The Decision To Go

[STEVEM]

Like many things in life, I am sure that many people dream and plan for an AT thruhike for years. Unfortunately, I imagine that many will never actually make an attempt due primarily to the demands of "The Real World".

For those who have either gone, or made the decision to go: What was the event or events in your life that allowed or caused you to finally decide that you were actually going to go?

[Wanderingson]

Steve,

I have been facinated with the AT since I first heard about it many moons ago. I have contemplated commiting to a decision on numerous occasions. I just retired in September after serving 26 years in our great USAF. My original intention was to retire after 20 years and begin my thru. As you can see that never materialized. A significant event occured on 9/11 that kepp me serving for a few more years. I pushed my plans back to when I actually would retire. As you may be able to tell from my location, I am back in the middle east and still indirectly serving our Great Nation as a contractor.

My modified gameplan now is to do a few years out here making a few tax-free bucks so that I will not need to worry about the financial aspect of my thru or immediate employment upon completion.

My wife has alway known that this has been a dream for me and supports my quest. She will remain back and provide the logistical support for my mail drops and serve as my journal transcriber.

Sure, I could have gone into semi-retirement in September and jumped out on the trail and joined the Class of 2007, but then the big financial monster would have reared it's ugly head and would have complicated my hike.

I am content with knowing that I am still young enough and provided my health remains in tact, I can shoot for somewhere between 2008 and 2010.
This semms the most logical stanpoint for me because I will have no financial worries and will have no committments to lag me down.

Time shall tell, but I will continue to plan and dream of the day I hit the Approach Trail.

[STEVEM]

Though I have made no definite plans for a specific start date yet I have thought about it for a long time, and have been trying to get my financial affairs in order so that an attempt will be possible.

My dad always talked about going to Canada to fish for Northern Pike. He read magazines, collected travel brochures and watched fishing shows on TV. He never made that trip, and died at age 56 after 40 years of smoking.
I feel bad for not taking him, but he was just too sick.

The AT for me is like that fishing trip was for him. I hope to be able to go the year I turn 56.

[hopefulhiker]

I couldn't have made the hike last night without the support of my family and friends. My wife was especially supportive of my thru hike.. The logistics of getting away can be very hard.. But my advice is not to wait too long... I saw a lot of older guys have to get off the trail... I am dreaming about the PCT now but it looks like a couple of years off for me..

[Peaks]

In foresite, I'd been doing small sections of the AT for decades. I just got to point in my like when I realized that if I was ever going to finish it then I just better do it all.

In hindsite, I realized that after a major health threat like cancer there is a tremedous need for an individual to prove to himself and others that I'm not going to let something like cancer beat me.

[StarLyte]

My father and I have backpacked since 1965. Perhaps I have seen some of you on the Trail when we were kids.....that thought fascinates me. Who knows, your family might even know my family.

We'll talk about it sometime around a campfire. I have awesome stories of the hikers I met thru the years.....

My mother knew that her purpose in life was to drop my father and I off at AT trailheads.

I remember quite clearly waving good bye to her as she drove away, and then I would run into the woods....it felt like Xmas morning every time. Sometimes my dad and I would ask her to just drop us off at the freeway exit and we'd walk to the trailheads....just because we were so happy to be hiking.

He and I planned to thru-hike on many occasions but he died at any early age of unnatural causes.

He didn't call it "thru-hiking", he called it "walking on the Trail." It was just another day to us, it wasn't anything special, and it was OUR little secret.

We acquired a love for night hiking as well. My uncles loved this idea, and gave us their military gear to use.

Our packs were always ready to go. We never shipped food or gear ahead. We carried or hitchhiked into town for our food - we loved doing that. Meeting the people in AT towns, and the kids in these surrounding towns would always run up to me and tell me secrets about the Trail, where to find certain things, where the "coolest" places to draw water....and where they hid things.....sure enough I'd find their treasure(s). Those same kids are probably real big now on geocaching. Some kids would give us bear reports, and even had nicknames for the wild animals.

Our packs sat a lot thru the years as I had no one to hike with, yet mom allowed me to day hike. Never had a name for it, so when I heard the term "slackpack" it caught my attention.

