Mind equipment - Appalachian Trail

imported
#1

The right equipment and knowing how to use it are critical for a successful hike, but if it was as merely as simple as that, lots more hikers would just get the right gear and finish their thru hikes.
From reading journals, it seems that after a while, a thru hike is not so much about the gear, but becomes more a mental challenge.
What is the most important MENTAL lesson you learned on your thru or long distance hike, if there was any one thing? What kind of mind – or mental, or psychological – equipment did you NOT have at the beginning of your hike but you ended up realizing you were packing at the end?

Tyger

#2

Great question.

I didn’t have the mental struggle on the Trail I heard many hikers having and read about in books. It is a very real thing, but I think some authors and writers dramatize a bit for shock and awe. I guess I just had a lot of fun out there and the lifestyle was exactly what I wanted. It did rain A LOT and that ocassionally made things tough. I probably had 3-5 “BAD” days on the Trail where I wanted to be elsewhere. That is out of 150. Not bad odds.

Keys for me were:

-Friends. Being surrounded by good people was the biggest advantage. I wasn’t into making miles right off the bat, so I spent a lot of time getting to know those people around me and chatting in camp. By the time I got to Hiawassee, 66 miles in, I already had a bunch of good friends to split a room with. Some people will look down on being too social on the trail, but I think it’s what makes the trail so special. Friends are great for making you forget about the hill you are laboring up, for taking your mind off the incessant rain and being able to laugh with other folks about the same foot fungus and blisters.

Breaking up the Trail. I set little goals. I had a bigger goal of the next town (50-80 miles up trail). My smaller goals were the next shelter or campsite. I liked to pick a destination for the day and try to get there. I always made it. Thinking about Katahdin while your in NC is really depressing and pointless. Besides, the Trail is about the Trail, not about the last mountain. It’s the experiences between GA and ME that make a thru-hike full of memories.

Lastly, making a routine. Some hikers might disagree with this philosophy, but I made it my job and as much fun as I had-I made hiking a priority. I didn’t take a lot of zero days and was always shooting to put in a good distance. For the first couple weeks I wasn’t too concerned about miles, nor should you be. Once you’re in shape the miles will come easily. But I wasn’t the type to be swayed into a zero day because it was raining or I didn’t feel up to it or someone wanted to hang out in town. For the most part I was out hiking each and every day no matter what. After awhile I was used to hiking in the rain and it just seemed like what I did. Finding hikers that share your philosophy can help too. I had friends who were very driven, and althought they weren’t opposed to having a good time, they were all out there to hike, not party in town. Everyones got their own way of hiking the trail and that’s the beauty of the AT. But I found that continuing to hike helped mentally. I kept suprising myself by ending up in new places, moving up the trail hardly conscious of what I was doing. Its exciting to call home and tell your family you’re in a new state or such and such a place. There are so many milestones you can make on the AT (smokies, damascus, 1/3 of way, 1/2 way, new england, state line etc) there is always something to keep you motivated.

Hopefully you’ll be having a ball and won’t think about the bad times. Just know that when things seem grim, they usually get better on the trail, real quickly. The good moments way outnumber the bad and uncomfortable ones. You’ll find support from fellow hikers, home and towns people. Its a great adventure, I hope you love it.

A-Train

#3

I think a big key is to have the determination from the very beginning that you’re going to finish the hike no matter what. Of course that’s easier said than done.

I didn’t keep the goals that A-Train did, but he’s definitely right in that you should enjoy each day as much as you can, then it’s easier to get through some of the bad days. I enjoyed hiking the most when I became a lazy hiker–getting up whenever I wanted, listening to more animals and taking many many breaks, even when I wasn’t tired. What adds up is working so hard to push yourself past the point of enjoyment when you really don’t need to. The miles will come no matter what your approach is.

0101

#4

At first, I too kept looking at the “Big Picture”. But it soon became apparent that the next state should be my goal. When I hit Virginia, (with a quarter of the trail in it) the goal became the next town. Many times the goal was the next tree or rock. Surely I could make it that far. My point is… you will use all sorts of “tricks” to help make your way north. I was fortunate enough to find myself 10 miles from the nearest road on the one day I wanted to quit. But when I reached that road, two kids in a pickup threw a pair of beers at me as they drove by. It was a sign from the trail gods. When I drank the first my goal became the second. Live for the moment. The trail will give you lots of them.

