it's a great book, written from his own experience and offers a different, more 'play by play' if you will than other books).
and Neonshaw comments earlier in this post echoes what Ed Viesturs once said in his interviews. During his climbs, you compartmentalize, you focus on that one given task and nothing else. Like a previous poster said, one you begin to entertain 'distracting' thoughts, then you lose that focus and find ways to mentally break down.
In my experience, i use a hybrid of the latter and focus on my hike but also take the time to enjoy it as well, (like listening to the outdoors, birds....views, etc), not that people don't do this, but i think its very easy to get 'tunnel vision' . Secondly, listen to your body... take your breaks, rest often and eat healthy. Lastly, focus on short term goals... can't stress that enough.
The book referenced by Ed Viesturs is 'No Shortcuts to the Top', also a good read.
Hope this helps,
Keep the posts coming!
Odd Man Out
12-01-2010, 12:05
I find with most things in life, people are not happy because they don't have what they want. The reality is that in most cases we don't have much control over what we have. But we do have control over what we want.
I recall a field trip in the ecology class I took in college (to the Oak Hickory climax forest). The professor was up in front of the class pointing out stuff were were to be looking at but no one was listening as we were being eaten alive by mosquitoes. When he saw that no one was paying attention, he stopped and asked what was wrong. We all screamed about the mosquitoes and he just said "Yeah, there are mosquitoes, so what?" and kept lecturing.
Perhaps, Odd Man Out, Sheryl Crow is right about the lyrics in one of her songs, "it's not about getting what you want, but wanting what you got."
Odd Man Out
12-02-2010, 01:03
Perhaps, Odd Man Out, Sheryl Crow is right about the lyrics in one of her songs, "it's not about getting what you want, but wanting what you got."
Or the Stones: "You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes you might find You get what you need."
I think that has always been the thing I liked about camping and hiking. It really simplifies your life. I never have to worry about what's for dinner. I know if it isn't in my pack, I'm not eating it. So there is no sense in wanting it.
When I hiked the PCT, I talk to myself out loud in those moments. I usually talked against whatever the problem was, even mosquitos. Whenever I started to feel negative or down, I started saying outloud that I was Hiking all the way to Canada. I'm hiking with strength and great vigor. And when I was hurting, I would add IN COMFORT. I refused to ever say the opposite or allow myself to think differently without saying the above. That usually pushed me on; that and the thought of food at the next trail town. I always figured that there was nothing that a few meals in town could solve even if it meant taking zeros. And that was usually the case.
I also had an encounter in SoCal at a very low moment after almost a week of solitude, pain and exhaustion at Walker Pass with a trail angel and some much needed trail magic that almost seemed God sent as this was my lowest moment on the trail. If I had arrived an hour latter, she would have been long gone as she was packing up her stuff in the campground. Given the late date, when I was approaching the road, I was just hoping for a water cache so seeing that trail magic sign was truely a magical moment. As I was leaving and she mentioned that she'd be doing trail magic in Oregon latter on, I said that if I was still on the trail, hopefully I'd see her. She said, "Oh, you'll make it". So whenever the though of quiting ever came up, I said, I can't quit or I'll make her a liar. I don't think I would have quit anyway as I was too committed to the trip and was enjoying my time for the most part, but that single thought made it easier to push on. And I did meet her at Lava Campground off McKennzie Pass in Oregon and was very happy to see her again. I ended up going to PCT Day in Cascade Locks with her over that weekend and taking more time off then I had originally planned. Its amazing how such simple encounters can have such a strong meaning to someone. I keep that in mind when I go out and offer trail magic or rides to hikers.
- take breaks when you feel like it
- hike with others and talk to them while hiking
- do interesting things when off trail
- if you only want to hike 3 miles that day, then do it!