Pre-hike doubts

imported
#21

Those blues aren’t just pre-hike. The feelings/issues/concerns/etc. can follow you along the trail. I think a very natural thing to have happen. It may sound simplistic, but you just have to have your head “properly wrapped” as you go forward each day. That is not a negative comment by any stretch of the imagination. Injuries can end a hike; so can a lack of funds. But the “mind game” can be even harder because then you have a choice to make.

Please don’t take this the wrong way or let it dissuade anyone, but the “blues” that come AFTER finishing a hike can (I believe) be much worse. Then you get the opportunity to deal with the return to “civilization” and the definitive end to a “once in a lifetime” experience.

JAWS

#22

It always makes me smile when someone back home says, “Well that was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Good for you.” I’m not smiling because of the congratulatory undertone; I’m smiling because they really and truly believe it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. As if I couldn’t just go do it again if i wanted to. Or, perhaps, as if I won’t. But we’ll see about that.
The excitement/worries didn’t come right when I set the date for my thru-hike. I think it came after I told my parents about it. Of course they weren’t thrilled, but once that conversation was over, a great burden was lifted and I became VERY excited. I didn’t want to tell everyone at first cause, god forbid something happens and I don’t make it all the way. But I couldn’t hold it in, and by the time I was hiking, EVERYONE knew.
The doubt came about 4 months prior to my hike. I had started dating a girl and enjoyed my time with her, and suddenly wasn’t as excited. Then when my hiking partner backed out, I remember sitting in the car with him and my girlfriend-at-the-time not surprised by this announcement. I had seen it coming and understood. They asked me if I was still going to go. I sighed heavily, more unsure about whether this was the right choice or not than ever before, and said, “I have to.”
I didn’t feel like I had to because I had told so many people though. I just felt like it was an important step in my life…or an important 5 million steps…though I don’t have any clue why.
I think it’s safe to say I had constant butterflies right up until I started the Approach Trail with Burn on Feb. 29 of this year. Then it was on and off, mixed with periods of disbelief. Eventually, the butterflies subside and the woods simply become your home. When you get home, you’ll be amused at how shocked people are when they find out you actually slept in the middle of the woods completely alone. But then you’ll smile, remembering how only 7 months ago, you wouldn’t been shocked at that too.
I can’t say “don’t worry” because I know that you’re going to no matter what. Just don’t let worry get the best of you. Fear is just our minds way of saying, “Woah, this might be dangerous.” It warns us when either (A) we’ve experienced a similar situation and it ended badly or (B) we haven’t experienced the situation before and don’t know WHAT to expect. The latter is just a matter of expanding our comfort zone.
I once heard that “worry” and “excitement” are part of the same nervous energy that we get when exposed to something unfamiliar. Perhaps concentrating on the excitment will help you.
Congratulations to the aspiring thru-hikers of 2005. And remember, you dont have to hike over 2,000 miles to get your experience. Be okay with whatever decision you make, even if it doesn’t get you from Georgia to Maine.

Leki-Less

#23

Zo, the student has become the teacher…I’m very impressed. You talk like you walked from Geargia to Maine or something.:smiley: Folks, this guy is an A-#1 He-row. When Leki talks, people listen. I’d bust a move with him any time.

All I was gonna says was to ignore then ones who will never figure it out. Like the girl in one breath who said, “You’re walking from Georgia to Maine in the woods I could never do that eew I drive around the mall for an hour just to find a place to park close”.

Bushwhack

#24

Just go. It wil be fine. Hell you might even learn something about yourself

Virginian

#25

Even after 4 long hikes, I still have worries, except that this time they are based on the known, rather than the unknown. I am not worried about whether or not I will like long distance hiking – I know I do. I do worry about health and injury issues, because I know that they are possible, especially as we get older. Although there is a form of trail amnesia that happens, I still remember how my feet feel after a 20 mile day and how heavy the pack feels after I pick up a seven day load of food. I remember how discouraging it can be to have rain day after day, or how little I like making breakfast when it’s 20 degrees outside. I remember how nasty my t-shirt smells after a few hot humid days and how hard it can be to get clean in a low water environment. I worry about how we are going to deal with the things back home - the house, family issues, bills, etc. But I know that once on the trail, most of that really won’t matter. I know that for me the rewards totally outweigh the costs, that I can handle the weather and pain and occasional hardship. The rain won’t last forever. There will be a wonderful view sometime today. There will be an encounter with wildlife that will make me smile. I know how much I enjoy the long climbs with their moment of joy when I finally reach the top and get the view. I remember the moments of sublime peace as I sit quietly and watch the sunlight sparkling on a lake. I remember the happiness I feel when I am totally at home in my environment. I contrast the simplicity and ease of life on the trail with the complexity and frustrations of life in the city. So though I know that there is more to thruhiking than sunshine and butterflies, and though I have worries about all that needs to be dealt with before and after the trail, I have an even greater sense of excitement and anticipation.

A few years ago I wrote down a list of what I feared and what I hoped for in my next hike. It was based on a lot of research I had done about the trail (CDT) and based on my previous hiking experience. A year or two later I reread the list and found that almost everything I had written had come to pass - both the good and the bad. Yes, it was hard. But I was so glad I had done that trail.

Spirit Walker

#26

the fear tends to be far less than the reality that realy happpens.

my 03 fears for my 04 hike centered more in the issue of if it would happen…there can always be some little thing you don’t think of that could come up that would throw the possibility of the hike even happening.

i’ll say don’t try to make a list of those things you forgot to think up that could be hike spoilers. better yet, realize, leki and i last year formed an internet support group to pass away the prehike jitters. the 02 class asked questions about their fears before we did, so you as an 05 hiker are not alone, we have all been there before.

i kinda like the idea of the butterflies stage of my hike as i return to them now and then. man, that was such a time of joy and bewilderment…kinda like a kid 3 days before christmas wondering what is in store for christmas. it’sa sweet moment to live thru, and once ya get that photo op of you kissing some unsuspecting hiker on the cheek, all the prehike fears will be over, and the real hike will be on…

have fun

burn

#27

Nun, facing the Fear Factor is precisely the most important reason to keep your date with the trail. You know you want to try this but will it screw up your real, regular life? What it did for me was bring into focus what I should and should not worry about. In 2003 I recall sitting at the bar in the Doyle Hotel in Duncannon and assessing my progress, what I was doing, what it was costing me and if it was worth it. I’d gone thru some serious hell to get to sit in that bar, no details here but it was a revelation. The conclusion that I came to was that was I was doing was the single-most life-changing experience of my adult life and all of it was positive. I had the confidence to know that I could lose everything back home and it would be okay, all I really need to live, be happy, and adjust fit in my backpack. I didn’t feel I had to compromise. The people, the job, the money would be there when I got back and if they weren’t, well maybe they weren’t worth spending so much time trying to hold on to.

Swift

Swift

#28

plan to walk as if there are no hesitations.
plan your life too as if you are not going to hike.
What ever happens you are covered.
Don’t tell anyone till you are sure.
you can say you are thinking about it but it’s not final.
Your cat will get over it. your significant one? if she say don’t go, don’t go if you care about your future together.
Be afraid of surprises, it’s healthy to be afraid. Worry about money, plan ahead, don’t buy expansive stuff, no hotels, no restaurants - as few as possible.
I guess most important was , to me, my significant one. In my case she didn’t care or have an opinion if I go or stay, that cleared everything about her part in my life.

zammy