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trapper
01-20-2013, 21:14
i have a date set of 2017 to thru with my son. my question is does anyone else have the feeling that if they do not thru hike the AT that they will not be content? maybe people who do thru have the same feelings with the other 2 LD trails? anyone have thoughts on this. its a burning desire that never leaves my mind...i have to complete this trail for ME not for anyone or anything else for me

topshelf
01-20-2013, 21:29
Im currently a graduate student, i have a feeling that if i dont do the trail before i start working, i never will. this eats at me because its been a dream since i was a kid and it doesnt appear ill be able to do the trail. i dont see my future work plans ever allowing me to take off to hike the AT.

Sarcasm the elf
01-20-2013, 21:45
Trapper, excellent question! I'm having trouble answering it without writing too long of a rambling response.

I guess the short answer is that I hike to go hiking and I overnight/section hike because that's the kind of camping I like to do (as opposed to car camping). I had dreamed of thru hiking back when I did my first hikes on the A.T. in Boy Scouts, but the more time I spend on the trail and the more experience I get, the less I care about goals, I just go out because I like being out there. I still like making miles, but I've found that I don't care as much as I used to whether those miles are a new section of trail that I can add to my list or the same section in Connecticut that I've done a half dozen times.

A lot of this does reflect the point that I'm at in my life, if I had gotten back into hiking a few years earlier than I did then I probably would have attempted a thru hike, but now I go out there to exercise, relax and reflect (some people would say to "escape", but that's not the right word for why I go).

Much in the same way that you fear not suceeding in your thru hike, I fear the idea of pushing myself into a goal oriented thru hike that I complete but at the cost of having a miserable time and hating backpacking. In reality, I think that both of these fears are probably unfounded.

bfayer
01-20-2013, 21:58
I would love to hike the whole trail. But you know what, I am married to my best friend who is not a hiker, and I'm not going to spend 5 or 6 months away from her to go hiking. Just not going to happen.

We have had to spend enough time apart for work, and I can do all the hiking I want a few days at a time.

It's all about your priorities in life. I have mine, and everyone else can have theirs. Life is good that way.

trapper
01-20-2013, 22:08
im also married but my wife realizes how important this is to me so she's ok with it..i hiked the LT in Vermont this summer thinking that would curb my appetite but it only made it worse. i can't wait to share this with my son not to many father sons get to do the trail together. in 5 years he will be 15 i don't want to try to take him till he can really appreciate the journey. i believe i really am supposed to walk all of this trail...it is my goal in life

flemdawg1
01-20-2013, 22:28
Nope I've learned there's no bucket of contentment or meaning of life on the AT.

Sarcasm the elf
01-20-2013, 22:28
im also married but my wife realizes how important this is to me so she's ok with it..i hiked the LT in Vermont this summer thinking that would curb my appetite but it only made it worse. i can't wait to share this with my son not to many father sons get to do the trail together. in 5 years he will be 15 i don't want to try to take him till he can really appreciate the journey. i believe i really am supposed to walk all of this trail...it is my goal in life

Since you mention the importance of the father-son hike, I have to ask are you familiar with father daughter thru hiking team Balls and Sunshine? Their trail journal is a very cool, read: http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=364996

Mountain Mike
01-20-2013, 22:31
As a thru hiker of At & most of PCT in big chunks. I say take what you can get & trail will always be there. I love long distance hike due to the condition you get into & really in tune to nature. I admire section hikers for their devotion to complete the trail. What it takes in effort to hike each year & just when you are in prime shape you have to get off. I would also like to wonder how much a section hike completion would cost when you figure into transportation.

For now enjoy what you can do. You get to enjoy luxury items many thrus get rid of. At times the constant strive for miles becomes a chore. You get to hit sections when you chose the weather. You can stop & see things close to the trail. When I did a section of PCT I missed no thru did the side trip to Sierra Butte fire tower, to mileage conscious.1913319134 I wasn't going to miss it. So be happy. Section hikes have plenty of rewards. Time is on your side. One friend of mine did all of the triple crown twice...after he retired! Another downside to thrus is you become jaded. When I had to skip the Sierria in my attempted thru of PCT I met up at Seattle with a friend from AT. He came out & hiked with me for a couple of days. His oohs & wows! made me realize how jaded I had become & how lucky I was to be out there.

