WhiteBlaze Pages 2024
A Complete Appalachian Trail Guidebook.
AVAILABLE NOW. $4 for interactive PDF(smartphone version)
Read more here WhiteBlaze Pages Store

Results 1 to 16 of 16
  1. #1
    Registered User sadlowskiadam's Avatar
    Join Date
    09-17-2012
    Location
    Cincinnati, Ohio
    Age
    45
    Posts
    94

    Default 2nd Thru Hike Different Than 1st Thru Hike?

    I thru hiked the AT in 2013 as a newbie hiker. Needless to say, the first 500 miles of my thru hike were exciting, difficult, and instructive for me. I'm contemplating a 2nd thru hike, but was wondering how a 2nd thru hike compares to the first. Are there any multiple time thru hikers out there who can provide some insight regarding the differences the 2nd thru hike versus their 1st thru hike? Was one better than the other? How was it different? Did you find it difficult to stay motivated on the 2nd thru hike? Any insight is much appreciated!

    Counselor

  2. #2
    Registered User
    Join Date
    03-06-2007
    Location
    Bellevue, WA
    Age
    67
    Posts
    2,000

    Default

    I think it's bound to be different because there's so much that you know the second time around, to include the basic "I can do this" aspect. I think a person does well to prepare for a thru-hike anyway --- could be easy to be over-confident and figure that you can just "jump on trail" and do fine. Likely you will, barring special issues, but still --- better IMO to prep some anyway, and more so if it's not a trail you've hiked before.
    What makes one hike "Better" than another is subjective in all sorts of ways --- people you hike with, weather conditions, where you are in "the herd" if on the PCT or AT, etc.
    Ditto staying motivated; hopefully after a thru-hike you have an idea of whether you like long distance hiking or not! If you just sort of gutted out a miserable last few weeks (or months) just to say that you finished, then maybe a second one isn't a good idea ...

    So many different ways for people to look at this stuff, no single right way or approach. Some like to hike the same trail multiple times, reckoning that it will be new each time due to the people they meet, stay different places along the way, different weather, plus there's no way you "see" and fully appreciate everything that you pass by just one time through. I personally feel that there are so many trails out there that I'd rather hike somewhere new rather than re-hike the same trail, no matter how much I liked it.

    I hope that one a second (or Nth) thru-hike, if you have any sort of patronizing or arrogant "I'm a tough-guy thru-hiker" tendencies, that they wash away. Multiple offender type of long distance hikers have less of that crap I find than do folks on occasion in the midst of their first long distance hike.

    I think it really comes down to whether you enjoy the lifestyle, living to some degree like a hobo, hiking all day for most days, dealing with discomforts, but, well, hopefully you also know all of the upsides too!

    Best wishes on your second long hike.
    Gadget
    PCT: 2008 NOBO, AT: 2010 NOBO, CDT: 2011 SOBO, PNT: 2014+2016

  3. #3
    Registered User
    Join Date
    08-08-2012
    Location
    Taghkanic, New York, United States
    Posts
    3,198
    Journal Entries
    11

    Default

    Just a suggestion, try a different trail. AT/ PCT are natural sisters but many others. After the AT I did El Camino (Spain). It was the stepping into the unknown (though knowing it was doable) which is what brought me to the AT, doing it a second time would not be the same. YMMV

  4. #4
    Registered User
    Join Date
    11-20-2002
    Location
    Damascus, Virginia
    Age
    65
    Posts
    31,348

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by sadlowskiadam View Post
    I thru hiked the AT in 2013 as a newbie hiker. Needless to say, the first 500 miles of my thru hike were exciting, difficult, and instructive for me. I'm contemplating a 2nd thru hike, but was wondering how a 2nd thru hike compares to the first. Are there any multiple time thru hikers out there who can provide some insight regarding the differences the 2nd thru hike versus their 1st thru hike? Was one better than the other? How was it different? Did you find it difficult to stay motivated on the 2nd thru hike? Any insight is much appreciated!

    Counselor
    second time around there's no stress. you know to expect.

  5. #5

    Default

    I really enjoyed my first time, but my 4th time is by far my favorite.
    I do hike other trails too, but the AT is like going home to me.
    Stumpknocker
    Appalachian Trail is 35.9% complete.

  6. #6

    Default

    I’m a weekend trail user at best, maybe a section hiker.... and I think it’s ok to ask these kinds of question, you’ve got to know the answer already... in short form at least....

  7. #7

    Default

    Every hike is different, if by nothing else, weather and people. Might even get some of the views you missed the first time around. As LW said, you know what to expect and how to plan for it. And knowing what to expect, you'll become the tour guide for the group your paced with.
    Last edited by Slo-go'en; 01-08-2018 at 17:29.
    Follow slogoen on Instagram.

  8. #8

    Default

    I did the AT twice and the CDT twice. I tried for a second PCT thruhike as well, but my partner had to go home for surgery so we only got 1/4 of the way, but I saw what that was like second time around.

    As stated above, you are different, because you have experience, don't have the uncertainty of not knowing whether you can handle long distance hiking, know what to expect, more or less. The people you hike with will be very different. The weather will likely be different, at least at times. I made a point to stay in different shelters and camp more often on my second AT hike, and to hike some of the different routes (I blue blazed where I had white blazed the first time, white blazed where I had blue-blazed). I visited different towns where I could. On the CDT, we went a different direction (NOBO instead of SOBO) and chose as many alternate routes as we could find. About 1/4 of that hike was brand new to us.

