My heroin

“This sounds silly, but it really is serious. I'm getting a bit worried about my backpacking habbits. It seems that I am devoting a bit too much time and resources to this hobby that has begun to consume me. While at work I TT, and look up gear, and maps, and parks etc on the internet, while at home, I only want to watch movies that relate in some way to BP'ing, I read books about it constantly now. I find that people who don't hike or can't relate are completely uninteresting to me and I have no use for them what so ever. The thing that is really worrying me is that it has become a tough decision to pay the bills or go hiking. I am worried that I may need to back off for a while, but am not sure I can do that. Damn, this is harder than quiting smoking by a long shot... Seriously if it weren't for my kids, I would probably sell everything and be gone. Doing odd jobs in whatever town I came to for money etc...

Anyone else have this problem?”

“Well......no.

But I do think of my thru hike every single day. Not all the time, but every day something will happen that will send me mentally back to the trail. It may be a cloud formation (this week), a certain fragrance in the woods, or my mind will just wander that way. No doubt I'm fortunate to live where I do, with all the lakes, rivers and forest, but they are mere appetizers for being on a long thru hike.”

“And see, that's the thing that kinda scares me. I've never been on a long trip. Just long weekenders so far. I'm afraid that I would never come home from a long trip. I would just finish, and head off in another direction.”

“I find that people who don't hike or can't relate are completely uninteresting to me

ditto

I do think of my thru hike every single day

ditto”

“I knew you could relate bro.”

“haha, this does not bode well for my shift towards climbing this last year.”

“Yeah sounds like you are being way to consumed with this.”

“Yeah sounds like you are being way to consumed with this.”

“Ya, If I were married there would be serious trouble on the home front. I guess the good news is if you eventually get kicked out, you could come stay down at my place.”

“The difficulty is though: No matter where you go, there YOU are. Maybe under daily monotony here; maybe out there on the trail too?

But I can relate. I feel so very much better all-'round for weeks after a good tramp (through the woods).”

“i thought this was a strange title for a thread, but i guess its better than "my crack"”

“Well, I do love a good dirty tramp... LOL!

I don't really think it has anything to do with escaping myself, though. It's all the ugly superficial crap that we are bombarded with every day constantly. I hate it. From the people around me to the city I work in to the radio, and tv. All of it. I can't tell you the last time I watched a tv show. It has been months. I turned off my satelite a year ago and just have rabbit ears now. I can barely get 3 local channels that I never watch.”

“hike with me for very long and you will prolly catch a glimpse of my crack... LOL!

The noassatall syndrome that I suffer from doesn't leave me with much to hold my drawers up.”

“I was thinking that either the Spelling Nazi would be on your ass... or the DEA,    LOL         Good to know that it's Neither!

Have you heard of any Northbounders who get to Katahdin.... Then they just say #&%!$ It  and head South again?   Perhaps it's apocryphal.”

“ive heard of ppl doing that. its called yo-yoing

i wanna see somebody yo-yo the 10 million steps (key west-gaspe)”

“Not sure if I'm THAT addicted yet. Watching the Office is still an important part of my "healthy person" regimen.

Although, when I bought my car, I didn't really buy what I wanted because I was too worried that I wouldn't have enough money left on a monthly basis to drive it on backpacking trips. That ended up to be a smart move.

But now I'm considering buying a house and I'm up against the same quandry. Most of me thinks my tent is close enough to home ownership right now.

Haven't done any long trips yet. And I just like the term yo-yoing. :)”

“there is something that is so appealing about walking great distances that cannot be explained, only understood by others who share the same feeling. its so relaxing and paradoxically, envigorating at the same time”

“Plus the cops leave you alone when you "see" fireflies, and you can "commune" with nature, if you get my drift. Right crash? =P”

“Watching the Office is still an important part of my "healthy person" regimen. - mariposa

Yeah!”

“Hey meangreen,

only if you start knocking off banks and 7-11's to support your habit do you have to worry. I say this with the utmost sincerity.”

“this said from a man with the prefix tt name of JACK

uhh... err... person
last edited: 9/13/07 6:32:43 PM”

“It's all the ugly superficial crap that we are bombarded with every day constantly.

I feel exactly the same way. I hate commercialism, the mall scene, government and war, among other things. I go to work and home and to the woods, can hardly stand to go anywhere else (except the local outfitters).

I can barely carry on a conversation that doesn't include backpacking. I know people are sick of hearing it.

Hiking is truly a God-given passion that I would love to indulge in much more often, but we still have to pay the bills, and have money for trips & gear. :(
last edited: 9/13/07 6:48:22 PM”

“"Spelling Nazi would be on your ass..."

"envigorating at the same time..."

Where is that spelling guy now?

One of "my" students who works in the library wanted to hear all about my "hiatus" the other day.
Someone had told her about my harebrained adventures in the mountains and she had been car camping with her mom and dad quite a bit.
Oh, to be young and single!
I would surely take this 5' 10" darling on a "hiatus" in the woods.
But alas, I'm old enough to be her father.
last edited: 9/13/07 6:55:54 PM”

“Last year on the Monday after Thanksgiving, a new guy at work asked me if I fought the mall crowds all weekend. I told him, no, I went backpacking and saw wild ponies roaming in the mountains. He almost fell over from shock. Typical, nonhiker reaction.”

