Interview for thru-hikers!

[Weasel2013]

Hi everyone,

My name is Weasel or Rabbit (it got switched on the trail) and I completed a thru-hike in 2013 for college credit. One thing I did for this credit was to interview hikers about their experience in order to determine why some people are able to finish. I also want to interview people after the trail so if you thru-hiked or attempted to I would love it if you could answer the following questions.

1. What year did you hike?

2. Did you complete your hike?

3. If not why did you get off the trail?

4. If you did finish what kept you going during the hard times? What did you think about?

5. Wether you finished or not what was the hardest part?

6. Did you enjoy your overall experience?

7. What's your trail name?

The answers can be anything and they don't need to be perfect just the truth. If you have any questions for me I would be glad to answer them. Thanks so much for this last bit of trail magic!

[Just Bill]

2000
No, SOBO- Big K to Wind Gap, Pa
I got a stress fracture (shin) and had a bullseye rash- stress fracture turned out to be very real- rash was never resolved but likely a spider bite.
n/a
I honestly can't say there was a hardest part- other than having to leave.
I enjoyed 95% of my hike, including the underall experience. The 5% I didn't enjoy, I learned a lot from.
On that hike my trail name was Willie Nelson- named by Sharkbait from Athens, GA. Given for my red bandana and pigtails.

[Cro-Mag]

Hey Rabbit! It's Salad Days, glad to help you out.

1. What year did you hike?
- 2013

2. Did you complete your hike?
- Hell yes!

3. If not why did you get off the trail?
- n/a

4. If you did finish what kept you going during the hard times? What did you think about?
- This is not meant to sound like bragging, but I left Georgia with the goal of reaching Katahdin. I saw it as there being no other option, apart from an injury or family emergency. I knew the hike would be 90% mental. A year before leaving I began preparing mentally for the hike. Everyday morning I would get to work and visualize having to hike 15-20 miles, no matter what. A year of doing that helped a great deal. I also read a few books about long distance journeys and the mental strain it proposes.

5. Wether you finished or not what was the hardest part?
- The hardest part was the last 280 miles of Maine. The anticipation of reaching my goal was near, my body was sore and I was sick of putting on wet, cold clothes.

6. Did you enjoy your overall experience?
- Yes, very much. I would not thru hike the AT a second time though. I would, however, do another long trail.

7. What's your trail name?
- Salad Days

[Statue]

1. 2013
2. yes
3.
4. I didn't have too many hard times but simply put I had to finish. No matter how hard of a day I was having not finishing would have been, for me, extremely hard to accept. I was all in from the first step, and I knew it.
5. The hardest part was the preparation, once I was out there it was easy.
6. Most defiantly, I made life long friends and will be attempting thru hikes for the rest of my life
7. Statue

[Weasel2013]

Thanks so much for answering! I'm sorry to hear about what happened on your hike. I hope you have better luck on any furture outdoor adventures.

[Weasel2013]

That ^^^ is for Just Bill. Statue and Cro-Mag I also really appreciate your answers and am glad you had such awesome hikes!

[Malto]

1. What year did you hike? 2011 - PCT


2. Did you complete your hike? -yes


3. If not why did you get off the trail?


4. If you did finish what kept you going during the hard times? What did you think about? I had done much harder days prior to my hike so I knew I could get through the day, that is the mental piece.


5. Wether you finished or not what was the hardest part? 500 miles of snow in the Sierra.


6. Did you enjoy your overall experience? Most of it was type 1 fun, many days were type 2 fun (fun after the pain wore off due to a sense of satisfaction.)


7. What's your trail name? Malto

the question of what makes some finish and others quit was intriguing to me during my hike. As I talked with the early survivors in 2011 I found some common qualities, experience, determination, a "prove I can't do it" mentality and many were also enjoyers of type 2 fun activities such as marathons or ultras.

[Weasel2013]

Awesome thanks for the insight Malto!

