what were reactions to your AT thru hike?

[DavidNH]

So, after you completed your AT thru hike.. and you tell folks (not family but folks you encounter in town etc.) that you thru hiked the Appalachian Trail, what was their reaction? did they ask questions? Did they exhibit any conception at all of what you did or experienced?

For me.. people would say "wow" and that would be it. Most don't even want to know details or know what to ask.

Often times.. I feel like the non-hiker folks have no conception of what it's like to be hiking for six months, more or less outside of society or why anyone would ever consider doing such a thing, and the hiker folks-- since they mostly hiked and hike for different reasons than I do-- can't truly connect with my experience either. At least though the hiker crowd would have a question or two to ask of me!

I guess my AT thru hike is my experience and since I solo hiked it I can't share with anyone.. even immediate family don't seem to be able to connect with what my six month 2200 mile journey was like or involved.

[rickb]

The silence was deafening.

[mattjv89]

I wonder how much of people's lack of interest is related to lack of knowing what a thru hike really is? When I tell people about my planned 2015 thru I get a fair amount if responses to the tune of "oh ok...so that'll take like a few weeks right?"

[Malto]

What you experienced is likely why recovering thru hikers love to meet other thrus. I have found that ultra marathoners can also relate to some extent as well.

[VTATHiker]

I called my mother from the summit on Springer and let her know I made it to the end. She said "That's nice, did you call your grandmother this week? She won Bingo yesterday."

Thanks Ma. I'll give her a call.

[Starchild]

The questions still don't stop

[bamboo bob]

Them,"Where you been."

Me "I just finished thru-hiking the AT ! "

Them, "Cool, How do you think the Bruins will do this year"?


And that's OK, If you're 22 it's likely the biggest deal of your life.

If your over 40 to 60. You've maybe had a career. Have kids and maybe grandkids. A wife or two. Maybe been to war.

In the scheme of things hiking the AT is not all that important.

In much easier than all those other things.

[McPick]

Most often? "Yawn."

Years ago, in a similar thread, LW stated (essentially) that no one would care. As usual... Bulls eye. Although, like many of of you who've done it... I still marvel at the accomplishment. (I know, I know, LW... "It's just walkin'.")

And David, after all these years, I'm still astonished we never met on the trail. You must have been early on... I was the last man walking north in 2006.

[ChinMusic]

The questions still don't stop

Same here. Maybe it's the age of our friends. For the most part mine seem to ask great questions and have some understanding of the trail.

Coming home has been great. I plan on leaving again just for the welcome home........

[Marta]

It depends. Most people in Charlotte didn't think anything about it, where it was, or how long it took, or why one might want to do it. Where I'm living and working now, a significant portion of my coworkers and acquaintances have a thru-hike on their bucket list. People like that frequently start talking about when and how they're going to make it happen for themselves.

[Dogwood]

I've experienced plenty of camaraderie and an attempt at understanding my long distance backpacking adventures with fellow adventurers and explorers like: touring cyclists(those that road bike long distances), mountain bikers(especially thru-mountain bikers on the AZT and CT although I typically get along with all mountain bikers), long distance kayakers(especially sea kayakers like those kayaking Puget Sound/Northwest Passage, Alaska, etc and kayaking the length of long rivers), climbers/mountaineers, wilderness travelers(usually the more they do this NOT tethered to a motor vehicle the more apt we are to listen to each other), those that travel often outside the U.S.(again, I have more of a sharing with those that aren't always tethered to technology or a motor vehicle), those that spend a good deal of time working in the backcountry(Rangers, Search and Rescue personnel, backcountry professional photographers, biologists, guides, etc), survivalists/minimalists/primitive living enthusiasts/those that live off the grid, back country hunters/fisherman who often hike far into the backwoods away from roads, off road enthusiasts, long distance and cross country runners, and even motorcyclists(those that really live to ride and ride to live Harley types). Part of the reason why I feel this kinship, and IMHO why I think they feel a kinship with me, is because I'm willing to have them share their adventures with me. Simply, unloading on these folks by basing all my conversation on me, me, me doesn't always work in having folks listen. YOU have to be willing(and interested) in what they have to share as well. I believe we also share this comaraderie because we have both tapped into a freedom and an appreciation. We're travelers.

