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  1. #1
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    Default Well prepared thru hiker ready to quit!

    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?!

  2. #2
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    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.

  3. #3
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    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.

  4. #4
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    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.)

  5. #5

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

  6. #6

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    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.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by rocketsocks View Post
    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.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by rocketsocks View Post
    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.

  9. #9
    Getting out as much as I can..which is never enough. :) Mags's Avatar
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    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.
    Paul "Mags" Magnanti
    http://pmags.com
    Twitter: @pmagsco
    Facebook: pmagsblog

    The true harvest of my life is intangible...a little stardust caught,a portion of the rainbow I have clutched -Thoreau

  10. #10

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    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.

  11. #11
    Registered User kayak karl's Avatar
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    This info from hiker is second hand and not worth much. Maybe it just wasn't all it was cracked up to be !

    Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
    I'm so confused, I'm not sure if I lost my horse or found a rope.

  12. #12
    Hiker bigcranky's Avatar
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    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.
    Ken B
    'Big Cranky'
    Our Long Trail journal

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Suzy Q View Post
    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

  14. #14
    ME => GA 19AT3 rickb's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lone Wolf View Post
    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.

  15. #15

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    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.

  16. #16
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    I don't enjoy being cruel, but that "very well prepared thru hiker" is no such thing if he/she is wanting to quit after two weeks on the trail. If you can't convince him to stick with it, I say let him find his own way home, and deal with the consequences of his decisions.

  17. #17

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    Why not go hike with him for a few days? Sometimes people need a morale boost and getting out there with them for a couple of days might help.

  18. #18
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    Sounds like this hiker is looking for the trail family experience. Is there any shame in finding the bubble, getting dropped off there, and continuing north with them? Then flip flop later to pick up the missed section. But like several have said, there may be other things going on. If this person said "if I call, don't pick me up" then they need to consider abiding by that wish. I can only speculate about myself and reasons why I might get to that point, but "don't quit on a bad day" sounds like the sagest advice given. I think my "why" for wanting to thru-hike is strong enough to pull me through the suckiest experiences, but who knows?




  19. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by Suzy Q View Post
    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?!
    Don't pick him up, that was his instructions.

    I don't understand this part: "He feels he started too late and cannot find anyone moving at a quick pace to keep him company."

    If he started two weeks ago, then there probably were not many other thru-hikers, if any. So is he saying he's out hiking other thru-hikers or there are none? If he sticks to his hike, he will catch up to some, but not sure how many, it all depends on his mileage per day. How many miles per day is he averaging?

    A thru-hike is a lonely thing, unless you find a group to stick with. I guess he missed that in all the hubbub about overcrowding on the AT.




    .

  20. #20
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    Wow! So much wonderful advice so quickly! Thank you everyone!
    Our thru hiker found a ride into town and has parked himself at a hotel for the past three days, waiting for us to pick him up!
    Lots of great advice! Perhaps we will drive him ahead to join the "bubble"? Just wish he would get back on the trail and follow his dream!
    Thank you for the advice!

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