[Meriadoc]

1. What year did you hike?
2012
2. Did you complete your hike?
Yes
3. If not why did you get off the trail?

4. If you did finish what kept you going during the hard times? What did you think about?
I performed a self-check of my reasons for hiking. As long as they still existed, I was still going to hike even if the moment felt unbearable.
5. Whether you finished or not what was the hardest part?
Working out a relationship with my hiking partner as the relationship evolved into more. We met on the trail and are still the best of friends.
Tied for most difficult was repeated heat exhaustion during heat waves of 95-100+ that wrecked my body.
6. Did you enjoy your overall experience?
Absolutely.
7. What's your trail name?
Merry the Hobbit

[evyck da fleet]

1) 2012 2) Yes 4) Accepting that there will be bad days, maybe even a few in a row and stopping to rest when I realized I was making it hard on myself. Reflected on what caused the hard days in order to prevent them in the future. 5) Hardest part was adapting to life on the trail the first 6-12 days since this was my first overnight hike. 6)Definitely 7)Pacecar

[FooFighter'12]

1. 2012
2. Yep
4. Although I only looked forward a week at a time and allowed myself to get excited about the little highlights in my guidebook, my goal was 'Katahdin or bust'. And besides, friends back home had a bet on how long I would last but none had me going all the way, so I couldn't let them fools feel any satisfaction in my defeat.
5. There were a few hard parts: walking through three hail storms, catching the norovirus, a bit of a mental breakdown in PA, dehydration in NY during a heat wave(thank god for trail angels leaving water on the trail), but the hardest was walking with Lyme's disease.
6. Oh yeah, would definitely do it again.
7. Foo fighter

[ChinMusic]

1. What year did you hike?
2013 NOBO

2. Did you complete your hike?
Yes

3. If not why did you get off the trail?
NA

4. If you did finish what kept you going during the hard times? What did you think about?
I am very stubborn and goal oriented. I just had a burning desire to finish. Destination trumped Journey in my case, not to diminish the importance of the journey.

5. Wether you finished or not what was the hardest part?
Maine for sure. My mental game started to waiver and my body had had about enough.

6. Did you enjoy your overall experience?
Emphatically, yes. Was it all fun? No. Fun is easy. It was "better than fun".

7. What's your trail name?
ChinMusic

[rickb]

1. What year did you hike? 1983

2. Did you complete your hike? Yes

3. If not why did you get off the trail? N/A

4. If you did finish what kept you going during the hard times? Thought the idea of walking 2000 miles was a rather cool challenge, and had nothing else calling.

What did you think about? Same stuff every 23-year old guy without a job or on-going relationship does. And food.

5. Wether you finished or not what was the hardest part? Only seeing one other Southbounder on the Trail, and him only for a few days. And eating something like 120 tins of sardines.

6. Did you enjoy your overall experience? Yes.

7. What's your trail name? Rick

The answers can be anything and they don't need to be perfect just the truth. If you have any questions for me I would be glad to answer them. Thanks so much for this last bit of trail magic![/QUOTE]

[Pressure D]

#1 2013
#2 Yes
#3N/A
#4 I waited 36 years to hike the trail, there was no way I would quit. I was having to much fun and had to many great people all around me.
#5 The mid Atlantic states during the heat wave. I was sweating my off.
#6 I loved it!!!!!!
#7 Pressure D

[wookinpanub]

1. What year did you hike? 1990

2. Did you complete your hike? Dang straight

3. If not why did you get off the trail?

4. If you did finish what kept you going during the hard times? What did you think about? Having lived my whole life in Florida at the time, I was hiking Southbound and thinking about getting closer to home. Also, my dad told me I wouldn't last 2 weeks out there. No way I was quitting after that.

5. Wether you finished or not what was the hardest part? Intense solitude. I was a very early southbounder (May) and NEVER had a hiking partner. I didn't share a shelter until Grafton Notch. No sense of community or friendships like northbounders.

6. Did you enjoy your overall experience? I wouldn't trade it for the world.

7. What's your trail name? Wookinpanub (youtube "Buckwheat sings" by Eddie Murphy)

[Different Socks]

1. What year did you hike? 1992

2. Did you complete your hike? Yes!

3. If not why did you get off the trail? Did get off for 3 weeks to allow shin splints to heal

4. If you did finish what kept you going during the hard times? What did you think about? Thoughts of a hot dinner, a dry and empty shelter, that i'd never really accomplished anything in my life. Thought about--anything and everything!

5. Wether you finished or not what was the hardest part? Smokies and 3 feet of snow in May.

6. Did you enjoy your overall experience? Yes!! I will be doing it again in 2 years, this time from Florida to Maine to GA, to ME, back to GA, --1 1/2 years of hiking!!

