Thru-hiker Envy

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Fly Guy Dave
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Re: Thru-hiker Envy

Post by Fly Guy Dave »

I've talked with several PCTers over the years, giving them rides, chatting while I hike parts of the trail (on my way to do some fishing), etc. and from what I understand there is another aspect to the trail experience that I was not aware of. From what I gather, for some it is kind of a rolling party. People hike from one site to another, while others bail out and get a ride to the next site and the party continues all the way up the trail. Some apparently don't bring food in order to have a super light pack and take from the free bins at the regular re-supply stops along the trail. Again, this is what I have heard, I have no personal experience with this, but several people I've talked to have mentioned it and most of them in a disparaging way. My thinking is that if you are there for the party, enjoying the scenery and the whole hiking experience is kind of lost on you. Getting back to the original post's question: that is not something I envy about through hikers.
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Re: Thru-hiker Envy

Post by Wandering Daisy »

Thru-hikers are not the only ones who go into the wilderness to "find" themselves, "cure" some mental problems, seek something really missing in their lives, or simply escape. Many of us "traditional" backpackers have similar motivations.

The popularity of thu-hiking is somewhat new and mostly done by the younger demographic, so it will reflect the values of that demographic. Social media and "extreme sports" have played a large role in young people's lives now. Big name trails appeal to the quest for recognition, challenge, and being also a social experience and staying electronically connected (blogs etc) due to coming back out to civilization often. In my day, the "thing" was done by hitch-hiking through Europe or long road trips.

Regardless of my qualms about thier "experience", the ones who finish certainly have proven their athletic ability, grit, determination and ability to carry through to a goal, even when it eventually becomes a "job". If some person were to put completing a thru-hike on theier job resume, I would hire them!

However the experience is good for the hiker, I do get concerned about the environment. It does irk me that since we have a permit system in the Sierra, and I, as a regular backpacker, am restricted, that a "wave" of thru-hikers is allowed, and can put a real crimp on other's wilderness experience, not to mention environmental impacts. Regardless of how careful you are, there are impacts; that is why there is a permit system in the first place. I do see, and would welcome, more regulation and permits required for thru-hikers, specifically through the Sierra.
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Re: Thru-hiker Envy

Post by Hobbes »

schmalz wrote:Hiking 20+ miles a day isn't really a big deal once you adjust.
Brian, good to hear you're doing well. Are you still hiking solo, or have you hooked up with a crew with similar interests, style, miles? Are you getting the sense from anyone that the hike is becoming a chore, more akin to a job? Or are people still stoked & excited to be out hiking every day? From what I understand, you're nearing the zone where trekkers start doing 30 mile days.

Most importantly, do you have a (new) trail name? Or are you going by the moniker "Real Deal"? :rock:
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Re: Thru-hiker Envy

Post by schmalz »

No trail name yet. Still too modest to proclaim myself as the real deal. Maybe by Washington.

It seems that I'm on the front end of the herd and as a result almost everyone around me is on the younger/more fit side of things. I'd say 90 percent of the people I'm running into are 22-26 years old. Most want a big adventure before entering the real world.

When you hike all day every day you can't help but equate the experience to a job. It's a natural connection to make. There are definitely times where you'd rather be doing something else, but that's sort of a basic part of the human experience right? That said, the people I've been running into do not seem to be wishing to return to the rat race anytime soon.

There is definitely an increase in mileage after breaking past the snow. Hell, I just hiked 135 miles in 4.5 days to buy myself an extra family day in Lassen. Outside of that I've been trying to take things easy so the whole experience doesn't blow by me too fast. I hear hikers talk about their big mileage days and my impression is that it's more based on peer pressure and wanting to appear badass rather than a desire to end the hike sooner. Plenty of hiker discourse is based on what adventure might be next.