RodentWhisperer
01-20-2013, 22:33
To add another $0.02 into the "married" plot, when I told my wife, "One of these days, I'm gonna hike the entire Appalachian Trail," she asked me "Right after you're single again?" :cool:

thebrewguy
01-20-2013, 22:47
I've done several sections and have plans to do more, but I still have a burning desire to thru hike. I'm satisfying my trail lust for now by busting out different sections, but I won't feel like an AT master until I've thrued.

johnnybgood
01-20-2013, 22:49
Without a doubt I want to finish the trail because one never knows when their health may abandon them or the desire may wane. At this juncture in my life I do feel as though this will consume my every thought until the dream has been cultivated,priorites have been reset where nothing else matters.

Reiterating your last line , I too believe that this is a goal that is very much my own. Prophetic in a sense. I hope to stay sane in the meantime.

Bati
01-20-2013, 23:21
I set out to thru hike but due to bad weather, an injury. and not allowing enough time, I ended up doing quite a bit of the trail in sections. Do I feel like I missed out? Not at all. I saw a lot of thru hikers who weren't having fun by the time they got to New England. I saw many who weren't enjoying backpacking and were out to finish as many miles per day as they could, however they could, just so they could finish sooner and go home. Many ended up spending lots of time in cheap hotels because of burnout from the trail or bad weather. Not everyone felt the burnout, but it was common among many thru-hikers.

I never suffered from burnout, got my worst day ever on the trail over with early on (day 4), and never felt that I hadn't accomplished something I had set out to do. Of course, it may be different in that I never gave much thought to my original to thru hike before I left. Thus when it was quickly changed to "enjoy backpacking the AT (or at least as much of the trail as I could find),from Georgia to Maine" I didn't feel like I was changing a goal, only refining it to fit the new reality of my backpacking adventure. Your motives may vary, but don't let the ATC's definition of a thru-hike stop you from having a great time backpacking in the Appalachians. You may very well find that you enjoy 6 or 7 trips lasting 3 weeks or so and taken one a year with your child much more than you would ever enjoy a thru-hike.

Hosaphone
01-20-2013, 23:21
It's definitely on my bucket list. I should be able to go next year, I hope.


It's all about your priorities in life. I have mine, and everyone else can have theirs. Life is good that way.

Somebody said, "you can have anything you want in life.... but you can't have everything."

prain4u
01-20-2013, 23:40
On one hand--my not thru hiking eats at me. I want to be able to say "I did it" (It has been a dream since my teenage years and I am now age 51). However, school, marriage, many responsibilities and my two teenaged children with special needs--make scheduling a thru hike a real "challenge" or even an improbability. So, a thru hike has not happened. I would also add, that on my "stupid days"--I sometimes find myself buying into the foolish myth that thru hikers are somehow "better" than section hikers (a myth which is perpetrated by some thru hikers). On those "stupid days" I find myself wanting to thru hike even more than usual.

ON THE OTHER HAND----I am USUALLY pretty content with just getting out on ANY trail when I can and hiking whenever I can. A day on any trail is better than ANY day in the office!!! So, all is good. I can die content if I never thru hike. I am the type of guy who can achieve just about any goal that I set my mind to. I am also the type of guy who could get within one mile of finishing a thru hike and just walk away from it--IF I felt that I had already gotten out of the hike everything that I had wanted to get out of it.

gumball
01-21-2013, 07:49
Set your goal and get there if you can for a thru hike. That being said, section hiking the entire trail isn't talked about as much, but bears its own weight in challenges. While thru hikers have a five to seven month window of straight hiking, section hikers have to drive back and forth over the course of many years to meet their goal of finishing the entire trail. There are time frames to finish X-number of days and not the ability to take each day as it comes--if you have 10 days off, you have to plan for travelling to and from and get as far as you can get. There is also the issue of getting in and staying in shape. You often just begin to feel like you are getting your "trail legs" at the end of a longer section.

