All or Nothing

[Tuckahoe]

I have noticed often that there are those that seem to get a bug about doing a thru-hike, and its as though they have to do it right now. As an observer its an all or nothing proposition. For the idividual it really isnt the right time to attempt such a hike, but they dont seem willing to wait until it is the right time, or (gasp!) are not willing to consider long section hikes.

I guess its difficult for me to understand the all or nothing approach, especially when there are other options.

[hikerboy57]

ironically, many who complete thru hikes never go backpacking again.its a goal on the tick list, its been done, no need to do any more.i think many who pose the question here know the answer before they post.but for some, its a burning desire that will not go away until the itch has been scratched.for some, the itch is scratched by the time they hit neels gap and they go home.for others, it becomes a lifestyle,work to hike.ive found balance between my career, my home life, and backpacking. i consider myself lucky.

[fredmugs]

Having turned 50 this year and not being able to retire until 56 I'm getting the itch to do a thru. More so now that I've completed all the sections.

[aficion]

It is difficult to understand how anyone who doesn't just love hiking/backpacking would even consider thru hiking. The power of the imagination is staggering. Having done enough multiple day sections to appreciate the hardships and challenges, as well as the incredible beauty and joy of being out amongst such incredible beauty, I hope to thru hike. The day will come when I reasonably can, with my head, finances, and relationships in the right place. In the meantime I'll enjoy more sections, learn a lot here, lose some weight, and continue to marvel at those who go at the drop of a hat. The trail will be there.

[Another Kevin]

I'll probably never thru-hike in this lifetime. I've always had other responsibilities, and never had half a year to spend on what's essentially an extended vacation. But the trails are still there for weekends and short sections, and they keep calling me back.

So I'm totally clueless about what motivates non-hikers suddenly to thru-hike, as I am about most things of thru-hiker culture. That's a part of the 'clueless weekender' label that I assign to myself. (Another part is that I sound as if I know much more than I do. I'm basically a blowhard. Those looking for sound advice do best to ignore me.)

[Lone Wolf]

fantasy and reality of different animals

[Cookerhiker]

I started backpacking in the 1970s, mostly on the AT, never more than long weekends, e.g. 3-4 days, 35-50 miles. At some point in the 1980s, I developed the ambition to hike the whole trail, but it was long-term. Even after I had retired in 2003 having hiked about 700 AT miles, a thruhike didn't enter my mind at all. In fact, I couldn't even imagine a long section hike of over 100 miles.

When an old college friend told me his was thruhiking in '04, I joined him for some portions and finally did a 100 mile hike, followed by a 180 mile hike. So I became comfortable with a long section hike where resupplying and transportation had to be planned. Finished the AT in '05 when I hiked a series of section hikes totaling 800 miles. At no time did I ever consider a thruhike.

In the last 2-3 years, I've mused about a thruhike, thinking it might be a nice way to celebrate my 65th birthday. But then, there's so much else out there - so many trails, so little time.

I greatly admire those who thruhike. And I'm glad that I section hiked. HYOH although sometimes, I'll give advice to those whose thruhike falls short when they decide to try again - from the beginning. "Why don't you just resume from where you left off?" "No, it's gotta be a thruhike." OK - HYOH.

[Tuckahoe]

I hope no one takes this to be a thru-vs-sectioner thread because that is not my intent.

Rather there are times when someone finds their way onto WB with an interest in a thru, but it just does not fit into their life, they want to drop everything, run away, skip out etc. I just have a hard time grasping the seeming inability to hit the trail in the time available and accept that a thru should come later. And yet in turn, as HB pointed out and others mention, these are the folks that fail before they get out of GA, or they never hike again after their thru.

Then again I am probably just incoherently rambling.

[lush242000]

I have never really wanted to spend the 4 or 5 months away from my wife and children. To me I would be giving up too much of the little time we have on this planet. Now with that being said. I would make an attempt at one if one or all of my children wanted to do it with me.

Basically a thru hike is just a bunch of section hikes with hotel/hostel breaks in between. I would say it is probably rare that people actually hike the entire trail and sleep every single night in the woods. I'm sure some do though. I wouldn't do it that way. I would want a good shower with hot water at least every 7 to 10 days.


