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Why Most Thru-hikes Fail

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    • Not finishing shouldnt be called "failing"

      Real failing, is not trying at all.

      Aside from running out of money, or getting prohibitively injured, people quit hiking because they dont want to hike anymore. They have determined that finishing, isnt the most important thing to them at the moment.

    • Tuckahoe wrote:

      What an utter load of bovine scat! Might as well just hand out participation trophies.
      That is much sadder than Trump's Hair.
      Uh, you don't get any trophy no matter what happens.
      It's NOT a sport.
      Now I'm very well aware often egos become planet sized on the Big K, but that is your individual problem.
      As someone smarter than me has often said.
      "It's just walkin"

    • Oh, I just thought of a way the participation trophy guys are correct.
      I go to the shoe store.
      They don't have my size.
      I leave.
      I did FAIL to buy shoes in a really overdone statement.
      If you want to make a big deal about what is clearly not a big deal, fine.
      That would make everyone on earth, a failure, hundreds of times a day.
      To see the world that way is waaaaay too sad.

    • Why is it so hard or so evil to say if a stated goal isn't achieved that you failed to achieve that goal? If you set out to "thru hike" and you quit then, plain and simple, you failed to achieve your goal. Is that saying you didn't do something memorable? No. Is that saying you didn't grow as person? No. Is that saying you didn't prove something to yourself, etc, etc? No, it doesn't, but that wasn't your stated goal. Congrats on all the other great things you accomplished, but don't get mad when someone says you failed at "thru hiking" because, well, you did fail.

      It takes away from everything else you accomplished when you stomp your feet and get defensive in saying you didn't fail when you did.

      In fact, I would go so far as to say you failed yourself from the start by having "thru hiking" as your goal.
      If your Doctor is a tree, you're on acid.

    • Blue Jay La Fey wrote:

      Tuckahoe wrote:

      What an utter load of bovine scat! Might as well just hand out participation trophies.
      That is much sadder than Trump's Hair.Uh, you don't get any trophy no matter what happens.
      It's NOT a sport.
      Now I'm very well aware often egos become planet sized on the Big K, but that is your individual problem.
      As someone smarter than me has often said.
      "It's just walkin"
      Hey...can you like your own posts?

      I'm sorry...that was Jim Blue liking Blue Jay....birds of a color stick....sorry I can ryme it.
      I may grow old but I'll never grow up.

    • Drybones wrote:

      Blue Jay La Fey wrote:

      Tuckahoe wrote:

      What an utter load of bovine scat! Might as well just hand out participation trophies.
      That is much sadder than Trump's Hair.Uh, you don't get any trophy no matter what happens.It's NOT a sport.
      Now I'm very well aware often egos become planet sized on the Big K, but that is your individual problem.
      As someone smarter than me has often said.
      "It's just walkin"
      Hey...can you like your own posts?
      I'm sorry...that was Jim Blue liking Blue Jay....birds of a color stick....sorry I can ryme it.
      Birds of a color, stick wiff each other.
      bacon can solve most any problem.

    • max.patch wrote:

      Blue Jay La Fey wrote:

      That is much sadder than Trump's Hair.
      didn't you get the memo? we don't talk about political schitt anymore.
      you start with trumps hair, i counter with hillarys wigs, and before ya know it someone has george bush as the mastermind behind 9/11.
      Nonsense, I've been making fun of Trump's scalp weasel for decades, I'm not about to stop just because he has entered the political arena.

      I hope his barber didn't get a participation trophy.
      Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.

    • Full disclosure: I only responded because I wanted to use the phrase "scalp weasel".

      I only wrote this followup because I wanted to use the phrase "scalp weasel" two more times.
      Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.

    • SarcasmTheElf wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      Blue Jay La Fey wrote:

      That is much sadder than Trump's Hair.
      didn't you get the memo? we don't talk about political schitt anymore.you start with trumps hair, i counter with hillarys wigs, and before ya know it someone has george bush as the mastermind behind 9/11.
      Nonsense, I've been making fun of Trump's scalp weasel for decades, I'm not about to stop just because he has entered the political arena.
      I hope his barber didn't get a participation trophy.
      He did...but in his heart he knows he's a loser.
      I may grow old but I'll never grow up.

    • Drybones wrote:

      Blue Jay La Fey wrote:

      Tuckahoe wrote:

      What an utter load of bovine scat! Might as well just hand out participation trophies.
      That is much sadder than Trump's Hair.Uh, you don't get any trophy no matter what happens.It's NOT a sport.
      Now I'm very well aware often egos become planet sized on the Big K, but that is your individual problem.
      As someone smarter than me has often said.
      "It's just walkin"
      Hey...can you like your own posts?
      I'm sorry...that was Jim Blue liking Blue Jay....birds of a color stick....sorry I can ryme it.
      Thats not why I clicked Like.
      gif.013.gif
      --
      "What do you mean its sunrise already ?!", me.

    • Mountain-Mike wrote:

      I too prefer to camp with company & hike alone. It relieve the boredom of being alone.

      Rafe, how far iinto your thru was it before you called it quits. I believe you were like many hikers. No longer a challange. Day after day the same thing. It becomes a job. one starts thinking of what they could be doing instead. Being back home with friends & family. Delicious food that is readily available. Being clean!
      650 miles or so, quit a couple days north of Pearisburg.

      Yep, I was bored and not really having fun. It felt like a job. You nailed it.

      Walked Katahdin to Monson in September of that year, had fun, made great time, but even so, didn't feel like continuing on after Monson.