7. What's your trail name? Different Socks and still is.

[Storm]

1. What year did you hike? 2012

2. Did you complete your hike? No

3. If not why did you get off the trail? Developed severe back pain. After several epidural shots and two MRIs it was finally determined I had a bone spur pressing on a nerve. Had surgery in Jan this year and everything has been going pretty good. Hope to take another shot before I pass.

4. If you did finish what kept you going during the hard times? What did you think about?

5. Wether you finished or not what was the hardest part? Trying to hike up hill with severe back pain.

6. Did you enjoy your overall experience? Loved the hike as far as I got. (288 miles)

7. What's your trail name? Storm

[Stink Bug]

1. What year did you hike?

2013

2. Did you complete your hike?

Yes.

3. If not why did you get off the trail?

N/A

4. If you did finish what kept you going during the hard times? What did you think about?

The people I'd met and the encouragement from my girlfriend (we hiked together).

5. Wether you finished or not what was the hardest part?

CT in the heatwave, the bugs and thunderstorms. Oh and the amount of rain we had this year!

6. Did you enjoy your overall experience?

Absolutely, even the sucky days.

7. What's your trail name?

Stink Bug

[CarlZ993]

Hi everyone,

My name is Weasel or Rabbit (it got switched on the trail) and I completed a thru-hike in 2013 for college credit. One thing I did for this credit was to interview hikers about their experience in order to determine why some people are able to finish. I also want to interview people after the trail so if you thru-hiked or attempted to I would love it if you could answer the following questions.

1. What year did you hike?

2. Did you complete your hike?

3. If not why did you get off the trail?

4. If you did finish what kept you going during the hard times? What did you think about?

5. Wether you finished or not what was the hardest part?

6. Did you enjoy your overall experience?

7. What's your trail name?

The answers can be anything and they don't need to be perfect just the truth. If you have any questions for me I would be glad to answer them. Thanks so much for this last bit of trail magic!

1. 2013; NoBo
2. Yes; 3/21 to 8/19 (152 days)
3. N/A
4. I had many friends rooting for my to succeed. I didn't want to let them down. I also hiked with people along the way. One guy in particular, Knightrider, hiked w/ me for 700 miles (NY until Monson, ME; he injured his foot & had to take some zeros there to recover). When I was feeling down, he helped me get through it. I did the same when he was feeling down. It helped greatly. What did I think about? Tomorrow will be better. Sometimes it was. Sometimes it wasn't. But I wasn't going to quit unless I had a cast on something.
5. The hardest part was the really slick rock in VT, NH, & ME. I fell often. Bent 3 poles, broke two others. One trip to the ER to make sure I didn't break my arm. I hated the wet, slick rock. I was fearful of breaking something as I neared the end.
6. Overall, I guess I did. The people made the hike. Met some really quality people on the trail. I was disappointed in the overall beauty of the trail (although it did improve at the end). Lot of boring forest walking. I got spoiled in some of my previous backpacking treks (Western US, Canada, NZ, Chile/Argentina).
7. Zman

[GreenTurtle]

> What year did you hike?

Well, I hike every year. Depends on which trail you're talking about. ;o)

1. I thru-hiked the AT in 2003, the Wonderland Trail in 2004 and 2005, the Florida Trail/Alabama Trail/Pinhoti Trail/Benton MacKaye Trail to Springer Mountain in 2008, the PCT in 2010, the Camino de Santiago in 2012, and this year I did the Tahoe Rim Trail, Wonderland Trail, and Long Trail.

2. I completed all of them except the first Wonderland Trail attempt.

3. I got off the trail on that first Wonderland Trail attempt because my knees were in agony. Just took things too hard early in the trip then couldn't keep up with my permit schedule. (Stupid permits did me in! I'd have still hobbled around the whole mountain if they let me!)

4. Thinking about good times ahead helps me through hard times in the present. =) I'd think about pretty much everything at some point along the way. Not like I'd think about the same things every single day!

5. Hardest parts....? I'll limit my answers to the AT thru-hike. Physically, the White Mountains kicked me in the butt! Mentally... the last month or so was hardest because I was SO ready to be done with the hike. It couldn't come soon enough!

6. Absolutely. =) Well, okay, the Alabama Trail--Worst Trail Ever. Anyone who claims otherwise is lying. You couldn't pay me enough money to ever hike that "trail" again. The other trails I enjoyed in various degrees, though. =)

7. Green Turtle on the AT. Green Tortuga on the other trails.