Trail Correspondents Episode #19 | The Mental Grind

Although a half year backpacking trip is a physical grind, this is not the most challenging part of a thru-hike.  Apologies for sounding like a broken record, but as you might likely guess, this title belongs to the psychological side of this journey.

Our hikers chime in on whether they agree with this sentiment, what coping mechanisms they use to overcome their challenges, how the challenges have evolved over the course of the hike, and what advice they would offer to their pre-trail selves on how to better handle these hurdles.

As a bit of a spoiler, one of our hikers will greatly corroborate how difficult the mental side of this journey is, as she is no longer on trail, and cites this as the key reason.  Listen through to hear her entry. Her honest take is full of valuable insights for those considering a thru-hike.

In today’s show we hear from Frozen, Katharine, Missy, Kenneth, Nancy, Sarah H, Jazmin, Karthikeya, Laura, Julie, Eric and Alison (our brother sister duo), Dosu, and Sara D.  Here it is.  Enjoy.

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Editing and music courtesy of Pauly Boy Shallcross.