We'd return to a trailhead after a full day of hiking, and she would be sitting there waiting for us, very upset that we took too long....little did she know that I had walked up a few miles and ran back because I didn't want to leave. I told her that one day she's going to drop us off and I'm not returning, she said when hell freezes over. Hell never froze over.

I'm still sectioning the AT. I dream of thru-hiking, but I have asthma now so I'd have to flip and plan it carefully.

[Jan LiteShoe]

When my mother died in late 2000.

Losing a parent is one of life's checkpoints.

I think most people who thruhike the first time are in some sort of transition - out of school, job loss, retirement, divorce, death of a nearest, general life reevaluation. A long journey is a great metaphor for the internal process.

Not to diminish the other benefits: fresh air, nature and scenery, challenge and exercise, the love of camping, etc. But as a trigger, "transition" is a common theme.

[Sly]

After a difficult break-up and the need to get away, I was literally in transition, moving from MA to FL, when I stopped in the Smokies and met a couple that had thru-hiked a few years before. I asked a few questions and by the time I got to FL I was planning my hike that next spring. It's become a lifestyle...

[Boat Drinks]

When my mother died in late 2000.

Losing a parent is one of life's checkpoints.

I think most people who thruhike the first time are in some sort of transition - out of school, job loss, retirement, divorce, death of a nearest, general life reevaluation. A long journey is a great metaphor for the internal process.

Not to diminish the other benefits: fresh air, nature and scenery, challenge and exercise, the love of camping, etc. But as a trigger, "transition" is a common theme.

This is quite close. For me 2005-2006 were not nice years, lets see; had to put my own dog down after being with me for 15 years, was a gift in college from my sweetheart, learned my father has terminal cancer and had maybe 6 months to go, got separated from my Great Danes, my house and my wife, got divorced, my Dad died, (he lived a Little over a year from the "Doctor's" prediction, why do they do that? Is it like at Disney World where the sign tells you it's gonna be an hour wait and then it's only 30 minutes? It's supposed to make you feel better about waiting or something?) I started to realize my job was sucking my energy out of me at a pace too fast to be replaced by natural means, (See Child abuse thread for more on this..). So, I found myself in Florida by my self, with my remaining family in VA. I became lonely and started to miss family, a lot. I thought, "Hmm, The AT would be a good thing for you right now Johnny, you used to be good at absorbing energy from forests and mountains and the ocean, so maybe you can get that back, maybe you can re-discover that laid back, fun loving, generous person folks used to know. Maybe what you need right now is a good, long WALKABOUT!"

'Cause right now I don't like people too much. I like my Dog . I know they say not to hike with home issues, but none of my issues will affect me on the trail like a sketchy relationship or legal problems or anything like that. My issues NEED the Trail!
My hopes and prayers are that the AT saves my life.

THE GOOD NEWS IS; that after posting here at WB for a short time, I think it's gonna work. So far people have gone out of their way to help me and to guide me and I have gotten PMs and phone calls from members here. So if this is a preview of the kindness and humanity I'll meet out there, then this will be good.!

[Sly]

You're ripe for the trail coralrives, it has a healing effect.

[Namaste]

I've been dreaming of a thru hike for many years. I have done lots of section hikes especially in Maine including the mighty Katahdin. My first big hike dream was to hike the Himalayas which I did for my 40th birthday. After looking at the calendar for the next few years I've come to the decision that 2010 is my year for a thru hike. I will be northbound and hopefully complete by my 50th birthday which is Oct. 16.

The thought of dropping out of society for 5-6 months is very appealing. My daughters love hiking as well and are very supportive and want to hike some of it with me if it's possible.

[Dancer]

I can't get the trail out of my head. I read an article about the AT about 15 years ago and can truthfully say I've thought about it everyday since. I'm finally going to do it and hope that the call quiets enough that I can move on . I haven't done it before now because I have been struggling undiagnosed with anxiety and depression and didn't think I could do it or that I was worth all the effort.

Now I have a handle on my conditions I know that I can do anything I put my mind to. I still may be a little skiddish when it gets dark and I'm in a shelter by myself but it's something that I have to face. If I can do this then I can do anything!

See you on the trail in '07
Amazonwoman

[Footslogger]

For those who have either gone, or made the decision to go: What was the event or events in your life that allowed or caused you to finally decide that you were actually going to go?

