Do you have to be crazy to hike the AT?

[quicktoez]

Ok, I’m doing Springer to Harpers Ferry starting next week then sectioning the remaining 500 - 600 miles I have this summer with plans to finish at Katahdin late July. I have gotten so much crap from people because they think I’m wasting my time, risking my life or just plain a loser for wanting to “walk in the woods”. How do you guys explain the woods time and am I really loopy for liking the solitude and consistency of the mountains?

[TJ aka Teej]

Tell them it's a "hiker thing" and they wouldn't understand.

Earl Shaffer was the first thru-hiker, and the first to be given a trailname.
As his hike progressed he'd meet people who had heard there was a man trying to walk from Georgia to Maine, and when they met him they'd ask,
"Are you the Crazy One?"

Earl "The Crazy One" Shaffer. I miss him.

[Big Dawg]

Show em your awesome pictures,,, maybe they'll get a clue.

No, you're not looney,, just part of a small band of people who truely appreciate the outdoors.

Enjoy your hike!

[Sly]

No, but you probably are if you think you're going to find solitude going northbound during thru-hiker season.

[stuco]

Did they tell the wright brothers they were crazy? Did they tell Michael Jordan he was crazy? Yes. I know that cheezy but people are always knocked for doing something extraordinay.

[warraghiyagey]

Ok, I’m doing Springer to Harpers Ferry starting next week then sectioning the remaining 500 - 600 miles I have this summer with plans to finish at Katahdin late July. I have gotten so much crap from people because they think I’m wasting my time, risking my life or just plain a loser for wanting to “walk in the woods”. How do you guys explain the woods time and am I really loopy for liking the solitude and consistency of the mountains?

Sounds like you got the more abrasive "friends and family reaction." That may - in part - explain why you are drawn to the trail.
If it's at all about one's sanity, the "American Dreamer, SUVer, American Idolers" would have us believe it's our sanity in question. When you're on the trail you'll become quite certain of the actual truth.
And when you're on the trail you think about the folks who gave you negative feedback and in your heart you wish they could be there to see what you are, if for but a moment.
It kind of gives you perspective on the people you know who are interested, excited and happy for you. Hope you have plenty of those as well.
I think the trail is a path to sanity in this increasingly despotic world.
When are you heading out? The trail and your friends here are waiting.
Peace

[RockyBob]

Ok, I’m doing Springer to Harpers Ferry starting next week then sectioning the remaining 500 - 600 miles I have this summer with plans to finish at Katahdin late July. I have gotten so much crap from people because they think I’m wasting my time, risking my life or just plain a loser for wanting to “walk in the woods”. How do you guys explain the woods time and am I really loopy for liking the solitude and consistency of the mountains?

At age 42, do you really care what others think of your plans?
You know what you want, go for it and enjoy it while you can.

[saimyoji]

You are insane, looney as a s**thouse rat, off your rocker, missing some marbles, total whack job, don't give up your day job...a total idiot....

to the club.

[Footslogger]

...you don't have to be crazy, but it helps !!

'Slogger

[moxie]

I don't know why you would ask this forum if your idea is crazy. If it is crazy then about everyone here is crazy. We have either all done it, plan to, or admire those that have. None of us have been locked up yet but who knows what tomorrow will bring. I could be asking the orderly for a new crayon to do my posts with by next week.

[Jim Lemire]

No but it helps.
I remember sitting at dinner at Shaw's in 1990 when one hiker posed the question to all, "do you think Keith's son will hike the Trail?" Keith's son certainly had to have a wealth of knowledge from all the hikers he encountered.
Another hiker looked at the boy and said, in a serious tone, "Nay, he looks normal to me."
That said it all for me. I'm so happy to not be normal.

Jim

[ASUGrad]

I have read a lot of trail books and trail journals. As best I can tell, crazy isn't required but it helps to be a bit introverted. Extroverted means you want to hike in a group and hiking in a group means you are always hiking too fast or too slow.

[moxie]

I have read a lot of trail books and trail journals. As best I can tell, crazy isn't required but it helps to be a bit introverted. Extroverted means you want to hike in a group and hiking in a group means you are always hiking too fast or too slow.

I know I am an extreme extrovert and I hike alone quite nicely thank you. There is plenty of time to socalize in town, in camp, or in shelters. Sharing news or chatting with hikers you pass, pass you or going in the other direction also works. Alot of hikers whose views you read here I consider extroverts. I have never known Lone Wolf, Baltimore Jack, Blister, Dances with Mice, The Old Phart to be introverts. Billeville would not exist if Jester was in fact a shy, retiring shrinking violet. Some of the nicest peiple on the trail are extroverts. Heck, the introverts hardly speak to you.

[weary]

I was 64 -- well about to be in two weeks -- and two years retired when I left home in 1993. But I still got the same queries and comments about wasting my time, and being foolish.

My explanation ("I don't have anything else special to do this summer.") won't help those giving up jobs or taking a six month vacation before looking for a job.

I don't even have a thru hiker patch to explain my summer. I spent too much time exploring the southern Appalachians, which I had never seriously visited before. But I started at Springer and ended on Katahdin six months and three days later.

I think of my walk almost daily and dream of doing it again. But I've gotten too busy trying to keep the trail in Maine wild as developers buy up land adjacent to the narrow trail corridor. I find it hard to justify taking another six months off.

I guess I can verify that a long hike can be life changing. At least it changed my life. The needs of the trail keep me from hiking it again.

Weary
www.matlt.org