Date: 2008-01-14
To: Postpartum Blues
Miles today: 0.0

Well this is a subject that a number of hikers have experienced (myself included) ¢ but usually only after FINISHING a thru-hike. It doesn¢t seem to occur in hikers who are unable to finish. They are concentrating more on why they decided to stop their hike, or their feelings of wanting to get off the trail and back into ¢normal¢ life.No, postpartum blues is a condition that seems to be pretty exclusive to hikers who have finished their hike. It encompasses a number of feelings that can actually result in a degree of depression, anxiety and confusion.What the heck am I talking about? Well, a thru-hiker has conditioned himself/herself to one primary goal ¢ reaching the end of the Trail. I don¢t care if we are talking about a purist, slack packer, blue blazer, whatever. The goal is still the same - if you are a thru-hiker ¢ getting to Katahdin (or Springer). But some hikers, as they begin to get closer to their goal, start getting feelings of sadness or regret that their hike will soon be ending. It¢s almost as if the start of a thru-hike is your birth. When you begin to get on the downhill side of the hike/life, you start to reflect on what has taken place. The closer to the end/death, the greater the emotions may be.I¢m not in any way saying these feelings affect a majority of hikers. But I do know, and have read, that a number of hikers will go through these feelings. From my experience, the last two weeks or so of my hike were both exciting and sad. I was thrilled I was going to finish, but I knew by finishing that an important event in my life was ending. And doing an AT thru-hike has indeed been one of the most significant events in my life.On the very day I finished the hike I was jubilant. The very next day I felt regret it was over. I actually considered the idea of doing a ¢yoyo¢ (hiking back to where you started from). If I had the funds, the time, and a patient wife I might have actually tried it. Instead, I had to face some issues I had not considered before:1)        Learning to live a daily life totally unlike the way I had lived for the past six months.2)        Learning to fit back into a society where I did not dictate what I did daily.3)        Interacting with people by necessity, not because I chose to.4)        Scheduling my life around work, home and family/friends5)        Overall, getting my head ¢wrapped¢ back into a ¢normal¢ modeI¢m sure there must be many hikers who cherish the idea of getting away from the daily Trail routine and back to normalcy. But there are a few (who knows whom?) that have a bit more difficulty transitioning back to normalcy. I was one of those.I have read others write that there are some things you can do to help offset the transition from Trail to real world. Here are some of their suggestions (with some of mine added in):1)        If at all possible, try to take a month or two off after your hike before going back to work. Especially if your type of work directly contrasts with your Trail life.2)        Don¢t totally let go of your hiking experiences. Try to stay involved by doing things like continuing Trail Journal entries or being a trail angel for any trails near where you live.3)        Don¢t wait until the end of your hike to start dealing with approaching issues. Talk to other hikers (who may well be going through the same thing). And definitely talk to your ¢support person¢ back at home ¢ wife/husband, girlfriend/boyfriend, dog (j/j), etc.4)        Make a promise to yourself that one day in the future, sooner than later, you will get back on a trail, if only for a weekend. And that action will become a repetitive cycle for the rest of your life.Of course all of the above assumes that you had a positive experience with your thru-hike. Some will throw up their arms in grateful gratitude when it has finally, at long last, ended. Life moving forward will probably be a lot simpler for them