[pct-l] Adjusting after the hike, missing trail life

[Jessica Winters]

I want to comment on your post because it's so true and I've been  
feeling the severe thru hiker anxiety lately by just wanting to get  
back out there - so I really connected to your post.

My first thru hike was in 2002 on the PCT.  Life has NEVER been the  
same since.  I live in Washington, I get to hike all the time.  I  
even have July and some of August off being a teacher and get to do  
nice long hikes pretty much where ever and hike whatever I want  
without limitations in the summer.  But even when I'm hiking and  
backpacking I have this longing for a thru hike.  I'm pretty sure and  
have decided that this feeling will never go away.  Nobody that  
hasn't thru hiked understands this in my "normal" life.

I am grateful for all experiences and adventures I have. I am always  
looking forward to that next thing but a thru hike is very special.   
I get the feeling of being a part of the wilderness system.  It is  
such a simple life that just makes sense.  I do get this feeling on  
shorter trips too, oh but just to thru hike again....  one day!!!

I remember coming off the PCT and thinking I am SO happy to be done!   
I'll never do that again...  how funny I had that thought.  In fact  
after I got done hiking, with in just a few weeks a massive  
depression set in so I took off again 6 months later to do it again  
but on the AT this time.

When completing the AT this time I knew exactly what I was in store  
for and the depression was more manageable because I knew what to  
expect.  Returning home from a long hike is a rough transition.

So, how exciting it is to plan for the hike ahead of  you, oh thru  
hikers of the PCT class of 2011!  Enjoy!  I hope your transition back  
into the after hiking life is not so rough as it was on me and many  
others.

And these  are just a few of my thoughts as I am dreaming about the  
next thru hike.

Love,
Wildflower

__________________________________________________________________
Check out my motion picture hiking documentary along the Continental  
Divide Trail at:

http://www.scarletandwildflower.com




On Mar 6, 2011, at 1:38 PM, Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com wrote:

> I know everybody is in pre-hike mode, but I thought I would report in
> on a post-hike topic.
>
> I find it hard to adjust to the modern world since my hike. A lot of
> the nice people I have met (like Shroomer, Tarzan and Zelda) all
> hiked last year. I know some of them feel like me now, but it's been
> the year-before-last for me. That is much too long. I still miss the
> trail!
>
> I think about the trail a lot. How can I get back on it again? It
> occurred to me I was going about this wrong. I may get to do another
> long hike next year, but you never know. I may never get to do one
> ever again. Is there another way to survive?
>
> I realized I'm so lucky to live in Santa Barbara where we have trails
> so close to town. Dozens of them. Many of them lead into the
> wilderness with backpacking camps along the way. I made a big list of
> camps I could hike to in an afternoon with the idea that I could
> leave work early on Friday and go to one of these camps and be home
> by Saturday afternoon and still have a bit of a weekend leftover. Or
> I could just go on Saturday, come back Sunday and take my time. I
> went to one of them yesterday.
>
> It was really nice to spend some time back out in nature again. Doing
> something like hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, where you spend months
> living in nature, is hard to recover from. I think about the trail
> every day. It took me about a year to get used to our dry backcountry
> again. But then I was out there on my local trail and darn it if it
> didn't remind me of hiking around Agua Dulce! The sights and the
> smells. All the memories just flooded back. Boy was I happy!
>
> I can't get used to "regular" life. The commercialism, the
> pointlessness, the destruction of beauty, simplicity and the natural
> world at every turn. I missed being the secret little wood nymph I
> felt like I was on the PCT, living in the forest, peering curiously
> at this modern world of machines and noise, then fading back into my
> forest home in relief where I could be alone with my bird friends. I
> really miss it. That's who I really am. I felt that again on this
> little overnight trip. The clarity of my thoughts returned and I was
> simply happy.
>
> This may be what some of you are in for after this hike. Trying to
> adjust, missing trail life. Not all of you, but some of you. Good  
> luck!
>
> Diane
>
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