CitySlicker73

#5

mind games… people tend to focus on the grand scale of a thru hike rather than the small details… they focus too much on the numbers rather than the enjoyment… instead of enjoying a beautiful mountain top I heard “I have to do 20 miles today” or “I’m going over 6,000 feet three times today…” screw the numbers and start enjoying living now and being here now. It’s the people on the trail… it’s about not worrying about time, days… living in the now. Over the three years I was lucky enough to be able to go for a long walk I’ve seen so many people fuss over profile maps… sh@t if you are going the distance than you will go over whatever is happening that day so don’t worry about. Just this week I went a did a section in the Smokys and ran into a southbounder who said he couldn’t wait to finish the trail. That he never really enjoyed it. Than why hike? I say, for get the white blazes and enjoy yourself. Time flies by and before you know it you’ll be north somewhere looking at Katahdin and wishing it wasn’t over. I never ever really wanted to get off the trail…

I disagree, respectfully, with City slicker about saying when you hit VIrginia it’s 25% done. I love every second in the woods and with hikers. Every single part of the trail has beautiful and wonderful aspects. If you are wanting it to end then go home. Try not to look at it as pain, but joy freedom and green happiness… I consider myself highly successful and fortunate to have been able to hike 5,000 miles in four years… it has forever made me a better person…

aswah

aswah

#6

A-Train has it right on.

When I started in Georgia I was overwhelmed to the point of tears trying to fathom walking all the way to Maine. Taking it one week at a time will make the time FLY, trust me.

And pain and discomfort are all mental things. Like I tell everyone that told me, “I wish I could do that” (hike the AT). You can. Mind over matter. No one said it had to be fun all the time. And just because it isn’t, a lot of the time, doesn’t mean that you should quit. It’ll mean more to you if you see it through. Shin splints, blisters, and pinched nerves included.

Pain is temporary, glory is forever.

Officer Taco

#7

The Head Game…

For me the decision to complete the trail in one shot was made long before I ever set foot on the trail. You have to plan and you have to be prepared. Thats all part of the “Head Game.” If you want it, you have to commit to it.

Most of the people I saw quit, or just start yellow-blazing hundreds of miles “because it was too hard,” or used the HYOH excuse everytime they skipped large sections, were not of the mindset and did not have the committment of “I want to thru-hike.”

I had good days and bad days out on the trail. It is inevitable. But learning how to work through the hardtimes, and not backing down is all part of the experience and challenge of the trail. Everyone develops their own methods for doing that.

Standing on Katahdin meant so much knowing I had overcome many obstacles and hiked through crummy conditions.

I always told myself - quitting is for wimps and cheating is for cowards…So do it once and do it right. It pays to be a winner.

Rowboat

#8

Wow…what a great thread!..interesting insight into what “makes a hiker tick.” I guess what "got me “psyched” was following hikers here on trail journals the year prior to my thru-hike. I fell in love with the AT right here. My biggest concern starting out was whether I was prepared physically…as I knew I had the desire and I was mentally prepared for the “bad days.”

Unlike A-Train, who BTW I have immense respect for, I used bad weather as an excuse for taking a zero day (or two) in town. The zeros would kind of recharge me mentally. I can actually remember looking forward to getting back on the Trail after taking a rest and eating well. It’s what “worked for me.”

Although I made some great friends and loved the social aspects, I also enjoyed hiking alone most of the time…and I don’t know why.

I know some of you get sick of hearing HYOH, but it is mostly about this mental thing. It’s your mind that gets depressed, burnt out, etc…which is unique to yourself. Knowing yourself and doing what YOU need to do (within the law) to enjoy the experience is what it’s all about.

I know several hikers who, after months and over a thoussnd miles had to leave the Trail with physical injuries. However, they were so mentally focused on doing a thru-hike, they started over at the beginning.

Have a great hike and I hope you enjoy it half as much as I did.

Skeemer

#9 
 For every one person who uses some 'trick' motivational device (they're not really tricks), there are many other people who are just walking without any sort of active motivating process.  Not that “peer pressure,” “baby steps,” “shower baiting.” or “fast food promises” are bad (they’re good), I use them frequently, it's just that I feel they are NOT what determines whether the hike goes 200 miles or 2,000.  The deciding factor is some weird obsession gene that scientists have yet to map out.

 Ask yourself, "TODAY, can I complete the various actions of backpacking (tenting, walking, cooking, carrying a pack, etc.)?"  Most people will say, "yes."  Most of them would be right.
 Then ask yourself, "FOR THE NEXT FIVE MONTHS, can I complete the various actions of backpacking?"  Some people would still say, "yes."  Most of them would be wrong.