“Grayson Highlands?”

“Yep! Going back again this fall! Loved it!”

“I can barely carry on a conversation that doesn't include backpacking. I know people are sick of hearing it.
So true! I'm sure others are tired of hearing it from me. I have to be careful not to talk too much about it at home. Maybe that's why we talk so much on the phone, Stomper. lol.
I'm right there with ya Meangreen. I'm on the computer everytime I can get there (when I'm not hiking) to see what's going on. I'm being looked at for another position at work, which would be a promotion, but I'm thinking about the time involved and how it would interfer with my hiking. I'm looking everyday at the trip page to see when I can get another hike in.”

“lol. I look at maps and other various bpacking things while at work too. It's become an addiction. Actually, its what keeps me awake. I browse whiteblaze and this page looking for info on trails I wanna hike, and plan trips etc etc. :)The majority of my free time is also taken up by thinking/talking about bpacking. The people in my life who are non bpackers are getting sick of listening to me talk....oh well.”

“You too, huh?”

“Ah, the Map Addiction.

I thought the people who hiked the Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim in one go were wacko.... until I heard about the Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim hike.”

“in one day?

i could see doing a rim to rim in one day. the corridor trails are in excellent shape, so no worries if it gets dark, and its not uncommon to go down to the river and back via bright angel”

“I've heard there's a 12 step program. Then you take 12 more, then 12 more till you're hiking miles.”

“One thing is for sure. If Jimmy san has a monkey on this back, it won't weigh more than 11 grams.....”

“true dat”

“LOL!”

“Some of my co-workers think I'm a little touched in the head when I show them pictures of us and the places we go -- like standing around a frozen pond FYAO @ 8 below or hanging ten near some precipice. Ha! SO, what -- they'll never know the happiness. It's all yours and mine.”

“In Melbourne, Florida, many people hike in the "Mall" prior to the actual opening of the Mall each morning. Likely, few of them have ever seen a real trail.”

“It's normal. When folks get into an activity it frequently consumes them for a while. How long that stage lasts depends on many things. At this point I still want to hike but I'm not as consumed by it as I once was.

Backpacking is just one of many things I do, it is not who I am.”

“Yeah gosh you guys are so unique. Just like the million other hikers. You're sure sticking it to "superficial" society when you rush out and buy the latest trail fashion gear and read the latest pulp backpacking books and magazines, and the way you snicker and roll your eyes at the guy daring to walk the trail in cotton and tennis-shoes.

You sure are "getting away from it all" when you step out on your groomed, well-blazed road trail with throngs of other hikers, judging each other's choice of gear, and making a point of oohing and ahing at all the wilderness from the safety of the trail, to prove you're a nature-lover.

You sure are backwoods "bushwacking" with your topo maps loaded into your $350 gps's with all the waypoints marked ahead of time, plus your backup paper maps and cell phone in case you accidently step off your route and need rescuing.

You really are "respecting the environment" with your petroleum based synthetic hiking clothes, backpack, sleeping bag, and tent, not to mention the Jeep you guzzle gas with on the daily commute just so you have the rugged-nature-guy image and the not-really-necessary option of using the 4wd once in a great while to get to the trailhead.

You're really going "back to the basics" with your pre-packaged, freeze-dried, vacuum-sealed $10 meals cooked on the latest $120 backpacking stove - that with its integral windscreen can boil a liter of water in 30 seconds! But hey, they're vegetarian meals, to prove you're a hip alternative crowd kind of person that hates George Bush.

Yeah, you guys are real backwoods Lone Wolf types, socializing daily on Internet backpacking forums, and planning large get togethers in national parks for the sole purpose of drinking as much beer as you can so you can type up a trip report of the guy who made a drunken ass of himself.

Yeah, you guys are the Real Deal - real unique. Definitely not a part of banal society.”

“well, arent we mr "over it" (hpm)

been backpacking since 02. its all that i want to do
last edited: 9/14/07 5:46:09 AM”

“bored today, mutt?”

“Yup”

“No, not really.
I've just had a lot of crap going on over the last year and a half.”

“whered you get that copy and paste from, mutt? that writer sounds a little angry. wont anybody hike with him?

just to play along and take your trollish little bait, im not hardcore and i know it. i love to hike but im no daniel boone.

there. youre a succesful troll. happy puppy?”

“Made some points though.”

“just to be environmentally conscious, i often walk to the trail. unfortuneatly, everyones always done before i even get there”

“If you find other people uninteresting b/c they don't share your one hobby, or you only speak of your one hobby, then you've become one-dimensional.

And that's a problem.”

“bm, youre starting to bore me”

“You're wrong...the purpose of gathering large groups in the forest is not to see how much beer we can drink...but how much BOOZE. lol.”

“everyone goes out for their own reasons and with their own unique style. there are so many vectors one can use to approach the wilderness. the beauty lies in diversity and sharing, and that's kind of the whole point of tt in my mind.

most people can no more understand my obsession with the outdoors than i could understand someones obsession with brick-a-brack. what we are passionate about may be different, but the experience of an obsessive all-consuming passion is the same.

meangreen, use the passion and energy you feel now to really explore and grow because it gives you focus and momentum that will change shape over time. don't let it close doors in your life. find ways to use these feelings to open them. let the experience be a liberating one.”