My love for life is quit simple .i get uo in the moring and then i go to bed at night. What I do inbween is to occupy my time. Cary Grant
http://www.trailjournals.com/flapjack
My love for life is quit simple .i get uo in the moring and then i go to bed at night. What I do inbween is to occupy my time. Cary Grant
Once it becomes a task, it kind of stops being fun for many. Some are driven by the completion gratification more than others. My longest hike was an attempted thru, some 465 miles Springer to Damascus, way back in the 70's. More than anything else, it just stopped being enjoyable. I got tired of cold and wet and the monotony of it. Lots of shorter sections followed, but work, children and life didn't allow for any further LD hikes. And I'm not so sure I would enjoy 5 months on the trail at this point in life. There would likely be a lot of "why am I doing this" days. If you take an inquisitive child backpacking, you will note that they typically see more things of interest in one mile than most thru-hikers see in twenty - or more.
As to boredom after the hiking day is done, people today can bring a vast supply of reading material due to electronics compared to the "old days" of hard copy books. During the day, that tech goes for detailed trail guides as well. There's a lot to see along the trail other than just the white blazes. We used to always bring the detailed section guides published by the regional trail clubs. It's a choice that has to be made by the individual as to what is more important - there's the journey and the destination. Somewhere, in the middle ground, thru-hikers have to strike a balance based upon what's important to them.
"That's the thing about possum innards - they's just as good the second day." - Jed Clampett
Mama always said boring is as boring does....
Mama also always said hiking is like a box of chocolates you never know what your gonna get....
Worst case there is always Fart Baseball to keep one entertained.
The benefits meditation are well established. Many envision this requires a state of sedentary focus. But it has also been shown that these benefits can be accomplished through repetitive physical activity, such as walking. Perhaps you've seen a medetation labarynth. A twisted pathway in a peaceful environment you follow to facilitate active meditation. Stretch that out to be a linear path in a green tunnel, you have the same effect.
I've been on some hikes that were a little too exciting and I wished for a boring day.
"Throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence." John Muir on expedition planning
I don't know how it can be boring at all. You are busy getting from one place to another. At the end of the day there are the chores (cooking dinner, setting up the tend, rinsing socks, etc.) Then there's going into town for resupply. The only time you might get a little bored is during a zero day but hey, it's a recharge for you.
Chores being the operative the word. After a while you just want your real food handed to you already.
My idea of a LDH is a week. Couple days at a time is great; past that not so much.
Now going on a guided horse pack trip with wranglers? I might be able to do that for months.
Be Prepared
Not to go overboard on philosophical vs. practical thinking, but is there a “generational” thing going on here? Social media, immediacy, things often associated with the younger crowd. Peakbagger told the story of the hiker with headphones, which we all see routinely. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with a little occasional trail music, wearing headphones while hiking, while tenting, virtually all day, seems symbolic of someone more interested in “media” than “being alone with their thoughts”, which leads us back to the boredom question. Of course, this is just one aspect of things and my opinion.
"How can something this hard be so much fun".
To me "cursing" happens more when backpacking than boredom. What is cursing? When a boot sole comes off. When a tent pole breaks. When I leave tent pegs under the snow. When it rains for 150 hours. When I can't find the trail for a full hour. Unwanted Surprises is the bane of backpacking---leading to cursing.
The longest I've been out on the trail is 2 weeks (multiple times, always solo).
Do I get bored? No. Do I start to miss my wife and kids the 2nd week? Yes.
It's all good in the woods.
Why not go overboard? That's what we do ;-) This is reminiscent of the "are cell phones good or bad" threads that were common 10 or more years ago. Today it's to the point that they are seen as essential tools. People say they enrich your life in so many ways. But to me it seems the opposite is true. Some people admit they could not hike without the security, comfort, and entertainment provided by their portable device. As a result, instead of a being a tool allowing you to do more, it has become an obstacle that holds you back.
Regarding smartphones, I find myself swaying forth and back between seeing and using mine as an essential means of navigation with the added bonus of being able to communicate some essentials, and the dark side of it when I get to a place with good signal and I fall back into the old homey behavior of reading news and internet nonsense.
One time I got stuck high up a lonely mountain valley in a bad weather front and had to hunker down in the tent for 24hrs.
The only things I could do (aside of some eating) was reading.
The only Kindle book I had downloaded to the phone was "Black Hawk down".
So I spent the whole day crammed inside the tent reading this dreadful war story.
That basically cured me a bit from understanding the smartphone as a entertainment.
Not to go overboard on philosophical vs. practical thinking, but is there a “generational” thing going on here? Social media, immediacy, things often associated with the younger crowd.
what i've noticed with a bunch of my younger friends----10, 15, 20 years younger than me-----is their
attention span is very short.....
for anything......
not sure if it's a direct result but most of these friends have grown up, and still do, playing video games....