 The question is not, "Will you enjoy a thruhike?"  But more accurately, "Will you thruhike?"  Sane people would say, "no".  Thruhikers say, "yes" (and for that we should probably be hospitalized). It is a nice idea to think about us hikers as happiness junkies with the ability to alter our perceptions in order to have a pleasurable hike, but that is not the case.  More often, I see people so determined and so focused that if their legs went limp with 400 miles to go, they'd crawl.  People who walk millions of steps because walking in the woods is what they're doing.  They don't know how to quit a thruhike, or won’t accept the aftermath.

 And yes, I know that even in these decisions there is pleasure, but it is not a necessity.  I am talking about inner-strength, not inner-contentment, drive not delight, and goals not gladness.  If every mile was harder than the last (torture, agony, 'Gigli'-watching pain), thruhikers would still finish, where as non-thruhikers would quit.  But I didn't finish the AT because I was happy.  In its simplest form, I finished because I said to myself that I would.

SpaceMonkey

#10

Great post, A-Train! Esp. about the “little goals,” so very true. I never hought much about Maine at all, and then one day I crossed over the state line. It ws an amazement to me, even though that had been my intention all along. It was like, “Damn! I’ve walked to MAINE!”

Like Skeemer, I ENJOYED my zero days. My poor body and brave feet needed every minute of them.

I probably struggled much more physically than mentally, but the mental is a powerful factor. I wanted to see and hike the whole AT, and the enormous preparation and life rearrangement it took at my (middle) age to do such a thing kind of set my mind directly to the task.

I wrestled mentally most with the concept of time. It always passed faster than I wanted.

Many was the time I wanted to linger, but I felt the push of time at my back, much as I wanted to be free of that mental hamster wheel. I always made time to wander out to the overlook or the waterfall, but often I wanted to linger over morning coffee and packed up instead because I was not a particularly swift hiker and there was a drop box at the Friday post office, or a wicked thunderstorm brewing when I was on a ridge, or a town friend waiting ahead. Or I just wanted to stay abreast of congenial company.

Anyway, it all worked out. I just never was ready to go home. That probably carried me further than any one thing.

Jan LiteShoe

#11

Pretty much what Aswah said rings true for me. It took me a while to “screw the numbers and start enjoying living now”. Coming from a corporate environment I never suspected how hard it would be to kick my habit of high-performance and put my experience first. If the experience sucks at any point on the trail, ya gotta stop and ask yourself, “what am I missing in this moment? What am I making more important than what I’m experiencing now?” Usually the problem was I wasn’t here and now, but in some imagined future worrying if I’ll make camp before dark, or get a ride at the road crossing, or if I don’t hurry up I’ll never see so-and-so again. I learned to let all that go and just walk.

It was much like the mind had to be retrained to work in a new rhythm – a very not-knowing state that had a very uncanny synchronicity with the environment is the best way I can describe it.

Dharma

#12

As a relatively new poster to this forum I should have known that my choice of words could imply different things to different people. I used the word “tricks” to mean those things “I” did to get my lazy butt out of the lean-to after hiking through seven straight days of rain or any of the innumerable annoyances that impinged upon my enjoyment of the trail. Can I say I enjoyed “Every single moment”? No. But, I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.
The people I met, the beauty I saw overwhelmed by far the moments of frustration.

Most people “plan” their days. Measurable goals are inherent in our being. Pride in successfully accomplishing even the “little goals” is a way of rewarding ourselves. Some people bubble over, to the annoyance of others, with their “list” of accomplishments. Isn’t that what we are doing here? Don’t worry about it. Soak up every day you can. Keep them in your memories. I promise you, you’ll take them out again someday and tell the grandkids about it.

Aswah, I was referring to the fact that 25% of the “Trail” is in Virginia. Not that I was 25% done. One of my goals was to do the trail “State by State” (some of us LIKE to measure our progress) and I felt like I was in Virginia forever. I was known for getting up late, spending hours on a summit and taking naps in the sun. That’s why my hike took almost six months. Again, to each his own.

CitySlicker73

#13

One big thing I took away from my hikes is that there are things that you can’t control and you had to figure out how to deal with that, or else let whatever issue it was drive you off the trail.

If it rained for 14 days straight (which it did!) you couldn’t do anything about it except: hike, go into town, hide in a shelter, grumble, go home, etc. you only got to control how you reacted to the endless rain.

