After 230 miles and 44,000 feet of climbing, I’m done with my thru hike attempt, at least in it’s original form. I am NOT done with the Colorado Trail by any means. Just the way I was doing it.
Am I upset, sad? Nope, not really. Very early in this blog I said I had wanted to do a thru hike for a long time. Start a long trail, disappear into the woods, reappear hundreds or thousands of miles and months later. I finally was able to try it and I’m very happy I did.
Why the change? We’ll mostly, for the last week I’ve been miserable. The breathing problem on Monday was just the straw that broke the hikers back. There were some good times but they were few and far between. Spent a lot of time thinking about it while hiking, trying to figure out why I was not having a great time and how to fix it. I’m an engineer, that’s what we do! I do believe I figured it out and it shocked me. I was lonely.
It shocked me because I really don’t recall ever being lonely. I always thought of myself of being the type of person that didn’t get that lonely. Oops, I was wrong. Weird how you can still find out stuff about yourself even after 59 years. Thinking about it more I do recall another time when loneliness came onto play. Didn’t realize it at the time but I do now. It was almost ten years ago, when I turned 50 I did one of my favorite things a week long bicycle ride across Iowa. (https://ragbrai.com/) Done it eight times now but, that one was not much fun, none of my family or friends could join me, I was lonely but didn’t even realize it!
I knew it was not the physical stuff, I have always enjoyed endurance sports and I was enjoying the physical act of hiking. I was mostly unhappy in the evenings when there was absolutely no one around. I had the most fun on the trail when Drips was with me, not sure that he thought it was fun :). When I did have other hikers around and could chat with them it was pretty cool.
So, I will finish the CT but by doing shorter trips, a few days at a time or day hikes. I will not be able to finish this year but I will over the next few years.
Again, this has been great! I found something out about myself, did some great hiking and saw many things I had never seen before. What a beautiful state, even with the smoke! Thanks to everyone, especially Cherie and Becky, for your support! Stay tuned, the adventure is not over!
I am proud of you Dean. You stuck it out longer than a lot of 59 yr old men could! Congrats !
Thanks!
I’d say this trip was a success for you! Many go on a trip like this to discover something about themselves and you come back home with a newfound appreciation of your friends and family! Life’s best moments are always better when shared!
Thanks Kip! I do consider it a success. 🙂
Dean,
What a great start to completing your dream of finishing the Colorado Trail. It took a lot of guts to do what you did. I think I would feel the same way out there with no one to talk to. Night time would be the worst. Glad you are ok!