[rocketsocks]

I've experienced plenty of camaraderie and an attempt at understanding my long distance backpacking adventures with fellow adventurers and explorers like: touring cyclists(those that road bike long distances), mountain bikers(especially thru-mountain bikers on the AZT and CT although I typically get along with all mountain bikers), long distance kayakers(especially sea kayakers like those kayaking Puget Sound/Northwest Passage, Alaska, etc and kayaking the length of long rivers), climbers/mountaineers, wilderness travelers(usually the more they do this NOT tethered to a motor vehicle the more apt we are to listen to each other), those that travel often outside the U.S.(again, I have more of a sharing with those that aren't always tethered to technology or a motor vehicle), those that spend a good deal of time working in the backcountry(Rangers, Search and Rescue personnel, backcountry professional photographers, biologists, guides, etc), survivalists/minimalists/primitive living enthusiasts/those that live off the grid, back country hunters/fisherman who often hike far into the backwoods away from roads, off road enthusiasts, long distance and cross country runners, and even motorcyclists(those that really live to ride and ride to live Harley types). Part of the reason why I feel this kinship, and IMHO why I think they feel a kinship with me, is because I'm willing to have them share their adventures with me. Simply, unloading on these folks by basing all my conversation on me, me, me doesn't always work in having folks listen. YOU have to be willing(and interested) in what they have to share as well. I believe we also share this comaraderie because we have both tapped into a freedom and an appreciation. We're travelers.

Very nicely said Dogwood, I don't know thru-hikin from shinola, but if a person is passionate about what they do, I'm interested. I don't think a person can attain that kind of passion without becoming interested in all, they seem to go hand in hand, like attaining a level of Nirvana, another thing I really don't know much about. Funny, for not knowing much, how do I know this this, it truly is within us all...ya just gotta tap into it, it's their. No One is Unique, we all have it.


Sorry, didn't mean to get all cashmere, a traveler of both time and space, it's late... somewhere


When some/most find out I hike with a pack on the AT, they ask all kinds of question, what do you do for water, food, bathroom ect. same questions I asked years ago....then the big one, So, ya gonna hike the whole thing? my response is always the same...Hell No, them guys are nuts! But folks always seem to be genuinely interested, as if the questioning becomes more of an interview with them wondering and secretly planning (if only in their mind) their own back packing trip, I can see the wheels turnin'...it's cool to watch the process evolve. plantin seeds.


sometimes i'll even follow up with a question...So when ya goin? They're are already there, they just don't know it yet....just like I was.


DavidNH, I know you specifically asked thru-hikers opinions, but those are my observations for what it's worth.


Conclusion: There seems to be something very satisfying, perhaps even innate about carrying all of ones things on their back and moving across the land.

[garlic08]

Not exactly on topic, but here's the final entry in my AT hike journal:

"On the train ride I took from Boston to Chicago, I met a group of Amish farmers from Minnesota. We shared a table in the cafe car and got a chance to talk a bit. One man asked me what I did for a living. I get that a lot on the trail, other hikers wondering how a 51 year-old could take the time for a thru hike. My stock reply is that I figured out a way to live with very little income. I live in a very small paid-for house, bicycle and walk a lot, don't have a cell phone or internet bill, don't have a TV or cable bill, heat mostly with wood, carry my garbage to a friend's dumpster in return for some work so no garbage bill, etc. It's a pretty simple, low-expense life. The Amish were smiling indulgently, before I figured out I was preaching to the choir. We all had a laugh about that. Then I wondered, is my life possibly closer to theirs than it is to my neighbors'?"

What I mostly get from my peers is "how do you get that much time off?" Or, "I'd love to do that if I had the time," to which I reply, you'll never have the time, you have to make the time--who lives the kind of life where you have half a year with nothing else planned? Or, "I'm going to do that someday," to which I reply, there is no "Someday" on my calendar.

Usually it's, "Oh yeah, I read that book." (A Walk in the Woods.)

[ChinMusic]

Garlic the Amish.

[RED-DOG]

No body truly Understands what a person goes through out their, when i tell folks about it they say WOW great then ask why, and if you gotta ask why you wouldn't understand any ways. the only people that truly understands is other 2000 milers.

[ChinMusic]

I hiked it all and I'm not sure why. Glad I did though.

[Skyline]

About 80% of the people I told I did the entire AT (sectioning, eight years, 1996-2003) were unimpressed and not interested in continuing a dialogue. I think many of them had no clue what I was talking about and were too embarrassed to admit it. Others from my distant past, pre-1990, probably thought I made it up because back then I was so unlike the guy I am today re: hiking/backpacking/outdoors, etc.

But the remaining 20% were astounded, congratulatory, and wanted details, details, details. I think y'all know they got 'em. Get us started, talking about our AT/other backpacking experiences, and we won't shut up. :-)

[middle to middle]

No body truly Understands what a person goes through out their, when i tell folks about it they say WOW great then ask why, and if you gotta ask why you wouldn't understand any ways. the only people that truly understands is other 2000 milers.

I think that is it. We are a distinct separate group of people,

[rocketsocks]

No body truly Understands what a person goes through out their, when i tell folks about it they say WOW great then ask why, and if you gotta ask why you wouldn't understand any ways. the only people that truly understands is other 2000 milers.

I think that is it. We are a distinct separate group of people,

So misunderstood.

[ChinMusic]

So misunderstood.

Not to take anything away from other hikes, but I was completely overwhelmed with emotion when I got to the sign last September. I had no idea those emotions were coming til I got there.

So yeah, it IS a special feeling. I felt it.