If the trail gods decided to put the trail all over the same looking PUDs (like before kincorra) and you were absolutely certain that you were going in circles you couldn’t do anything about it except: hike, hitchhike ahead at the next road, curse, go home, etc.

If you were sleeping in a shelter and somebody started snoring like nobody’s business, there wasn’t too much you could do about that except: nighthike, get up and set up your shelter, be socially unacceptable and wake them up, complain, go home, etc.

I guess my point is, there are stupid and irritating things in regular society that you can’t control either, but you can control how you react to them. Like annoying people, driving like maniacs: let them pass you and get in someone else’s way (smile and wave as they flip you the finger! i bet that irritates them even more.)

zero

#14

The greatest lesson I learned is that the body can push itself much further than the mind allows----Do not allow your mind to tell you otherwise! If you can hike from Georgia to Maine, what else in life can’t you do??? :slight_smile: Cheers.

Hawkeye AT 04

hawkeye 04

#15

I also came to the realization that when we are out on the trail, we are allowed to be the big kids that we really are. I mean, come on, folks, farting is funny!

I noticed that in the non-hiking world, when i’m expected to be the good little coporate cog, i just don’t laugh as much as when I’m hiker trash.

zero

#16

An important lesson I learned is that the mind and body are connected. In particular, if I mistreat my body, then-- all on its own!-- my mind thinks BAD THOUGHTS: “this sucks”, “let’s go home”, “home about stopping now”? You can really affect your THINKING by the way to treat your BODY.

  1. Morale is what makes or breaks a hiker. Monitor it and pamper it.

  2. Eat enough. Some people get cranky when they’re hungry, but undereating affects all our moods to some degree. So you’ve got to invent new ways to stuff in more food.

  3. Moderate the mileage. When I pushed mileage too hard for a few days, my morale plummeted. I’d back off a little and my morale would return. (In retrospect, I wonder whether I was limited by food intake?)

Eric

#17

I would say

  • Strike a balance between getting your miles done and enjoying yourself. Both are important. If you put in long stretches of high mileage days, you may find yourself an unhappy camper (Like Eric, this was true for me). But if you zero in town too often, you will have lots of fun but may lose momentum.
  • Make lots of friends. The best part of the trail is the people. They will inspire you, cheer you up, and keep you laughing.
  • Stay positive. Try as much as possible to look on the bright side, not to sweat the small stuff, to accept things as they are. Surround yourself with positive people.
  • Go easy on yourself early on. I was in average shape before starting the trail (10 lbs overweight, not particularly athletic). It took me 6-8 weeks to get into good hiker shape. That made for some long, tough days. We took it easy, tried to build our milage slowly, and that kept us from either getting an injury or burning out, two common pitfalls.
  • As many others have said, set small goals. We made a point of celebrating little victories: every 100 miles, each state crossing, x% of the trail complete.

camera1

#18

Before I left to hike I never said I was going to hike to Main, I always said I was going to hike the Appalachian trail. If people asked I said I would hike as long as it was fun. In the beginning I hiked for me. In GA and NC I was rarely around the same hikers for more than a few days. I was a slow hiker, but I was hiking for me. If I wanted to take a zero day I did.

When my body adjusted I did more miles. Like many others I would pick a town 60 or 70 miles up teh trail and plan for that. I never forced myself to hike more than I wanted one day, but I also didn’t limit myself if I had planned a fifteen but felt like a twenty.

I did leave the trail in Fahnstock, NY, the hike had stopped being fun (read three months pregnant). But since I didn’t push myself I still look forward to hiking every chance I get, I’m chipping away at the miles I have left.

I wonder if the above mentioned southbounder will ever hike again. I think he’s lost his hike for the miles.