So--if what you have open to you are several years of sections rather than a clear view of when you can thru, remember that each has its good and bad parts and neither is necessarily more of a challenge than the other--depending on your perspective.

stuthetraveler
01-21-2013, 08:21
I've hike a section of the AT and since that trip... I've wanted to go back. I don't think I'd hike the entire trail... but once you've done part of the AT you'll want more section hikes. IMHO

Starchild
01-21-2013, 08:41
My take on it is whatever I'm suppose to do that's exactly what I will do, I do believe my trip is planned by powers higher then me and that's how I like it. My plan is to get my ass to Springer Mtn and start walking north following the blazes, taking it one step at a time, one day at a time and one resupply distance at a time. If I don't complete it I know that was also part of the plan and have peace either way.

Though I do believe in my heart that I will complete the entire AT, but don't know how that is to be done - I strongly suspect it will be this year thru.

4shot
01-21-2013, 09:14
i have a date set of 2017 to thru with my son. my question is does anyone else have the feeling that if they do not thru hike the AT that they will not be content? maybe people who do thru have the same feelings with the other 2 LD trails? anyone have thoughts on this. its a burning desire that never leaves my mind...i have to complete this trail for ME not for anyone or anything else for me

I have thru hiked the AT and can speak about the other 2 trails. I enjoyed the trail and like most, think about it almost every single day. With that said, I have no burning desire to do the other 2 - they just dont have the appeal to me that the AT did. In fact, I didn't even know they existed until I joined this site. Also, I know I could do them if I wanted to. One of my motivations for a thru was to see if I could do it. It's kind of like my son - he trained for and ran in his first marathon last year. he has no desire to run another one. Not saying I wouldn't go hike the PCT if given the opportunity but I am not pursuing it as a goal.

I have gone back to the AT and section hiked. It's more relaxing to go out for a fixed amount of time rather than a fixed amount of miles. I do miss the friendships formed over months on the trail and as someone else said, I miss the level of fitness one achieves by hiking all day, every day for months at a time.

Capt Nat
01-21-2013, 09:31
I've done a lot of things and have come to learn that happiness is not at a place or within a circumstance, it comes from within you. If you can't be happy here now doing what you're doing, you're not going to find happiness anywhere else or doing anything else, including hiking, sailing or whatever.

That being said, commitment is important and setting the goal should be done without failure in mind. Less than total commitment is not really an attempt. The thru is important to me and having to drop out would be a disappointment for me.

However, my life isn't defined by hiking, or any one accomplishment or event. If I finish, nobody will care but me. If I don't, I won't live the rest of my life in shame and defeat. If before, during, or after a thru it defines your whole life, you should examine your life and try to broaden it some.

As much as I enjoy it, life is not about hiking. Everyone I meet on every trail, in every diner, on every sidewalk is unique, special, and interesting. Pay attention to them and in a very short time, you will discover something remarkable.

Sandy of PA
01-21-2013, 11:09
I am thru-hiking one state at a time. I can enjoy hiking for about 6 weeks continuously after that my body starts to get unhappy. Each spring finds me out there before it gets real hot and I have to get home to can the garden.

grayfox
01-21-2013, 11:28
Life is pretty much all about the choices we have made, are making, and will make. There is no guarantee that any choice will turn out to be the right one down the line or that any particular choice will be the one that defines your life and makes you happy. If you feel strongly about thru hiking then you should do it--the sooner the better, while you have the stamina to enjoy the hike and to avoid spending the future thinking about it so you can get on with other things in your life. I say do it now, or as soon as you can, because all the little choices you make add up to a body of obligation and expectation that may prevent you from ever hiking the trail. Stuff and people and needs and wants all add up and get in the way sometimes of your being the person you thought you would turn out to be. Woulda, shoulda, coulda..... don't go there.