Sent from somewhere.

[Spirit Walker]

I have met a lot of people who intended to do something important to them "someday". They waited until the time was right. It never was. Life can and often does get in the way of realizing dreams. People who are really aware of life's uncertainties, and who really care about whether or not they achieve their goals, are probably more willing to do whatever it takes to do so, even if it seems crazy to outsiders.

For younger hikers, careers, marriage, children can mean having to wait 20 years or more before there is time and money for a long hike. It's hard to pay a mortgage when you're not working. Hard to give up the security of a good job for the uncertain future of a LD hiker. For older hikers, age, illness, family pressures, finances may mean that when the time is available, the ability to do the hike no longer is. Bad knees, hips, arthritis in the joints or chronic disease make it very difficult, if not impossible, to hike all day every day. A lot of people who hike after retirement find themselves wishing that they had done so years earlier, when the body was more resilient.

When my husband and I were wondering whether we should quit our jobs to do another long hike after we hiked the AT, we got word that his younger brother had had his 2nd or 3rd heart attack and was undergoing bypass surgery. We quit without thinking twice. I met a woman who had dreamed of travelling the world with her husband when he retired. He died before they could go, and she could barely handle the walking that was necessary to truly enjoy the places she visited alone. She said she really wished they had gone years earlier, but the time and money never seemed right.

If you just enjoy hiking, but don't really care about doing a thruhike, then being a section hiker or weekend hiker is enough. Hiking is just another vacation activity, like touring Disneyland, sunning yourself on the beach, or watching a NASCAR race. A thruhike is different. For some of us, the total immersion experience that you get with a thruhike is the goal, more that just climbing Katahdin or hiking bits and pieces here and there. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It's hard to explain, but when your entire existence is focused on your present moment experience, it really can be life altering. Weekend hikers rarely get that kind of total immersion. Many don't want it.

[RED-DOG]

For most folks doing a Thru-Hike it's just to get the bragging rights,Most folks don't even like hiking it's a Symbol, I am one of the work to hike types, work a couple of years do a thru-hike, and repeat, i have completed Three AT thru-hikes and right know i am planning my 2015 P.C.T thru.

[aficion]

I have met a lot of people who intended to do something important to them "someday". They waited until the time was right. It never was. Life can and often does get in the way of realizing dreams. People who are really aware of life's uncertainties, and who really care about whether or not they achieve their goals, are probably more willing to do whatever it takes to do so, even if it seems crazy to outsiders.

For younger hikers, careers, marriage, children can mean having to wait 20 years or more before there is time and money for a long hike. It's hard to pay a mortgage when you're not working. Hard to give up the security of a good job for the uncertain future of a LD hiker. For older hikers, age, illness, family pressures, finances may mean that when the time is available, the ability to do the hike no longer is. Bad knees, hips, arthritis in the joints or chronic disease make it very difficult, if not impossible, to hike all day every day. A lot of people who hike after retirement find themselves wishing that they had done so years earlier, when the body was more resilient.

When my husband and I were wondering whether we should quit our jobs to do another long hike after we hiked the AT, we got word that his younger brother had had his 2nd or 3rd heart attack and was undergoing bypass surgery. We quit without thinking twice. I met a woman who had dreamed of travelling the world with her husband when he retired. He died before they could go, and she could barely handle the walking that was necessary to truly enjoy the places she visited alone. She said she really wished they had gone years earlier, but the time and money never seemed right.

If you just enjoy hiking, but don't really care about doing a thruhike, then being a section hiker or weekend hiker is enough. Hiking is just another vacation activity, like touring Disneyland, sunning yourself on the beach, or watching a NASCAR race. A thruhike is different. For some of us, the total immersion experience that you get with a thruhike is the goal, more that just climbing Katahdin or hiking bits and pieces here and there. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It's hard to explain, but when your entire existence is focused on your present moment experience, it really can be life altering. Weekend hikers rarely get that kind of total immersion. Many don't want it.

Well put.

[jefals]

I think a lot of people have thoughts that they just want to achieve something remarkable, and get that feeling of accomplishment. And it probably doesn't even matter what it is, just as long as it is a real challenge, a chance to truly test themselves. It might be the AT, it might be Everest. It might even be a chance at beating Apollo Creed.