======================================

1. Credit cards were all paid off

2. Last alimony payment was February (2003)

3. Had enough in savings to cover the cost of the hike

4. Was miserable in my job

5. I wasn't getting any younger

6. Was married to a former thru-hiker who "understood"

'Slogger

[Lone Wolf]

Like many things in life, I am sure that many people dream and plan for an AT thruhike for years. Unfortunately, I imagine that many will never actually make an attempt due primarily to the demands of "The Real World".

For those who have either gone, or made the decision to go: What was the event or events in your life that allowed or caused you to finally decide that you were actually going to go?

I was riding on the back of a garbage truck one hot July day 21 years ago and decided to hike the AT. 8 months later I was at Amicalola and started walking. Din't do much planning either. So I guess stinking garbage caused me to go.

[Jim Adams]

I had my best friend sit with me and dream up a trip of a life time one night while sitting around a campfire on a river bank. 2 years later a worsening relationship ended and I was ready to do the trip with my friend but he was not able to get away from his business so I left on my own with his outfitters support. I paddled from Confluence Pennsylvania to New Orleans then got onto the AT and thru'd to Maine where I bicycled back to Confuence. I now have over 25,000 miles of canoeing under my belt and a significant amount in the northern Canadian wilderness. I have always felt and known that the canoeing holds far more adventure than any of the hikes that I've done but for some reason I think of the AT everyday! The decision to do my second thru was not even a decision. I just missed the AT so I went again!
geek

[StarLyte]

I was riding on the back of a garbage truck one hot July day 21 years ago and decided to hike the AT. 8 months later I was at Amicalola and started walking. Din't do much planning either. So I guess stinking garbage caused me to go.

HA HA HA HA HA

[StarLyte]

I had my best friend sit with me and dream up a trip of a life time one night while sitting around a campfire on a river bank. 2 years later a worsening relationship ended and I was ready to do the trip with my friend but he was not able to get away from his business so I left on my own with his outfitters support. I paddled from Confluence Pennsylvania to New Orleans then got onto the AT and thru'd to Maine where I bicycled back to Confuence. I now have over 25,000 miles of canoeing under my belt and a significant amount in the northern Canadian wilderness. I have always felt and known that the canoeing holds far more adventure than any of the hikes that I've done but for some reason I think of the AT everyday! The decision to do my second thru was not even a decision. I just missed the AT so I went again!
geek

........and you rock GEEK !

You also are an important part of Appalachian Trail history I might add !

[John Scott]

I first heard about the Trail whilst hiking in South Africa in '95 and thought it utter madness to even consider such a trip. The madness caught up with me for reasons that are still unclear to me. I had done a bunch of hiking in Europe and Africa, but nothing substantial.

So I thru-hiked in 2000 to celebrate my 40th birthday - I wanted something different, I wanted to explore the US with all its weirdness and I wanted to push my mind and body further than ever before. The Trail allowed me to do just this plus a whole lot more.

[Krewzer]

For those who have either gone, or made the decision to go: What was the event or events in your life that allowed or caused you to finally decide that you were actually going to go?

Retirement was the long awaited event, but the cause was way back.

The day the idea was put in my head was in the early 70's, when a stranger told me I was standing on the AT at Newfound Gap, and it followed mountain tops all the way from Georgia to Maine. I don't have any idea why I believed him, but I did.

An hour or so later I happened to stop at Sugarlands Visitor Center and discovered the GA/NC ATC guide and couldn't help but buy it. It was totally technical, seemed like more numbers than words, and on paper completely lacking of any literary hint of adventure, romance or mystery. The hand drawn maps were, and still are, a hoot. I read it cover to cover, mile by mile, shelter to shelter, peak to peak and practically memorized those maps. I still occasionally pull it out to show off a bit.

That was it for me; that one day, that one stranger, and that one book.

[scout005]

I met a thru hiker at Hertlein Campsite on the A.T. in 1975 when I was 18. I was carrying way too much gear, even some beers. He was setup down by the dam. He joined us at our camp that night and I offerred him a beer. You'd a thought I offerred him a gold bar! Dude was so greatful for something so basic as a can of beer. He wasn't carrying much and was lean and sinewy from all the hiking. Right there I said "I gotta do this, man". So, I'm thru hiking in 2010, God willing.