Biggie Master
01-21-2013, 12:46
However, my life isn't defined by hiking, or any one accomplishment or event. If I finish, nobody will care but me. If I don't, I won't live the rest of my life in shame and defeat. If before, during, or after a thru it defines your whole life, you should examine your life and try to broaden it some.

As much as I enjoy it, life is not about hiking. Everyone I meet on every trail, in every diner, on every sidewalk is unique, special, and interesting. Pay attention to them and in a very short time, you will discover something remarkable.

+100 -- Couldn't agree more.

RockDoc
01-21-2013, 17:41
Hike for yourself, not other people, because you would be surprised how little they care.

Many thru hikers do it as a huge stunt, and then stop hiking for years, or forever. Like the one-time-wonders who do one marathon and then stop running. "Just to say they did it...", but actually they don't much like running, they just wanted to snag an imagined social award.

Many section hikers continue to hike and enjoy, without any finish lines or ending dates. I started hiking the AT in 1969 and have never finished, but hiked my favorite sections several times, concentrating on personal enjoyment rather than the artifiical idea of "finishing" something that other people have defined as what my goal should be.

hikernutcasey
01-24-2013, 11:57
I've done a lot of things and have come to learn that happiness is not at a place or within a circumstance, it comes from within you. If you can't be happy here now doing what you're doing, you're not going to find happiness anywhere else or doing anything else, including hiking, sailing or whatever.

That being said, commitment is important and setting the goal should be done without failure in mind. Less than total commitment is not really an attempt. The thru is important to me and having to drop out would be a disappointment for me.

However, my life isn't defined by hiking, or any one accomplishment or event. If I finish, nobody will care but me. If I don't, I won't live the rest of my life in shame and defeat. If before, during, or after a thru it defines your whole life, you should examine your life and try to broaden it some.

As much as I enjoy it, life is not about hiking. Everyone I meet on every trail, in every diner, on every sidewalk is unique, special, and interesting. Pay attention to them and in a very short time, you will discover something remarkable.

This is well said and I find it surprisingly applicable to section hiking as well. I was introduced to backpacking 4 years ago after doing a lot of day hiking and quickly fell in love with it. I am an accomplishment oriented person and quickly decided I wanted to hike the whole trail but as others have said life doesn't always permit taking 6 months off.

One day hopefully I will finish the trail and I will be happy doing my 3 or so trips a year slowly gaining 150 to 200 miles a year until I make to 2,185. However, if I never finish the entire trail will it be the biggest disappointment of my life? Hardly. There are more important things in life than hiking.

tiptoe
01-24-2013, 12:26
I made my peace with thru vs. section years ago. As a relatively new section hiker, I was feeling "unworthy" but with a job, house, a pet, a big veggie garden, and family I saw no way even to consider a thru. As time went on, I realized that sectioning suited me better anyway, mostly for the usual reasons. Now that I'm retired, I'm hoping to be able to do longer sections. I love backpacking and have missed doing it while my broken ankle mends, but at this point in my life however much I can do I'll be happy with. Even if I never finish the whole thing, I'll treasure the memories of places I've been and people I've met.

Tuckahoe
01-24-2013, 12:47
I love hiking, but I really never had a passion to get out and attempt a thru-hike. I have many other interests and hobbies and I love my job. So I am very content to get out for small sections of the trail.

atmako
01-24-2013, 18:03
I'm a section hiker that has completed sections for the past 10 years with three other hikers.I have been retired for the past year and a half.I have always consdered a thru-hike but I'm planning another section this year starting in northern VA. 2/24 for 8 days.I would like to complete the AT but I'm not stuck on a "must do" thru hike at this point in time.As one other person points out,section hiking has some advantages and disadvantages.Getting out there is the most important thing,it is a pleasant calling.I have met many thru hikers,put some up at the house and have read many journals-the mental toll seems to be the biggest issue for most the don't complete.It seems that not defining a long hike that doesn't end in a thru hike as a failure might be a healthy thought.

