Embracing the ‘Suck’ of the Hike

Have you ever been on hike and found a moment that just sucks?

You know the part I’m talking about. You’re tired. You’ve already seen the cool view and now you’re just trudging back to the car. That part, when you legs are cramping. Your backpack straps are rubbing in that same spot. That little spot on your foot from that tiny rock is bugging you finally.

When you just have to put your head down and cover distance. You know. The sucky part of hiking. 

Austin Dennis half way through a 32 mile, 2-day, trip in the backcountry of Arches National Park.

It happens on almost any hike or adventure. And I hear those few out there, “Not me! Any moment in nature is better than not.” 

Shut it.

There is always a moment when out on a trail that is the ‘suck.’ And we have to accept it. We have to cover distance to get to the view or to get back to the car. There are things along the path that just aren’t fun and we just have to get through them. Then, after we’ve finished the adventure and we’ve reached home again, we can look back at the whole experience as a positive nature experience.

Are there ways to make it easier to get through? Totally. The moment still sucks but you can help get through it by doing a few things.

Here’s a few things I do in the moment of suck on the trail:

BEING CURIOUS

I start looking for odd things on the actual trail right at my feet. I find that focusing on the immediate, right there with me helps to forget the thoughts of, “Oh…its way up at the top of this hill and then another 2 miles…aaaaahhhhhh!”

I start to look at the path. What is it made of? Why did they chose to put the trail here? Why does the water drain off it in this weird pattern? Do bears use this trail too? Whats the plants growing on the edge of the trail and why don’t I see them growing over there away from the trail?

I find that being curious on the present and letting the mind just wander on things in the immediate is helpful. I don’t need to try and actually have an answer, just let the thoughts flow and be curious as to why the present world is the way that it is.

All of a sudden I’m over that hill and on the final stretch.

MAKING A GAME

I often find myself counting in my head the number of steps i’m taking. But not just a cumulative amount; I keep trying to break a record. Now this isn’t any special record…I make the record up on the spot. How many steps does it take me to get to the next tree? That last one took me five steps, I think I can improve that. How many of my shoes fit across that flat rock surface? Three. 

Just dumb little counting records like that and soon my mind has forgotten about the suck and I’ve covered the distance.

I don’t know why I enjoy doing this often. And there is basically a limitless amount of dumb games you can come up with. I like to battle the sides of the trail against each other in meaningless combats: which side has more plant life, which side is more mountainous.

You can make a game out of almost anything. Hell, kick rocks and play simple soccer.

SHIFTING FOCUS

Songs are wonderful tools. I would also put movies in this category too (quote an entire movie from start to finish). 

I’ll speak to this by going back to a 50 miles bike ride I did as a scout. I was probably 35 miles into the ride and the last 15 miles is just a gradual slope toward the finish, that you can see the whole time. My legs were spent and I was tired. My butt hurt and I just wanted to be done. I had entered the suck!

I remember I started singing the entire album of Americana by The Offspring, including the speaking tracks.

“Welcome. To. Americana. Please. Make. Your. Selection. Followed. By. The. Pound. Sign. Now.”

Then I was somewhere in the song “Why don’t you get a Job?” when I realized I had made the last turn and pulled into the town. The suck was over and I was done.

EMBRACE THE SUCK

Those are three different approaches to embracing the suck of the hike. One is more about being curious with what is around you. One is making a game of the suck. One is more of zoning out and putting your mind on something else.

They all work.

Well…how ‘bout when that happens in everyday life? Sometimes you have to just knock out that annoying project at work. Or you just have to get through a long day of kids being crazy and by the end its all you can do to just keep going. 

We can’t be happy all the time and we shouldn’t expect that we will be. Cause sometimes things just suck and we have to get through them.

So, I’m gonna try to make it less of a suck when those times are happening.

Chelsea Howells celebrating her first backpacking trip; climbing the sucky hill out of Ashdown Gorge.