Grassy Ridge

#19

I do not know. In 2000 I did the small goal thing. BUT in 2001 and 2004 I scraped that idea for living now and today. You really need to focus solely on enjoying yourself now and today. To find beauty in the moment, in a sunrise or sunset, at looking at a beautiful mountain, or a swim or the simple joy of drinking that ice cold pure water on top of Glastenbury Mountain or Stratton, seeing that deer hop thru the woods first thing in the morning… or Lorax dance like a deer in a big field full of fireflies… or that time your eyes teared up and you were choked by emotion for no apparent reason… If aren’t enjoying hiking why are you hiking? To conquer a mountain or a trail? You cannot conquer these things… they simply are. You have to find enjoyment in your surroundings and peace within yourself. The trail is 2,1XX miles. What possible difference does it make whether it falls in 15 states, 500 states or one big state? You still have to walk from Springer to Special K. It is about the transformations in yourself that are so subtle you don’t notice it till you go home and remove yourself from trail bliss. To me the problem most people have on the trail is that they are trying to equate a very spiritual and natural experience filled with emotions into numbers and a belief system built on the f@#ked up babylonian world we normally live in. People tend to worry about these numbers as if they really mean something. Somewhere along the way they forget that this is suppose to be a joyous testing experience. People worry so much about making miles as if Katahdin is going to disappear if they don’t make it there by some prescribed time frame. The beauty of the trail, other than all the beautiful people we meet (including everyone here) is the fact that we learn to live ourlives more simply… That we find kinship that rivals life long friendships in the exterior world (where we all are sitting right now…). I met so many people I would never have ever talked to in the numbered world… But on the trail no one really cares about your skin color, sexual preference or age… at least not the folks I hiked with. It is sort of a gilligan’s island utopia. Man I wish we could bring this feeling of brotherhood/sisterhood to the numbered world we live in. I feel so much closer to people like Rambunny, Freighttrain, Loon, Bluejay, Lizard, Gorilla Pete, Silver, Fix It, Pigpen, Cliffdancer, Backdraft, Fausa, Pointman, DR, Soothsayer, and all the other folks (sorry if I left someone’s name out… I love all of you) I met than some of my friends from school and growing up. And that is because we went thru an experience together. Almost everyone I stay in touch with from thru-hiking is hopelessly addicted to trail walking and finding that special moment again. Hell we all show up on these boards because we want to continue the kinship with those who feel likewise. Everyone here is a potential best friend for life that I may or may not have yet met. Almost everyone I know is trying to figure out how to live their exterior life in the same simplified manner. My favorite author once said “if you want to build a ship don’t get wood, give orders and tell people to build the boat, instead teach them to yearn for the vast sea.” Badly paraphrased but the point made… Daytripper got me to realize that the mileage didn’t matter. It’s about the inner voyage. I say stop and smell the flowers, when you hit that cherry spot STOP, throw up you tarp, tent, bivy or whatever and enjoy the woods. I saw the trail from such a beautiful way this year. I cannot control the weather so how can I be bothered by it? That is irrational. It’s about perspective… The miles will come and go… day wil become night and soon come, Springer will turn into Katahdin…

Peace and Positive Vibrations…

ASWAH ( now descending from his soapbox)

aswah

#20

“About midnight the sky cleared and stars shone as clear as gems on jet black velvet. A cold wind swept the mountain, and I shivered in spite of fire. Such a night is guaranteed to install profound respect for the power of nature and the vastness of the universe.”

Earl V. Schaffer

"There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not Man the less, but Nature more,
From these our interviews, in which I steal
From all I may be, or have been before,
To mingle with the Universe, and feel,
What I can never express, yet cannot all conceal.

“I heard them talking to one another in murmurs and whispers. They talked about illness, money, shabby domestic cares. Their talk painted the walls of a dismal prison in which men had locked themselves up. And suddenly I had a vision of the face of destiny.”

Antoine de Saint Exupery

“These city walls, are like a prison. We got keep on living with our backs against the wall. We are creatures of love; victims of hate…Start living on a higher vibration. Perfection of divinity is everyone’s duty. Don’t waste your time, living for the vanities. We are creatures of faith; victims of destiny…which we created. Now we are living on a higher vibration.”

  • Ziggy Marley

“Gimme faith oh Jah
I pray to face another day.
Lord give me strength to face another day…
to journey along life’s road
carry my heavy load.
Give me strength oh Jah
to carry on.
Life has become a burden.
Living in this evil system.
Jah please strengthen me.
I can not make it alone.
I need you as my own.
Oh Jah I call upon thee.”

  • Luciano

“I remember the games of my childhood-the dark and golden park we peopled with gods; the limitless Kingdom
we made of this square mile never thoroughly explored, never thoroughly charted. We created a secret civilization where footfalls had meaning and things a savor known in no other world.
And when we grow to be men and live under other laws, what remains of that park filled with the shadows of childhood, magical, freezing, burning? What do we learn when we return to it and stroll with a sort of dispair…marvelling that within a space so small we should have founded a Kingdom that had seemed to us infinite-what do we learn except that in this infinity we shall never again set foot, and that it is into the game and not the park that we have lost the power to enter?”

aswah