Son Driven
01-24-2013, 18:26
i have a date set of 2017 to thru with my son. my question is does anyone else have the feeling that if they do not thru hike the AT that they will not be content? maybe people who do thru have the same feelings with the other 2 LD trails? anyone have thoughts on this. its a burning desire that never leaves my mind...i have to complete this trail for ME not for anyone or anything else for me

I have been alive for 674 months, so the six months I am setting aside for the AT represents less then 1% of my life. I refuse to diminish the other 99% of my life by elevating the 1%.

4shot
01-24-2013, 20:57
I have been alive for 674 months, so the six months I am setting aside for the AT represents less then 1% of my life. I refuse to diminish the other 99% of my life by elevating the 1%.


excellent post. I have been alive for only 648 months. I have been blessed beyond my wildest imagination since I was young for reasons unknown to me. My thru hike did not dimish the other 642.5 months. rather, it was the cherry on top of the ice cream sundae.

Theosus
01-24-2013, 21:19
I would love to hike the whole trail. But you know what, I am married to my best friend who is not a hiker, and I'm not going to spend 5 or 6 months away from her to go hiking. Just not going to happen.


Im the same way. If I went on a six month hike, when I got back the house would be sold and all my crap gone. I think.
I don't think I could do a thru hike even if I was single... Too much of a good thing, I think. I could do a month, but six? Seems like a bit much to me.

Bucketfoot
01-24-2013, 22:00
I have been section hiking the trail since 2004 on my vacations and am now retired. I am still hiking the trail in sections but now I can hike as long as I want. Don't start too early so I don't have to endure the cold. Don't hike in summer when it's too hot. Not only do I see the trail but also much of the country and towns around it this way. If I am not having fun I go home. I just enjoy hiking the trail. No need to thru. I plan on being out there hiking for years to come. I am planing my next section hike within days of returning. It never gets old.

MuddyWaters
01-25-2013, 02:40
Sitting behind a computer, its easy to overly romanticize the notion of thru hiking.
Its a cheap, relatively safe, self-created grand adventure , the kind of which is hard to come by in life today otherwise. (Unless you are idle rich)

But its also dirty, sweaty, mundane, wet, smelly, exhausting, hard work , day after day, that will mentally beat you down pretty quick.

If you can do a 100 mile section and still have the burning desire to thru-hike, well at least you will know what your in for.
Its OK to love hiking, but still not want to put yourself thru the abuse of a thru hike.
A thru hike is after all, just short section hikes between towns linked together. However in doing so the physical and mental challenges accumulate with each additional section.

TNman
01-25-2013, 09:22
The reply by Capt Nat is one that aligns with my thoughts as well. If I set the ultimate goal to be hiking the AT until it is no longer fun then I will probably never hike the entire trail. If the ultimate goal is to complete the trail and smaller achievements are planned to give me a sense of accomplishment, such as a goal to hike from Springer to the NC line, then accomplishing the smaller goals could be a magnet to dive me further up the trail. I plan to use that philosophy to keep me moving along. Hope it works.

keepinitsimple
01-25-2013, 12:10
Being a section hiker is perfect for menot . It combines nature, spirituality, little bits of gadgets, excersize, being alone, being together. . lets me balance kids, work, wife and me. I hope to covet this jewel for years to come. And just knowing that as long as I take care of my body, the trail should be there, and I can be on it. For me it's not realistic to expect to do 6 mos of hiking, but one day a month is fine.

"One section at a time"

TheYoungOne
01-25-2013, 13:09
Like some others, trying to do a thru hike at this point of my life is just not going to happen. If things change, I would like try it some day, but like Muddy Waters said, I think is sounds great until you are actually on the trail doing it. At some points along the trail its got to get annoying, boring, lonely and tiring.


I'm ok with section hiking, and maybe doing the John Muir trail, but that is about it. I would miss too much if I left to thru hike for a few months.

