"I wish I'd never hiked the AT."

[Praha4]

she was just being honest, more power to her for hiking as far as she did. If thru-hiking was for everybody, just think how more crowded the AT would be. Thank goodness it is not for everyone!

I remember once taking a break up in Maine at a water source and there was a bunch of boy scouts there and another thru-hiking couple.
The boy scouts were telling us how thrilled they were to talk to some thru-hikers and were appreciating my telling them that it is an admirable goal to hike the AT and one that I had since boy scouts too............blah blah blah
The girl from the other thru-hiking couple then broke in and said: It's not for everybody. I actually hate it. I hate getting up every morning and can only appreciate that I am one day closer to the end.
I asked her why she doesn't just go home then, and she said she was very goal oriented and wouldn't quit, even though she hated it, was in pain, tired of sleeping outside, rain, etc.
I don't envy her life.

[Airman]

Thanks Speedbump for that commit. I agree with all you said. However, one thing we section hikers get is better weather and the satisfaction of a better chance of taking in the views, not the clouds and fog.

[House of Payne]

Interesting reads on this one so far. My concern, to hopefully get a few responses about, is a solo hikers mental state vs. having a group or hiking buddy to help keep you focused. It's a long walk by yourself if you don't meet someone along the way that hikes simular styles to you. Anyone??

[WingedMonkey]

As to my original reply, It was not that one hike is better than the other.

It was commentary on most time when someone that starts a thread of the following type:

"How did you get six months off work for your thru-hike?"
"How did you leave your family for your thru-hike?"
"How did you afford your thru-hike?"
"Do you regret your thru-hike?"

Then a usual assortment of answers are ..."You should section hike instead", "I can't get the time off" and "I could never leave my family for that long"

Enjoy however you hike, but how can you answer the question "Do you regret your thru-hike?" when you don't know?

I don't know if I regret going to China, cause so far I ain't gone there.

[WingedMonkey]

And Red Hat, you certainly have done enough miles and days to answer such a question

[brian039]

Interesting reads on this one so far. My concern, to hopefully get a few responses about, is a solo hikers mental state vs. having a group or hiking buddy to help keep you focused. It's a long walk by yourself if you don't meet someone along the way that hikes simular styles to you. Anyone??

It is a long walk and you will often change how you want to hike along the way. Do you feel like making miles? Staying in a town that you didn't plan on staying in? This will ultimately determine who you hike with and not only you, but everyone else will also adapt hiking styles based on what they're feeling at the time. You might want to hike by yourself for a while, then hike with a partner, then fall into a group. Then after a while of hiking in the group you want to hike by yourself for a while, then you find a new group to hike with, then hike by yourself, then maybe hike with the 1st group you hiked with, and so on. It's great that there are so many options and it's just up to you how you want to hike that conforms to your mental state at the time. You'll never be alone on the trail unless you want to, and if you want to be alone that's not hard either.

[Drybones]

Interesting reads on this one so far. My concern, to hopefully get a few responses about, is a solo hikers mental state vs. having a group or hiking buddy to help keep you focused. It's a long walk by yourself if you don't meet someone along the way that hikes simular styles to you. Anyone??

We're all different and have different needs but for me I'd rather hike alone during the day and meet up with other hikers at water holes and campsites in the evening. When you're alone you aren't distracted from thinking about the important things in life. When you're alone you set your own pace.

[Red Hat]

Interesting reads on this one so far. My concern, to hopefully get a few responses about, is a solo hikers mental state vs. having a group or hiking buddy to help keep you focused. It's a long walk by yourself if you don't meet someone along the way that hikes simular styles to you. Anyone??

At my age and rate of speed, I was alone a good bit of the time. There were a number of folks that I ended up crossing paths with a number of times and that was great. It was lonely much of the time, and I do think having a buddy helps a lot. Since then I have done the JMT with a partner and will hike Maine this year with a partner. That mutual support makes a lot of difference to me.

[speedbump]

So true, we can pick the weekends and weeks that have the better weather and skip the rest ! I also find myself enjoying the hike knowing that I only have a day or a few days left. I am lucky, I live just a few hours drive from most of the New England At, and have done almost all of it.

Thanks Speedbump for that commit. I agree with all you said. However, one thing we section hikers get is better weather and the satisfaction of a better chance of taking in the views, not the clouds and fog.

[Malto]

Haven't hiked the at but did the Pct. after I finished I swore that I would never hike another long trail again. It lasted a week and then I started dreaming of another thru hike. I doubt there are many that would say that they wished they never hiked after completing a thru hike. Soon the pain wears off and as life surrounds you again you starting longing for that simple life of walking eating and sleeping.

