I thru-hiked in 2002
In 2000 I quit after 1500 miles because my feet hurt.
In 2004 a quit after 550 miles of a SOBO because I was bored silly hiking alone all the time.
I finished the NOBO as a section hike and I intend to finish the SOBO as one also.
HOWS THAT FOR A STRAIGHT ANSWER !
bamboo bob
I stopped last year after 1500 miles because I got bit by a tick somewhere and ended up in a hospital because I had Ehrlichiosis (a nasty tick-born disease). I kind of hated the hiking by that point but I made it that far so there was no way I was going to quit unless I had to. Ehrlichiosis made my choice easy, after being in the hospital I was so weak I could barely walk down the street.
see www.trailjournals.com/jackieb and look at the last few entries to see the full story.
Tell it like it is
i set out to hike the entire PCT. it failed. no sucess. failure.
injury, due to lack of proper training. this injury began in the quad, spread to one knee, than the other, then one day i was just wanting to get the hell out of the desert and into town and i pulled my achilles tendon!
i failed to train, and i failed.
milo
Bryan, i’m gonna help you out here bud. Keep in mind that all these people truly do have good intentions, but I know what you meant. So, semantics aside, here are the reasons why (to the best of my understanding) ten friends I knew on the trail decided to stop hiking:
Fell in love with another thru-hiker. Decided the hike itself wasn’t important anymore, so long as she could spend time with her beloved.
Fell in love with person #1. Same answer follows.
Decided, after almost 400 miles, she just hated hiking.
Constant foot problems. Went through 6 pairs of boots with no success. Just didn’t care to deal with the pain anymore.
Slipped on ice in the smokies. Injured knee. Doctors said no more hiking for him.
Broke a bone in his foot from pushing big miles.
Just wasn’t having fun anymore.
Ran out of money.
Was way behind schedule. Had to be done by certain date to start school. With funds funning as low as they were, she decided to stop hiking, go home and get a job, and start the new semester with some money instead of being dead broke.
Just plain homesick. Wanted out of the woods and to be back in his home with his lovely wife.
Leki-Less