Cookerhiker
01-25-2013, 13:26
After 5 years or so section hiking various parts of the AT, I decided I wanted to hike the whole Trail. Never did it cross my mind that I would/should thruhike. From the outset, it was section hiking only. Now it took me several years to even consider long-distance >100 mile hikes; up to that point, I had confined myself to 3-5 day weekends. Anyway after retirement, I began doing longer hikes and finished the Trail in Maine in 2005 at the age of 57.

Absolutely no regrets about not thruhiking.

stranger
01-26-2013, 03:22
When I was younger for sure, now I don't really care, I can find peace in 3 day hikes as well as 7 week hikes. I made 2 thru attempts, I start to get bored around mile 500, I could try again but doubt I will, I would just rather hike another 400-600 mile trail. For me, a hike is not 2000 miles, it's 200-600 miles, and a lot depends on things like timing, other things in my life and work. It's different for everyone I suppose.

IcyHot
01-28-2013, 10:50
Trapper, excellent question! I'm having trouble answering it without writing too long of a rambling response.

I guess the short answer is that I hike to go hiking and I overnight/section hike because that's the kind of camping I like to do (as opposed to car camping). I had dreamed of thru hiking back when I did my first hikes on the A.T. in Boy Scouts, but the more time I spend on the trail and the more experience I get, the less I care about goals, I just go out because I like being out there. I still like making miles, but I've found that I don't care as much as I used to whether those miles are a new section of trail that I can add to my list or the same section in Connecticut that I've done a half dozen times.

A lot of this does reflect the point that I'm at in my life, if I had gotten back into hiking a few years earlier than I did then I probably would have attempted a thru hike, but now I go out there to exercise, relax and reflect (some people would say to "escape", but that's not the right word for why I go).

Much in the same way that you fear not suceeding in your thru hike, I fear the idea of pushing myself into a goal oriented thru hike that I complete but at the cost of having a miserable time and hating backpacking. In reality, I think that both of these fears are probably unfounded.

Your post sums up my feelings about thru hiking. I set off from Springer Mtn in 2010 with the intent of going all the way, but then started to be so miserable by VA that I left the trail. I LOVE hiking and being outdoors, so meeting a crazy goal just wasn't worth ruining hiking for me. I took a few months off hiking to reasses, and now am happy section hiking, planning on doing a section this summer.

88BlueGT
01-28-2013, 11:24
Im currently a graduate student, i have a feeling that if i dont do the trail before i start working, i never will. this eats at me because its been a dream since i was a kid and it doesnt appear ill be able to do the trail. i dont see my future work plans ever allowing me to take off to hike the AT.

Topshelf,

I feel/felt the exact same way. Our situation is a bit different as I am not a graduate student, however, I felt that once I found myself a career I would never have the opportunity to do a thru-hike. I wanted to go for it 2 years ago but never did... now I found myself a career and I can tell you, the timing now will never allow it.

If you CAN and you WANT to... I say do it while you have the chance.

Almost There
01-28-2013, 12:55
Agree with the others. Do it now! Started doing the AT after I was already married. Now with debt, mortgage, kids, and the wife it is not a realistic option. I'm ok with that, wouldn't trade my family for a chance to thru-hike. I hope to go one day, but tomorrow isn't promised to us. When the chance presents itselt take it, or it may never present itself again.

rocketsocks
01-28-2013, 13:10
i have a date set of 2017 to thru with my son. my question is does anyone else have the feeling that if they do not thru hike the AT that they will not be content? maybe people who do thru have the same feelings with the other 2 LD trails? anyone have thoughts on this. its a burning desire that never leaves my mind...i have to complete this trail for ME not for anyone or anything else for meI like this thread, some great well thought out answers. A thru-hike of anything longer than say 150 miles or a couple weeks just doesn't interest me right now, couldn't do it anyway for reasons of health, and my school age kids, and my best friend who dose everything for me...I just wouldn't want to be away that long. But I sure love hearing about all the folks that do it, and how they do it, and the pics they send. All that is helping me to recharge my batteries until......it's my time!