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AAhiker
05-22-2012, 22:32
For those of you who have made it all the way, what did that feel like when you finished? I keep thinking about my future hike and I can't help but think that after the initial joy of making it to the end that there would be this tremendous sense of loss because the journey, well that one, is over.

attroll
05-23-2012, 03:33
You hit the nail on the head. After hitting the end it was joyous but also heart breaking knowing that you were going to be leaving the trail and all the friends I made over the last seven months. In fact I started to slow down a little towards the end to prolong the ending. Coming back into society was definitely a culture shock for me.

Nutbrown
05-23-2012, 06:47
Probably like the end of anything... HS, collage, a job (well maybe not so much).

Blue Jay
05-23-2012, 10:43
The trail does not end in any sense of the word, there is NO loss only gain. It's still there and in fact gets better because you have a thousand places you missed the first time and different seasons to do it in. You no longer ever have to be a mile slave (sorry but that's what a thru is), you are free to completely enjoy the trail. It's like sex, the first time is great, but then it gets better.

Blue Jay
05-23-2012, 10:44
Coming back into society was definitely a culture shock for me.

Now that's the part that SUCKS.

Spirit Walker
05-23-2012, 10:46
I definitely had mixed feelings at ending my hikes. On both my AT hikes and CDT hikes, if I had had the money, I would have turned around and yoyo'd. There was certainly a sense of pride and joy at accomplishing the goal, but also a real sense of let down and sorrow that a wonderful experience is now over. Going up Katahdin was happiness, coming down - not so much.

Spokes
05-23-2012, 10:58
The AT is a relationship and the intrinsic ties powerful. So when the end comes it impacts you powerfully as well.

Sociologist Diane Vaughn explained it best in 1976 with her "Uncoupling Theory". It has much to do with the whole cycle of human bonding and de-bonding. Steve Duck has a six stage cycle of relationship breakup that helps put it in perspective too.

For a good summary, check out these Wikipedia links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relationship_breakup


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_bonding

Cheers!

Datto
05-24-2012, 11:16
I can tell you that at the very finish, for the last hour or so of hiking of my AT thru-hike, I listed out loud all the amazing things I'd seen on the AT and the things I was so thankful to have experienced on the AT. I didn't get done with the listing by the time I took the final step of my AT thru-hike.

I couldn't believe the whole thing was over. Just couldn't believe it -- hard to grasp the over-ness of it because I'd become so immersed in the experience.

Ended up deciding to go back home and do another long-distance hike again in a future year.


Datto

icequeen
05-24-2012, 19:09
My husband & myself haven't gotten to thru-hike yet (will probably have to wait until are kids are out of school) but we decided that after the finish we're packing up and moving to our favorite trail town along the hike...seven more short years! :/

Praha4
05-24-2012, 21:05
I'm sure the Class of 2012 will be excited to finish their thru hikes in time to get home and watch the 2012 Presidential election debates, all the campaign ads, and the nightly talking heads on TV explaining it all for us. Some may rush their hikes in order to catch it all, and not miss a moment of the campaign excitement.

there's probably some in the Class of 2013 that delayed their thrus so they couldn't miss a moment this summer on cable TV.

Mountain Mike
05-24-2012, 23:16
It truely is mixed emotions. When I hiked out of Monson I pushed ahead of many of the friends I had met along the trail to meet up with my ride home. Leaving them was hard. Thinking about all the times we had shared on the trail. Good, bad, sometimes both at once. Upon reaching the base of Katahdin my goal of six months was in sight. My friend was no match for my stamina & adreniline. He finally said wait for me at the plateau. He told me later he overtook one hiker who was watching me kinda bounce up the rocks(his words). The hiker just looked at him & said " I thought I was doing good till that guy passed me."
At the summit I had a perfect views. I gazed out at the mirror like lakes & peaks picking out the path I had followed as far as the eye can see. I thought I how I had lived out a dream that many people just think about. I thought of all the people I had met along the way. People that were strangers one day were close friends in a few. I wondered how many I would ever see again. I kinda felt cheated that although I was with a friend I had grown up backpacking with I was the only thru-hiker there. I can't describe the bond that forms between us & how I wish there was at least one other thru to share what we went through.
After a few pics at the sign it was a celebration of Coors beer behind a windbreak. When a day hiker commented it was all down hill from there to GA I just turned around & said, "No it ain't!"

AAhiker
05-25-2012, 17:53
My husband & myself haven't gotten to thru-hike yet (will probably have to wait until are kids are out of school) but we decided that after the finish we're packing up and moving to our favorite trail town along the hike...seven more short years! :/

That is sort of my plan. I am working to set myself up to get hired as a guide or work at an outfitter at the end of my hike. The goal is to get all my bills down and only have my dogs by that time. Nothing better than being broke and happy. rich and happy is just greedy. lol

rocketsocks
05-25-2012, 18:15
Having never done a thru-hike,i can only speculate,however I work in a field where it's not uncommon to have a partner to work with for the duration of a job (which can be a couple a days to up to a year or more).The jobs that seem to matter are the ones where I've met a good person and my never be placed in that work situation again,so yes it's kinda the same thing,though often I've made a friend for life.

quilteresq
05-25-2012, 20:00
I'm sure the Class of 2012 will be excited to finish their thru hikes in time to get home and watch the 2012 Presidential election debates, all the campaign ads, and the nightly talking heads on TV explaining it all for us. Some may rush their hikes in order to catch it all, and not miss a moment of the campaign excitement.

there's probably some in the Class of 2013 that delayed their thrus so they couldn't miss a moment this summer on cable TV.

Bleah - the election is over as far as NH is concerned. . . . we do NOT miss the ads, the mail, the multiple robo calls/day. Fact: I've heard the only major TV station in the state "the house that Forbes built." - built the year after Steve Forbes ran for president. He set a new standard for repetitive TV ads, enabling them to build a brand new station.

Miner
05-25-2012, 23:30
This is what I wrote in my journal when I finished the PCT in Canada, "I suspect that mentally, I'm not really grasping the fact that I'm done as I expected to be more excited then I'm feeling at the moment."

I felt out of sorts after finishing the PCT. I spent several days wandering around Vancouver and then Seattle before taking a long slow train ride home. Watching the scenery roll by over 2 days helped me come to terms that my hike was basically over.

I expect my feelings when I finish my SOBO AT hike this fall will be similar but at the same time different since I know what to expect this time around.

Mountain Mike
05-25-2012, 23:39
I thought it would be easier after my second thru. Somewhat but not really. Soon after returning my friends took me out & we eventually ended up at a small but crowded nightclub. Been to it many times before but couldn't deal with it so soon after my hike. Tooks months to get used to it again.
This is what I wrote in my journal when I finished the PCT in Canada, "I suspect that mentally, I'm not really grasping the fact that I'm done as I expected to be more excited then I'm feeling at the moment."

I felt out of sorts after finishing the PCT. I spent several days wandering around Vancouver and then Seattle before taking a long slow train ride home. Watching the scenery roll by over 2 days helped me come to terms that my hike was basically over.

I expect my feelings when I finish my SOBO AT hike this fall will be similar but at the same time different since I know what to expect this time around.

Grampie
05-26-2012, 17:55
I felt very proud of myself for having hiked the whole AT.

Blue Jay
05-28-2012, 16:06
I'm sure the Class of 2012 will be excited to finish their thru hikes in time to get home and watch the 2012 Presidential election debates, all the campaign ads, and the nightly talking heads on TV explaining it all for us.

Go wash your mouth (and typing fingers) out with Dr. Bonners, SEVERAL TIMES. Finally I understand why NO politics.