Well prepared thru hiker ready to quit!

[Suzy Q]

Our family member is a very well prepared thru hiker! Planned and saved over a year, did a 40 mile shake down test hike...
Two weeks into thru hike is calling for us to pick him up, he wants to quit! Last thing he told us as we dropped him off was "do not get me if I call you, do not let me quit!"
He feels he started too late and cannot find anyone moving at a quick pace to keep him company.
Any advice?!

[Uriah]

He doesn't sound well-prepared at all, and might want to find comfort in his own company. Or speed up. Or be picked up.

[rafe]

Just go, go as far as you can, nothing says you have to do it all in one go. Great if you can make it to Maine that year, but finishing the trail in two years, or ten, or twenty, is still a worthy endeavor and achievement.

The suggestion above is in hindsight. "Going too slow" was mainly why I quit in VA, years ago. I couldn't keep up. But I should have just kept on, at my own pace. That's what HYOH is all about.

[rafe]

I'd be happy to chat with your "family member" to offer encouragement. I remember quitting my thru hike, and I've often wished I hadn't. (Properly speaking: my attempted thru hike. It's not a thru hike till it's done and over.)

[rocketsocks]

Wait, this is t another all or nothin' AT hiker where my certificate is it? egads, can't anyone just hike for the love of hikin' anymore? Way to much emphasis placed of the ever precious hiker hall o' fame types.

[rafe]

Wait, this is t another all or nothin' AT hiker where my certificate is it? egads, can't anyone just hike for the love of hikin' anymore? Way to much emphasis placed of the ever precious hiker hall o' fame types.

Be flip about it, I know that's your style, and you wouldn't be our dear socks otherwise, but if you haven't at least attempted a thru hike, you don't really know what this is about.

[rocketsocks]

Tell em to start thumbin' it, what's the problem?

[Acacia]

Tell em to start thumbin' it, what's the problem?

Exactly. Why not skip that section and go to Damascus, for instance. (Might as well meet Wolf while there, who may give him a good two word lecture). Since he's fast, he can finish the first part later.

[Mags]

Tell the family member to take a day off, eat some good food, do some laundry, relax and think it over first.

If they still want to stop doing a thru-hike after this rest day, then consider the suggestions above.

[Dogwood]

Well prepared thru hiker ready to quit!

If it decidedly was planned to thru-hike the AT I contest the veracity of this statement based on the lame excuses given. The prospective AT thru-hiker wannabe has to play a winning mental game. There are solutions to the situation without succumbing to lame excuses. The hiker has to find those solutions outside of quitting.

[Gambit McCrae]

Well prepared thru hiker ready to quit!


If it decidedly was planned to thru-hike the AT I contest the veracity of this statement based on the lame excuses given. The prospective AT thru-hiker wannabe has to play a winning mental game. There are solutions to the situation without succumbing to lame excuses. The hiker has to find those solutions outside of quitting.

I like this a lot....bad excuses for quitting. "im lonely in the first 2 weeks means he needs less free time lol" answer, more walking..and camp with others.

[kayak karl]

This info from hiker is second hand and not worth much. Maybe it just wasn't all it was cracked up to be !

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[Dogwood]

This info from hiker is second hand and not worth much…

KK got it right from the get go.

[bigcranky]

So this person is hiking faster than everyone else? I've seen that (from both sides) and it's hard because you're always with different people. The others all have their little trail families, and you're always the outsider. The hiker will eventually hook up with someone else working at the same pace -- but two weeks isn't even close to enough time to make that happen.

I like Mags' advice, and would add, "never quit on a bad day". If there is any way this person could give it another two weeks, I think life on the trail would be a lot easier then.

Good luck with this.

[Lone Wolf]

Our family member is a very well prepared thru hiker! Planned and saved over a year, did a 40 mile shake down test hike...
Two weeks into thru hike is calling for us to pick him up, he wants to quit! Last thing he told us as we dropped him off was "do not get me if I call you, do not let me quit!"
He feels he started too late and cannot find anyone moving at a quick pace to keep him company.
Any advice?!

no advice. he's done. the fantasy became a reality

[rickb]

no advice. he's done. the fantasy became a reality

I don't think the OP was asking for second hand advise to pass on to her family member, but rather advise on whether or not she should drive to the trail to pick him up-- after being explicitly told not to do that under these conditions.

[soilman]

no advice. he's done. the fantasy became a reality

I agree. There are many out there that start the trail well prepared but quit, some after a day or two. On the trail they have dreamed about there was no rain, heat, cold, loneliness, dirt, etc. The idea of hiking is a lot more attractive to some than the actual practice. I ran into a fellow years ago on White Cap Mt in ME who was nearing the completion of his hike. I asked him how is hike had been. He said he hated every day but kept going because he is not a quitter.

[rafe]

I ran into a fellow years ago on White Cap Mt in ME who was nearing the completion of his hike. I asked him how is hike had been. He said he hated every day but kept going because he is not a quitter.

Seen that myself, more than once, and my reaction is kind of a weird mixture of admiration and "shaking my head." A hiker like that appears early on in Bryson's book, described by the cab driver on their way to Amicalola Falls State Park.

Is it rational to spend months of unpleasantness, pursuing a goal that you set for yourself without really knowing the cost? And you can't really know till you try.

[Traveler]

Given the last instructions to not pick up the hiker, the family should respect that wish. The onus is on the hiker to decide what to do and either figure out how to push through the issues that are in the way, or figure out how to get home. Either way will work out fine and the family will hold their promise.

[HelloNeiman!]

Given the last instructions to not pick up the hiker, the family should respect that wish. The onus is on the hiker to decide what to do and either figure out how to push through the issues that are in the way, or figure out how to get home. Either way will work out fine and the family will hold their promise.

This is the best advice I've read here. To truly HYOH, may mean to QuitYOH, sure ... but it has to be on them to decide and act. Don't be his scapegoat, don't let him blame you later (which may or may not be out loud).


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