[DandT40]

I have never really wanted to spend the 4 or 5 months away from my wife and children. To me I would be giving up too much of the little time we have on this planet. Now with that being said. I would make an attempt at one if one or all of my children wanted to do it with me.

Hit the nail on the head here. I would love to through hike if my kids wanted to come with or were just grown up and setup in their own lives and my wife wanted to come with. But I wouldn't want to give up that much time away from either of those things. At least not at this point in my life.

[Cookerhiker]

...Rather there are times when someone finds their way onto WB with an interest in a thru, but it just does not fit into their life, they want to drop everything, run away, skip out etc.... they never hike again after their thru.

This puzzles me too, but it shows that there's a variety of motivations for people to thruhike. I can't fathom how someone who hikes 5-6 months in the woods at one time never hikes again. Perhaps Jefals has the best answer. My questions is: if you didn't like the experience, if it "wasn't what you expected ala Bill Bryson, then why complete the hike? If you complete the hike, didn't you enjoy it? Don't you want to revisit the woods at some point, if not the AT then other trails so that you can savor the outdoors?

But again, I'm imposing my own values and preferences.

[QHShowoman]

I used to be one of those people. And then I actually went backpacking.

I love the idea of being able to "give it all up" and spend six months on the trail, but the reality is that after 3-4 days, I'm tired, and sore, and cranky, and ready for a hot shower and a comfy bed.

I still entertain thoughts of hiking the entire AT, but I know it will most likely be in sections.

[jefals]

If I could expand on my post a little, when I first became aware of the AT, 30 something years ago, that's what it would have been to me...A great sense of accomplishment at the end, something I could always look back on and say "I did that!". Of course, I was pre-occupied, then, in a boring job, raising a family with a loving wife, providing a home that I came to at the end of the day, with happy, noisy kids....
Well, the kids are grown, and the wife has passed on. And the career is now over after 40+ years, and the AT is coming back up to the front burner. But, it's no longer the same dream as it was in my earlier days. Now, I look at it and know that if I did a thru-hike -- even the fastest one ever -- , it would pale in comparison to what I've already done. ( That probably sounds corny, but I truly believe it!).
So now, I still think of the AT as a great adventure, but it's just going to be a real HMOH experience, and I still might get from Springer to Katahdin, but it will most likely not be in one year....OR, maybe it will! Just depends, but whether I make it in one year or not, or all the way at all -- it just isn't that important anymore.

[Traffic Jam]

If I could expand on my post a little, when I first became aware of the AT, 30 something years ago, that's what it would have been to me...A great sense of accomplishment at the end, something I could always look back on and say "I did that!". Of course, I was pre-occupied, then, in a boring job, raising a family with a loving wife, providing a home that I came to at the end of the day, with happy, noisy kids....
Well, the kids are grown, and the wife has passed on. And the career is now over after 40+ years, and the AT is coming back up to the front burner. But, it's no longer the same dream as it was in my earlier days. Now, I look at it and know that if I did a thru-hike -- even the fastest one ever -- , it would pale in comparison to what I've already done. ( That probably sounds corny, but I truly believe it!).
So now, I still think of the AT as a great adventure, but it's just going to be a real HMOH experience, and I still might get from Springer to Katahdin, but it will most likely not be in one year....OR, maybe it will! Just depends, but whether I make it in one year or not, or all the way at all -- it just isn't that important anymore.

Made me cry. You are an amazing person.

[Blissful]

For some reason thru hiking is the "in" thing. More than once I talked to some hikers who thought I was thru hiking last March down in GA and said to me - Oh, Im just a section hiker. Just? I told them flat out - a thru hiker is no one special. They are a hiker, same as anyone else.

[ChinMusic]

I think a lot of people have thoughts that they just want to achieve something remarkable, and get that feeling of accomplishment. And it probably doesn't even matter what it is, just as long as it is a real challenge, a chance to truly test themselves. It might be the AT, it might be Everest. It might even be a chance at beating Apollo Creed.

I wanted/needed/craved that feeling I had when I got to The Sign. The journey was great but the destination was greater. YMMV

And I can't take a punch............