[Miami Joe]

I remember once taking a break up in Maine at a water source and there was a bunch of boy scouts there and another thru-hiking couple.
The boy scouts were telling us how thrilled they were to talk to some thru-hikers and were appreciating my telling them that it is an admirable goal to hike the AT and one that I had since boy scouts too............blah blah blah
The girl from the other thru-hiking couple then broke in and said: It's not for everybody. I actually hate it. I hate getting up every morning and can only appreciate that I am one day closer to the end.
I asked her why she doesn't just go home then, and she said she was very goal oriented and wouldn't quit, even though she hated it, was in pain, tired of sleeping outside, rain, etc.
I don't envy her life.

Gotta respect her will, though. Right?

[jimtabor]

nice posts , I am not a section hiker or a thru hiker. I just hike up and down the great state of Pennsylvania. I know I am missing a lot of cool stuff but I dont care. whats the record for hiking the same state over and over ?
jim

[Wise Old Owl]

i quit twice with less than 300 miles to katahdin. by then my goal was to hike til it wasn't fun any more. i met my goal

Wow Whiteblaze provides professional therapy for free! Welcome back LW.

[jimtabor]

yes free therapy

[rocketsocks]

nice posts , I am not a section hiker or a thru hiker. I just hike up and down the great state of Pennsylvania. I know I am missing a lot of cool stuff but I dont care. whats the record for hiking the same state over and over ?
jim

I thinks it's like 11,654 give or take a trip.

[MuddyWaters]

To me, there are different levels of "fun"

There is superficial fun, like catching a fish or something
There is deeper fun, that requires work, and isnt always enjoyable. Sports for instance. Its not always "fun" but it is.
There is much deeper levels that have to do with long term or internal satisfactions. Building a business, raising kids, or hiking long trails.

Some things can be grueling and tough, but still be enjoyable. The little moments then tend to make the hard work worthwhile.

After a few days on the trail, the desire to hike can wane. But go home and try to lay in bed and sleep and you imagine your in a shelter, or a tent...

[Superdave0002]

It might be just my way of thinking, but I cannot understand how someone can hike over 2000 miles and all of a sudden (less that 100 miles to go) quits. There would have to be some really death threatening sickness for me to have quit that close to the end of my hike. Like I said, maybe it is just me, I cannot understand that one.

Maybe they thought that it was a Journey thing, not a destination thing.

[Monkeywrench]

Interesting reads on this one so far. My concern, to hopefully get a few responses about, is a solo hikers mental state vs. having a group or hiking buddy to help keep you focused. It's a long walk by yourself if you don't meet someone along the way that hikes simular styles to you. Anyone??

I hiked most of the trail by myself. I can't imagine doing ti any other way. If you stick with a group you have to constantly compromise your hike for the group's wishes. In my opinion it is far easier to hike your own pace every day, and enjoy the time you spend with others as your paces and town stops coincide.

Note that hiking alone doesn't mean being alone in any way. You'll keep seeing people at camp in the evening, in town whenever you're there, and you'll pass and re-pass each other on the trail. But when my intended pace didn't match up with that of the people I was with, I kept to my pace instead of altering it to fit theirs.

I don't think I'm explaining things very well this morning, but hopefully you can figure out what I'm saying.

[Don H]

​This should be the thru-hikers theme song. Sums it up pretty well for me.

Regrets, I've had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do and saw it through without exemption
I planned each charted course, each careful step along the byway
And more, much more than this, I did it my way
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/f/frank+s..._20056378.html ]
Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all, when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out
I faced it all and I stood tall and did it my way

[4shot]

blah blah
The girl from the other thru-hiking couple then broke in and said: It's not for everybody. I actually hate it. I hate getting up every morning and can only appreciate that I am one day closer to the end.
I asked her why she doesn't just go home then, and she said she was very goal oriented and wouldn't quit, even though she hated it, was in pain, tired of sleeping outside, rain, etc.

I would imagine the SOBO's heard similar comments early in their hike. The honeymoon was over for a lot of NOBO's by the time they get to Maine.

The point being - if you asked that young lady now if she regretted her thru-hike I doubt that she would say that she did.The challenge is what makes it so much fun. There were times I did not enjoy my hike but I am glad I finished. Similarly, I did not find all my engineering courses to be enjoyable but I am glad I got the degree.

As I said before if 50% or more of people who started actually finished I doubt there would be so much discussion on WB focused on thru-hiking.