Advice from long distance walkers….

More philosophical than tangible, but my big epiphany that kept me going …

There will literally be thousands of reasons to not go and even more reasons to quit along the way.
It will not always fun.
It will not always beautiful.
It will not always make sense or always feel like the right thing to be doing.
Be clear with yourself about why YOU want to do a long hike, and commit to that reason. When 1,000 reasons come knocking, your one reason needs to answer the door.

Gosh Christopher, that's almost poetic. I say almost because, you know, nothing rhymes….

But very well said, and could be applied to many things in life.

I did my long walks at the earlier stages of my career. When the “save money-go hiking-come back-look for a job-repeat” worked well. Around 35, the cycle became old.

Now it would be more difficult to get away for several months at a time. Nor do I wish to. I’m married now for example… :)

So my advice? Not much really. Just make sure you enjoy hiking. Sounds silly, and I don’t think this applies to you, but many people love to go backpacking for the camping aspect. Hiking 5 miles in, make camp, hike back out. Awesome..but different than a thru-hike.

Many people find out they don’t enjoy hiking all day the hard way.

I’d also look at alternative routes as the big three are getting more popular. If I did the PCT again, I’d hike SoBo…heck, I just remembered I wrote a blog article about this last year! :)

http://www.pmags.com/if-i-did-it-again-the-big-three-trails

"How did you manage to make it all come together?? "

I'm the type of person that needs to write things down so I can have it all in front of me, and then try to poke holes in my plan. Excel spreadsheets work fabulous for this.

P.S. – Sorry, no poetic musings.

Ryan

Excel spreadsheets work fabulous for this.

This seems to me like the kind of thinking of somebody who really needs to get away on a long hike.

Christopher – it's so interesting that you say that, because one of my favorite "coaches" during my ultra marathoning days used to say that before you even toe up to the starting line you'd better have a damned good reason for doing it – because come mile 30, or 40, when you – in great misery – ask yourself "why the f**k am I doing this!!????" you'd better already have an answer lined up. Because mile 40 is NOT the time to try to figure that out…..

> How did you manage to make it all come together??
> the logistics of it seem so intimidating
The logistics are really just a detail. Spreadsheets are good for that.
Having the right data with you on the trip really helps – like food and water points. Just knowing you have the data is the big part.

Otherwise … after a while you stop worrying and just go.

Personal note: I find going with my wife is what makes it work.

Cheers

"This seems to me like the kind of thinking of somebody who really needs to get away on a long hike"

If I'm on here posting, I'm in need of a long hike! Seriously though, I'm in Excel all day everyday so it's like breathing to me.

Ryan

Advice during planning – quit worrying so much!

The planning to me can be broken down into four parts (edited from 3!):

1. How are you getting your food, how much and where (spreadsheets for distance between towns/days, etc are great for this). I like having a 1 page sheet of my resupply plan for the trail so I can quickly figure out how much to buy in town or whether I need to time getting to town to match PO hours.

2. How are you staying on trail/where's the water – often maps are tied into food resupply but a bounce bag of maps works too if you buy on trail. GPS comes to play if that's your thing. Many dry trails have "water reports" that are updated, or a ranking system of reliability for water sources.

3. What gear do you need and will you need to change anything out – new shoes, heavier or lighter sleeping bag, ice axe, etc. Also can be tied into food boxes.

4. Life stuff – what are you doing with your house/apartment/car/stuff. Any bills to pay, jobs to quit, etc. This causes me the most pre-trip anxiety. A list of friends and family addresses is nice to have for sending postcards.

Everything after that is just gravy. Side trips, cool town stops, summits along the way can come later or even while on trail by talking to people. Ironically the gear part is what we spend the most time on but usually doesn't matter since things will inevitably get changed on trail!

I took a leave of absence from a well established career. My advise is to maintain as much flexibility post hike as far as a career goes. often you will see a post saying "I hate my job, I want to quit and go hiking." Sounds good in theory but having options post hike that may or not be the "new ideal" can work great even if works short term. in my case I returned to work post hike and then left less than a year later for a much better opportunity. I pretty much decided during my hike that I needed to make a change. but having that job to go back to was much easier than being forced to make a change in the heat of the return.

second, while this may not apply to you I would encourage people of the fence financially to consider a fast hike. in my case there was no way I would walk away from 5 months income for a traditional thru hike. that is where my 100 day schedule stated. between vacation and carry over vacation my leave of absence was less than two months. Not only did that help financially but it is an easier sell to a Company for a three month hike vs. Five. May be a viable alternative for some.

Finally, you may find that you have a new found distaste for possessions post hike. not sure how that fits into planning but thought of a Tiny House could hit you post hike. I still haven't returned to normal almost four years later.

I guess I'll divide this into two parts.

