Women Thru Hikers

[botanista]

Nice question! I quit my job to do this, although I hope to have to leave the trail early to go to a job interview. No kids or other family. I'm recently divorced from a very nice man who doesn't backpack, so now I'm going back to something I enjoyed in my youth.

[yappy]

) have left my husband and dogs at home the past few thrus and it isn't easy... quite a bummer actually... I wish he liked to hike but he thinks I am nuts..

[BlindFaith]

I would LOVE to do a thur hike. Is there anyone out there who is in relationship with someone who doesn't hike and is less than thrilled about the idea of a thru hike? Just curious.

[yappy]

I didnt mean those smilies faces. I meant to do the sad the sad faces .. it is NO fun leaving someone you love behind. It is about the worst day on the trip. I never gave it a whole lot of thought when I wasn't leaving Brad about how others do it but now... I have alot more understanding . I am not sure how long I will be able to do it actually.... esp the long walks. Lately they have been shorter hikes and that does help. Anyhow ,good luck with your decision.

[betsi]

i did my thru last year (2009) and turned 40 on the trail. i was 10 years out of grad school and was able to gather a nice nest egg and take a leave of absence. (i hesitate to call myself "pre" anything. let's say i'm childfree.)

what i enjoyed about my timing (other than how awesome a 40th birthday present is a thru-hike?) was that i didn't have to worry about money. if i'd hiked the trail when i originally thought i was going to hike it (~3 years out of grad school), the timing would have required me to be much more disciplined about my spending. i saved for a long time, so i wanted to not worry about cash for 6 months or so.

if i do choose to have children, they will all be invited to thru-hike with me when the last one turns 18.