Completing a Thru-Hike

That's an awfully heavy looking pack…

Where there is a will, there is a way

Excellent.

Certainly willpower is the greatest common denominator. However, I would also suggest that one must have support at home and along the trail to get them through their hike – people who encourage and assist in some way – sending supplies, holding a job open, watching a house, apt, pet, or just someone who the hiker can call. Tough to do this all alone. also, the typical hiker can also rely on the support of his/her fellow hikers.

I thru-hiked the AT in 2006 at 54 years of age. Everyone who loves to backpack should try this bill support you! :)

Last summer, on a solo mountaineering trip, I met a guy (around 60, had almost completed climbing the Alps' 4000m peaks and, thus, had started to solo peaks between 3500 and 4000) who told me that mountaineering was by 70% a mental sport. Maybe, for hiking it's only 60%. Nevertheless, I firmly believe that will and determination are what gets you through challenging trips, be ita thru-hike or something different.

So often when we seek the defining element of an experience, the definition is after the fact, when what we really want is a definition before the fact, some way of predicting whether our attempt will be successful. After the fact, we say someone had sufficient will power to complete his chosen task; that's really just another way of saying he completed the task. In Matt's case, one could just as easily say the defining element of his successful second attempt was preparation– and an important element of his preparation was his first, failed attempt, and the time he spent reflecting on it.

The problem with "will" as a defining element is that, if someone doesn't achieve his goal, it's too easy to say "He didn't have the willpower," which, depending on your attitude, is either a tautology or a make-wrong, but either way not useful.

I think a more useful take-away from the article's examples is that there's something wonderfully mysterious about what allows for completion, some element that burns hidden within some, and by implication, potentially all, of us.

Sue and I have just returned from 2 months walking the Red Route of the Via Alpina, from Trieste to Oberstdorf, in Europe. That's a bit of a thru hike. It relies mainly on mountain Refuges, btw. That means you will be doing at least 1,000 m of climbing each day. The biggest day was up 3,000 m and down 1,500 m, with a lot of steep scree on the way.

> Wealth: I figured you probably need the financial wherewithal
We lived on less than 100 euros a day total, which is a fair bit of money. You could do it with less. What 'wealth' does do for you is to remove a serious worry about food and accomodation. For instance, if you suddenly develop a craving for yoghurt (we did), buy some. If the weather is really bad and you need shelter for the night, book in.

> Good Gear: Those who travel with shoddy equipment are surely at a disadvantage.
> Wrong: A man named Spider thru-hiked the AT with the same old, decrepit gear
> he'd had for 35 years.
I am going to disagree here. Good gear removes another worry. Gear failure at 2,000 m is not pretty. Gear failure at 2,000 m in a snow storm is worse. Perhaps the gear Spider had was good gear, even if old?
That does not mean you need lots of expensive gear. You don't. What you need is gear suited to you and to the conditions.

> Superior Nutrition:
Hum … two aspects to this. If you are not getting enough energy, you WILL fail. A bit like running out of petrol in a car. You need carbos!
But how 'good' that fuel has to be … well, debatable. You are not going to suffer malnutrition in that sort of time. We don't want any more knodels though.

> Excellent Cardiovascular Conditioning: Thru-hiking is the ultimate endurance sport,
It is that, but if you are not fit at the start you soon will be! Enough energy and enough will-power…

> Disease-Free: Your body should be healthy and free of debilitating diseases.
Now this is a funny one. While running our bodies flat out we stayed very healthy most of the time. I think the increased metabolic rate had something to do with this. Any cuts or scrapes healed incredibly fast. But anyone can catch a virus for a day or two (you may recover very fast though), and a broken ankle is a broken ankle. On the other hand, walking with a sprained back or knee is just not nice.

> Youth: I initially thought that being young and strong was a common denominator.
Ha. I'm 66. In fact, we have found it quite noticeable that the older hikers tend to be the ones who endured steadily. The young ones went fast but often burnt out.

> Sight: OK, at the very least, you should be able to see the darn trail! Right?
It would be nice …
But having walked many of the days in a thick fog, we found that the views had to be treated as optional! For sure, they do add to the pleasure. And wondering what is over the next saddle is a good motivator.

Will power? Yep, no question at all. If one of us flagged a bit, the answer was always 'we are going to Oberstdorf". We had a goal.

Cheers

A few years ago I hiked with a man the last few days of his AT two year section hike. He was 82. Guess where he is now? Last I heard he was in NH doing it all again. He is now 88! I finished my last section of my AT section hike this week. I started in 2000.
I am only 67. Yeah, it is will power, help and support from many including those I have never met, but learned from on sites like this one.

It helps to have an honest desire to suffer every day for months so that you're rewarded with days when the tread is too rocky, it's hot, it's cold, it's windy, there's not much water, mosquitoes are swarming, a detour forces a road walk or postholing occurs on every other step. I can totally understand why so many prefer to section hike instead.

During my PCT through hike in 2006, I experienced:

– Tendonitis (foot/ankle) – so bad I couldn't tie my shoe
– Tendonitis (knee)
– Staph infection (knee) – so swollen I couldn't bend it
– Staph infection (back) – multiple times – so painful I would cry every time I put my pack on
– Heat stroke
– Upper respiratory infection
– Horrible allergic reaction covering my whole back
– Giardiasis
– Quaternary blisters (4 on top of each other)
– A bruise the size of a grapefruit – from being swept down a river during a ford
– Indescribable homesickness (my brother was put in prison for 20 years while I was on trail)
– Hot
– Cold
– Loneliness
– Exhaustion
– Hunger
– Sunburn
– Mosquito bites
– Bee stings
– Fear
– Lost my career
– Gave up my cats
– Broke up with my boyfriend

And I kept going. If I broke a leg, I would have bought a horse and rode to Canada. They tried to give me the trail name Tough Cookie. So, I totally agree Francis. If you want it bad enough, you will overcome almost anything.

Though you are quite right that all those obstacles can be and often are overcome, but I've learned (mostly the hard way) that thru-hiking is a hell of a lot easier and more enjoyable when you do have the right gear, health, and financial backing. I suggest that any of these things should prevent someone from trying a thru-hike but they should do their best to avoid such obstacles.

I enjoyed reading everyone's thoughtful comments on my article.

Two things to add:

1. I often tell people that after a couple of hundred miles a thru-hike goes from being a physical challenge to a mental one. In other words, if you can hike a 200+ miles, then there's a 90% chance that you can PHYSICALLY hike 2,000+ miles. At that point you've proven that your body has what it takes. Thus, the only question that remains is: can you MENTALLY do it? That's mostly a question of willpower.

2. Although willpower is paramount, increase your odds of success by lightweight and useful gear. Also, it helps to eat healthy calories. :)

Thank you for your insights and reflections!

Happy trails!

Francis Tapon