If you’ve ever thought about doing a thru-hike, you’ve probably scoured the inter webs for every scrap of advice. You might have browsed r/ultralight, read Wild, or followed every Instagram hiker promising inspiration with perfectly staged trail selfies. You tell yourself: “I’m going to do that one day.” All inspiring. But sometimes, a checklist or gear list isn’t enough, you’ve got to prepare mentally.
You won’t be crushing 25 mile days right out the gate.
This sounds physical, but it’s really mental. Many times I’ve told people the only “training” I did before a thru-hike was eating everything I wanted. The truth is, your body needs a transition period for the first few weeks. Muscles will ache. Feet will hurt. Shoulders will cramp. Gear won’t work like you planned. The tent will flap in the wind like it’s mocking you. All of this is normal. Give yourself patience, the things that frustrate you early on will become the things you crave a few months in
PUDS (Pointless Ups and Downs)
The trail brings an emotional rollercoaster along with its scenery. More than once I’ve stared at an upcoming pass, almost in tears, not because it wasn’t beautiful, but because hauling my tired butt up 3,000 feet of elevation while starving works my mind just as much as my legs.
Small goals
When I stepped onto the PCT for my second thru hike, doubt hit hard. Why am I doing another 2,000+ mile journey? I knew the pain to come. But as we approached the first mile marker, I realized something important: if I could make it one more mile, I could make it all the way. Small goals turn impossibility into possibility,
Step into the process and embrace it.
Embrace the suck. The trail will test you in ways you didn’t expect. On the Appalachian Trail, the one thing I never considered that nearly made me quit? Chafing. Yes, chafing. the smallest, most ridiculous pain can break if you let it.
Expect challenges and embrace the frustration, in the end there will still be laughter at the absurdity of it all. (At least there was for me). Even when it stops being fun, savor it. These moments are the ones that transform you on trail.
Hike on
The trail doesn’t only teach you about the outdoors and how to live and function in it. It teaches you about patience, humility, forgiveness, restoration, perseverance, and yourself. It’s messy, it’s exhausting, and many times, painfully slow, but every step shapes you.
Hike on.