As for careers and all, I think the key thing is to make the existential leap of faith that things will be okay when you get back. If you have saved money and have marketable job skills, you will be fine. I got a leave of absence for the PCT. But for the CDT, I had to quit outright and I had nothing to come back to. I didn't let this worry me on the trail. In fact, I hardly ever thought about it. And thanks to a couple of connections, I got a short-term project within a week of getting off the trail and a full-time job shortly afterwards.

The key thing, though, is DO NOT BE WORRYING ABOUT YOUR HOME-LIFE STUFF ON THE TRAIL! The last thing you want when you're trying to enjoy your thru-hike is to have creeping worries about finances or jobs or homes or whatever infringing on your experience. This is your chance to live in the moment for 5 months. Get your ducks lined up as best you can before you go and then put them out of mind.

As for on the trail stuff, I think other comments here nailed it. Be prepared for sucky hiking. There is no place on earth where you can walk 2000+ miles and have every minute be amazing. Every long-distance trail has shitty sections, and even the nicest sections can be ruined by bad weather, illness, injury, etc. You just have to deal with it.

One thing that always helps me on long hikes is to divide the trail into segments, each of which has something that you're really looking forward to at the end. On the PCT, my desire to get to the Sierras got me through some tough desert hiking in SoCal. Then, my next milepost was Crater Lake, which pulled me through NorCal. I was thinking about 3 Sisters and Goat Rocks while fighting the mosquitoes in Oregon. This strategy worked way better for me than thinking about getting to Canada, since that seemed impossibly far away until mid-Oregon or so.

Oh, and one more thing I wish I'd known: you're going to have some sorts of aches and pains almost every day. I don't think it's possible to walk 20+ miles a day without at least some foot pain. I remember in the first week of my first AT section, I was hiking with some thru-hikers (800 miles into their hikes). At the end of the day, we were going down a long, steep, rocky hill that was killing my feet, and I asked one guy how long it took for his feet to toughen up and stop hurting. Without missing a beat, he said, "they never stop hurting." He was right.

Good luck.

ah – this is all great stuff.

I do appreciate the fact that once I step on the trail, most things just fall into place – gear, food, stops, etc.

But there is a bit of the real-life stuff that needs to be taken care of beforehand (I'm not at all worried about getting a job when I'm done – either this one again or another one somewhere just like it. PTs are in pretty good demand just about anywhere).

And I've been lusting after a tiny house for the past 3 years – I sold my condo, donated all my belongings (except a really nice dresser that I paid a fortune for…love that thing), and live in a teeny studio apartment now. I own my car. I have Obamacare (so I don't need a job to have insurance). I like to hike. I realize that there are going to be seriously shitty days, but how is that any different from my life now?

Anyway – thanks for the encouragement and advice! This stuff is great.

I also shared this with some friends I'm trying to convince to do it one day, too:

Hi Jen

Yup.
Fortuitously, I was forced into considering that problem many years ago. With my wife's support (OK, urging), I gave away the 9-5 job business and went freelance. NEVER regretted it.

cheers

…

When I first started reading about the Appalachian Trail, I read about the low success rates amongst prospective thru-hikers. I read that most people drop out, not because of injury or family emergencies, but because they're bored/disillusioned/sick of the crap. I was really stoked to try the AT, but was also worried if I was resiliant enough to accomplish it. I read about the fact that in order to do the AT, I needed to get used to the idea that I would be cold, hungry, sore, dirty, and worn out for large portions of my hike. Only if I accepted that fact, and still wanted to hike the AT, would I be properly mentally prepared.

In real life, therefore, I started what I called "AT disciplines". They were little challenges I constructed for myself to improve my resiliency. If I can't summon up the focus and gumption to complete this term paper by 10AM tomorrow, do I really have what it takes to walk 2,000 miles? Overcoming everyday obstacles became part of my larger project to prep myself for a long hike.

And it worked! In a very difficult weather year, as a very early season hiker, dealing with what I'm sure are chronic ankle issues, I never seriously considered quitting. It's not because I'm an exceptional person, but because I had prepared myself to face those challenges, and had determined in advance what my mental response would be. It wasn't always fun, but it was always rewarding.

…

"Fortuitously, I was forced into considering that problem many years ago. With my wife's support (OK, urging), I gave away the 9-5 job business and went freelance. NEVER regretted it."

+1 It's not for everyone but, if you know what you're doing, it's a surefire way to acquiring the most precious resource known to mankind, far more valuable than even Unobtanium; Free time. ;0))

"it came up in conversation that it's human nature to remember the good and play down the rough times. Similar to the behavior of taking photos of weddings and babies, but nobody is posing for photos during a family fight, divorce or tragedy."

From what I remember 2011 was a fun year to do the PCT. I hardly remember the fact that my feet hurt so much that I had to take constant Advil just to walk. I swore when I was done I would never do another thru hiker. After two weeks there hasn't been a day of by that I haven't wished I was back on the trail doing another long hike.

My mantra on trips:

"The ability to be uncomfortable and to be OKAY with it is the key to success."

The other one that I have heard is, "Laugh through your tears."

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