    One caution, sometimes people who had great first thruhikes expect the second hike to be exactly the same. It won't be. The sense of hopeful and anxious discovery will be gone. If you had a great group of friends the first time around, you may not find the same kind of camaraderie on your second hike. Expect the hike to be a completely different experience, and you're less likely to be disappointed.

  9. #9
    Registered User gravityman's Avatar
    Join Date
    11-05-2002
    Location
    Boulder, CO
    Age
    50
    Posts
    1,179

    Default

    We hike 1/2 the trail in 2001. It was magical, and expected to go the whole way. Physically the hike was magnificently difficult for my wife due to intestinal illness that never let up. But every experience, ever step, was filled with magic and the unknown.

    The 2nd time around, we started back in GA. We were determined. We did not feel that same magic, it didn't change us in the same way.
    We saw a lot of repeat offenders out there both times. Often they were focused on the social aspects (partying). I found it hard to be around the repeat offenders, as they were always trying to go to town, get beer, or sit around. Yes, that's a wonderful part of thruhiking, but it's not the reason to do it.

    I would absolutely go after another trail, in another country if possible.

    We hiking a 100 mile circuit in Switzerland with our 10 year old and 8 year old this summer. All the magic was back, because it was all new. Different way to hike, different way to experience things. New customs (like the AT is when doing it the first time). And it changed our kids in so many ways. This summer, we are going to go on a Danube biking tour, as hiking that much was a bit tough on my 8 year old girl. So we want that 'adventure', the part where you are exposured and uncertain, to open the mind up to the new experience. But hopefully it won't be as hard physically.

    Gravity

  10. #10
    Registered User
    Join Date
    02-04-2013
    Location
    Washington, DC
    Posts
    4,316

    Default

    I haven't thru hiked a long trail yet but I've done the JMT three times. I found that when I changed directions, going NOBO rather than SOBO, it felt like a totally different hike. What you are staring at is in front of you all day and it just seems different and more exciting, plus you know the key places to make sure you camp, etc. So the next time I thru hike the Colorado Trail, I plan to go NOBO rather than repeating my 2014 SOBO thru hike. I'm currently in the process of chunk hiking the PCT northbound. Someday I hope to thru hike the PCT, but when I do it'll be southbound. FWIW.

  11. #11
    Registered User BuckeyeBill's Avatar
    Join Date
    12-18-2012
    Location
    Dark Side of the Moon
    Age
    64
    Posts
    1,445
    Journal Entries
    6

    Default

    I agree with the others who stated to hike in a different direction or go to a different trail. My two PCT hikes were both northbound, but we started a month earlier than the first time. Neither one of us were big party people, but we did enjoy an occasional beer or three. When I did my CDT hike, I went northbound again, and when I finished I told myself that SOBO would be a totally different experience. Still waiting for that, but have my mind set on a thru hike of the AT. After many section hikes, it is time to go to Georgia and head north. Good Luck to you.
    Blackheart

  12. #12
    Registered User Kookork's Avatar
    Join Date
    10-22-2011
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario
    Age
    56
    Posts
    1,325
    Images
    12

    Default

    second Thru hike was more fruitful for me.

  13. #13
    Registered User sadlowskiadam's Avatar
    Join Date
    09-17-2012
    Location
    Cincinnati, Ohio
    Age
    45
    Posts
    94

    Default

    Thanks for all the insights. I started my thru hike late in the season (April 28) heading NOBO, so I missed most of the social aspect of the trail until I caught up with the back end of the bubble in New England. Because I started later, I felt the need to really push myself on the miles, which really took its toll on by the time I reached NH and Maine. I'm a bit too old for the party scene, but definitely want to have a new trail family. Perhaps I do a SOBO to mix things up?

  14. #14
    Registered User
    Join Date
    09-21-2009
    Location
    Tennesee
    Age
    65
    Posts
    1,247

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Spirit Walker View Post
    One caution, sometimes people who had great first thruhikes expect the second hike to be exactly the same. It won't be. The sense of hopeful and anxious discovery will be gone. If you had a great group of friends the first time around, you may not find the same kind of camaraderie on your second hike. Expect the hike to be a completely different experience, and you're less likely to be disappointed.
    This is great advice. On at least two occasions, I have run into former thru-hikers on the trail who were, apparently, trying to duplicate their experience and "recreate the magic". Nothing more miserable than listening to someone telling you how much better the trail was back in '78 or '98 or '14 or whenever. I think its a sense of nostalgia more than anything else but if you are looking to replicate your thru in every detail you will suffer from disappointment imo. Every experience on a hiking trail is different each time and you have to accept and appreciate that. Or you will not enjoy it.

  15. #15

    Default

    I hiked a very pure A.T. thru hike in 1990 and it was great but I went back in 2002 for another thru hike and I took every blue blaze and checked out every beautiful spot along the trail. The second thru hike was so much more enjoyable. See all that you can see....you may never get back there again.

  16. #16
    Registered User Christoph's Avatar
    Join Date
    02-18-2015
    Location
    Valdosta, Georgia
    Age
    51
    Posts
    596

    Default

    While I made it around 750 miles on my 1st try, 2 years later I started all over and completed it. You'll know what to expect basically. I took the things I learned on the first try and that contributed heavily to my success the next try (eating, weight, etc...). Things you didn't get to see the first time around due to weather or just missing it entirely (I tend to zone out and "zombie hike" when it's nice and quiet, nobody's around for hours, so I walk right past sights without even realizing it. Haha). It's kind of nice walking past the shelter or a sight and thinking/feeling I was there before, I remember this. Anyway, just some random thoughts but I'm planning another thru some time in the near future as well.
    - Trail name: Thumper

++ New Posts ++

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •