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[at-l] Re Timeframes and Journals and Such



> Friends and neighbors:
>
>       This thread could not be more timely.   With a start date of March
14, I
> have reached the fifth level of Pre-Hike Purgatory -- you know the one
where
> you're desperately trying to get it all together, and the pile of stuff in
the
> corner keeps growing, but the backpack just sits there looking at you
saying --
> "Yo, Dude, I ain't getting any bigger, ya know, "  and you just spent
three
> whole days of your Christmas vacation planning which shelters to stay in
and how
> many miles a day and how many mail drops between Springer and Waynesboro,
and
> then you get this email that gives you what you just KNOW is the right
mileage
> per day for Georgia, and you say to yourself "FONTANA".    Now I've got to
go
> back and redo the whole thing.
>
You sound a lot like me this time last year. One word of advice: Quit
worrying! Well, that's two words, but you get the idea.

I over-planned everything, carried too much gear, and stressed way too much
about "getting it right." Then I started getting headaches everyday, and
came off the trail in NC. I got extremely depressed because I hadn't "got it
right." I hid out for months after I came back, partly from hurting so
bad--I still get those headaches--and partly from a misplaced sense of
embarrassment.

There is no right way except to enjoy yourself. There is no wrong way except
to worry too much.

I'm going to take off on a hike from Springer again this year. I'm not gonna
call it a thru-hike, unless I end up in Maine. That's reasonable for me,
because of the frequency of major migraines and cluster headaches that I
have. I'll get both occipital nerves blocked right before I leave, take my
meds every day, take a lot less gear, and hike until it isn't fun any more.
Not a bad idea, IMO.

90% of the folks who start don't do a thru-hike. Chances are that you and I
won't either. Does that mean that we shouldn't try? No. It just means that
it shouldn't be what it takes to brand our hikes as successful. I had a good
time last year, and I'm going to have a good time again this year.

:-)
Frank