I'm still hiking solo which I think suits me well. Part of the appeal of the trip was to carve out some time where I didn't have to be weighing other people's needs on a constant basis. The generation gap I mentioned earlier is probably exasperating that too. That's also why I probably won't end up with a trail name out here. Real Deal might end up sticking eventually
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Re: Thru-hiker Envy

Post by longri »

Interesting the one-sided nature of the opinions here.

I love visiting the wilderness and there are multiple ways to experience it. Walking a long trail (or a long cross country route like the Roper High Route), walking a lot of miles in a day, bagging peaks by their easiest routes, technical climbing of popular (or unpopular) routes, winter backpacking on skis, ski descents, long day hikes, short day hikes just to see the spring wildflowers or autumn leaves, hanging out for a day and looking for frogs, fishing, photography, mapping trails, watching the clouds, on and on and on.

I don't do all of those things but I do a bunch of them. The ones I don't do I don't disparage just because I don't have the desire for it.

In the last 5 years I've walked the JMT four times at kind of a fast pace (7-9 days). It felt a little like flying over the trail rather than crawling. That's an exaggeration but it's sort of what I experienced doing what were a lot of miles each day for me. It felt really good. I saw tons of scenery everyday, felt free to bound along the easy trail with a light pack and lighter heart. It didn't require a big vacation break. I didn't see any less than I would have seen walking more slowly. My eyes were open just as long. I've walked the JMT slow too (3 weeks) with a heavy pack and had different experiences that were also satisfying. I don't regret any of those trips.

I don't know. It doesn't matter so much, I think.... except that there are too many of us doing the JMT and PCT right now. Too many people is more of a problem than what they're doing exactly.

Someone asked me one time "Are you through hiking?"
I said yes... for today. But that I'd be hiking again tomorrow
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Re: Thru-hiker Envy

Post by sambieni »

Similar view as Eric. I am simply jealous of ability to get that much time away from the grind to gain some solitude, exposure to such beauty, exercise, and enjoy such a great sport. But also admire the drive of many folks and their commitment to complete such a goal. I realize some motivations may be to "find oneself" in less than ideal circumstances or otherwise, but regardless the commitment to completing such a huge goal is admirable irrespective of their motivation or "life avoidance."

Personally, not sure I have the dream to do AT or PCT. 4-6 months seems too long dedicated to the goal. But JMT sounds about right and great. I would love to be able to carve out a solid 3 weeks to enjoy the trail. Right now, best I could hope for are 3 summers covering 1 week each...
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Re: Thru-hiker Envy

Post by oleander »

I'm not sure envy is the right word, but...I *do* find a lot of the thru-hiking experience to be a positive thing. (And not just the part about getting 5 months off work.)

My introduction to thru-hiking was simply running into PCTers in the 1990s and early 2000s while they traipsed through Oregon and Washington. For the most part they seemed happy and incredibly fit. One thing I really picked up on was their sense of camaraderie. You'd see trail registers where PCTers were leaving happy notes for other PCTers hiking one, two, ten days behind them. People would hike together for a while, then get behind and hike solo or with another group, then catch up with the original group...You had a loosely-defined "cohort" you were hiking with all summer. Calling it a rolling party seems a bit harsh. To me what it looked like was a set of people who had taken on something ambitious, and when they hiked together or ran into each other they got to bond over that experience and share stories. Sometimes, lifetime friendships developed out of that. In other words, on the social side I saw nothing but the positive. You do not get a taste of this ongoing social experience when you do a series of short trips in disparate places.

I have section-hiked parts of all three states. By section-hiking I was able to cherry-pick the prettiest stretches, so I didn't have to deal with the "filler" miles. The required "filler" miles of awful trail are the one thing that would keep me from doing a traditional thru-hike. Or, maybe I'd just skip sections of the Mojave and northern CA and southern Oregon and leap ahead, breaking all the rules. I might do the Washington State section of the PCT next summer, because a friend wants to. We'd do it mid-summer, before the PCTers get there. Another friend wants to do the Colorado Trail one day, and that appeals.

The endurance-sport aspect of thru-hiking is actually a big part of the appeal to me! When you are training for things like 50k races, something I did in the past, and if you're in love with the wilderness like I am, you start fantasizing about what it might be like to do your endurance training in a true wilderness setting rather than in urban open spaces. Personally, I love the idea of getting the kind of uber-fit that you'd get after walking 25 miles a day, day after day. It just feels so damn good, when your body becomes that kind of machine.

As someone mentioned, thru-hiking can be a great way to get introduced to whole new areas that you then want to go back and explore later in your backpacking career. That was exactly the result of my JMT hike in 1999.

The Trail Angel experience is really cool. Nobody wrote about that.

Finally, there is the appeal of the resupply not far off the trail. Sure, resupply is a lot of logistics. But I find the idea and the experience of resupplying in a nearby town, and then getting right back on the trail, to be much more appealing than my current reality, whereby each trip to the Sierra no matter how short requires a 3-8 hour drive each way. I retain a lot more of the "mountain feel" when I'm resupplying in Bishop or Ollalie Lake or Stevens Pass, rather than driving back home.

All that said, these days I'm wondering if cross-country travel has spoiled me for most on-trail travel. Maybe if I returned to some of the sections of the PCT that I enjoyed back-when, I'd get disappointed and you'd see me hopping the first train back to Ionian Basin.

- Elizabeth
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Re: Thru-hiker Envy

Post by sekihiker »

I look at through hiking trips as sampler trips. I kept my eye open for places I wanted to see again on a through hike of the JMT. It convinced me that life was too short to venture north of Mono Creek and south of Mineral King.

Daisy mentioned staying in shape allows hiking in retirement. I second that recommendation. I run (very slowly) for a half hour every other day and it keeps me in shape and keeps some of the weight off which also makes a difference in enjoyment of hikes.

The concept that "a lot of time has to be spent in an area to really enjoy it" is foreign to me. I spend most of my wilderness time on a botany project in an area that is lacking in spectacular scenery. I'm always on the move but in the same general area. I seldom spend a second night at a camp site. I enjoy this style of hiking very much. It is a huge switch from the "what's out there" attitude I had 10, 20, and 30 years ago.

I say, what ever floats your boat. It seemed to me that Leor Pantilat saw plenty on his day hikes of the Rae Lakes Loop and I'll bet Bob Burd can remember a good deal of what he's done. It seems to me that their experiences are similar to through hiking, fast and very goal oriented. They don't smell every flower they pass but they bring back plenty of memories nonetheless. And I think they enjoy it which is what it is all about.
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Re: Thru-hiker Envy

Post by longri »

sekihiker wrote:...I'll bet Bob Burd can remember a good deal of what he's done.
Actually, Bob told me that as he's gotten older his memory of the details has really gone downhill. But that's a different story -- what you remember versus what you experience at the time. I find that when my eyes are open I'm experiencing, whether I'm sitting at a lake or walking through a forest. It's different but the same.

I'm a little confused by the term itself. It seems like a label that too often carries along bad connotations. Traveling parties of self-obsessed bucket listers, or something like that.

So what exactly is a thru hike?

Is it any point to point trip? Or does it have to be some well published route? Does it need its own Facebook page? I went on a 9 day point to point hike in another country not that long ago. Was I thru hiking?

I like to go walking. I mean, I *love* to walk. Sitting still in the mountains gets boring to me after a while, unless I'm pooped out. If I were camped in one place I'd be doing day walks or climbs in the area, not sitting in one spot observing a grain of pollen under a magnifying glass... although I have done that.
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Re: Thru-hiker Envy

Post by Jimr »

I've sat here far too long staring at this thread trying to figure out where I'm at with this. I agree with Elizabeth regarding "Envy" being not quite the right word. I find myself intrigued by the trail culture that develops on trail and builds in towns on zero days. I would not enjoy the "need" to push the miles daily until it becomes the major focus. I like breathing room.
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