Post Hike Depression?

[carole]

Take the time to write your thoughts

an inexpensive digital voice recorder makes journaling all the more easy and rewarding. Not only is it much easier than pen and paper (meaning you will take more notes), you get the benefit of listening to the intonation in your voice under different circumstances. I have recorded sounds of babbling brooks and waterfalls and frogs and loons and deer snorts and swatting deer flies.

Unlike a regular size camera, the small one is always ready and I capture many more photos than I ever did fumbling around with my larger camera.

When you get home you can pour over the photos, along with your journal. Make a package out of them. The digital time stamp gives you a chronology of your experience. You've brought the trip home with you and can use it to plan the next one. The anticipation may help ease your depression - daydream a little.

I like to keep a journal also as not only can I relive the hike as I write but I can go back again and again. Photo's - as the saying goes, "A picture is worth..."

Now as for the voice recorder, my son (~ 10 yr. old at the time) did that for several hikes and we had a great time listening over and over to some of his interview style questions, his descriptions and 'priceless' - his swallowing a fly

 

[Double Bow]

A nut in a nutshell

I'm all over the radar! Early this spring, I was champing at the bit to get out. Once I got out, boy did I get out! I had my most prolific year this year climbing over forty 4Ks and countless other peaks. I was out two-three days a week and all I could think about was my last hike and my next one. Every trip was exciting and I felt happier and more alive during each adventure than I could remember ever feeling. The time in between trips was filled with memories of the last trip, planning the next one and being frustrated that the weekend wasn't coming quickly enough.

While I was so busy having such a wonderful time, everything else slipped through the cracks. I wasn't spending time at home, the lawn wasn't getting mowed, etc. Things, in general were not getting done.

Now, I have to find a balance and factor in the other aspects of my life. I can't continue my carefree "hike-as-much-as-possible-without-losing-my-job" routine. Sadly, this means I now have to cut back on my hiking.

So, do I have depression? Maybe a little... fortunately, I've got hockey to help me through this tough time!

 

[blueridge]

Driving to the mountains I have rock music blaring, I'm singing at the top of my lungs, making a darned fool of myself.

Driving away from the mountains there is an eerie silence in the truck and an overall grumpy feeling.

The BEST part of any hiking trip is two-three weeks before the trip, getting up at 4am, cause your too excited to sleep, and pack and repack your gear in the basement....

 

[McRat]

I typically get excited to get back after the trip, then I get bogged down with nostalgia after a few days.

The only time disappointment is immediate is those situations where I have squeezed in a hike between other engagements, and need to rush home for some event or another. The long ride gives you a lot of time to reflect on the trials at home, rather than the trails behind you.

The freedom of hiking feels so real, that the daily duties of our lives start seeming like a false and cruel construct. Heck, maybe they are. They are certainly less "fun".

I'm going through no-hike depression right now. Two months now. Hopefully I'll be heading up to the Osceolas on Sunday.

So far, no-hike depression seems worse than post-hike blues.

 

[dr_wu002]

Wow, that's got to be rough. (the driving, not the 3 months in Antarctica) 2 hands on the steering wheel is hard enough of a concept to get used to, then throw in a little depth perception problem and I'd be done for!

It got so bad that she actually had to drive with her eyes closed for a few weeks and her boyfriend would tell her when to turn right and left and when to slow down. It was a pain but she'd still go back to Antarctica in a heartbeat!

-Dr. Wu

 

[cbcbd]

I've recently been getting more post-hike depression. I guess it's also just the big difference in lifestyle and it's hard to go back to "real life".

A job, a different "unnatural" schedule, other little responsibilities, bills... it goes on.

But then again that probably just means that my day job isn't as satisfying as it should be... we'll have to fix that

 

[cbcbd]

It got so bad that she actually had to drive with her eyes closed for a few weeks and her boyfriend would tell her when to turn right and left and when to slow down. It was a pain but she'd still go back to Antarctica in a heartbeat!
-Dr. Wu

A friend of mine, after having hiked the AT had trouble pronouncing certain words, like "parmesan cheese"

 

[WhiteMTHike]

I don't live in an urban area but I work in a capital city. So I can fully understand what it feels like to hike the trails of the WMNF then come back to all the "joyful" noises of the city. Yeah, it sucks.

 

[jjmcgo]

You sounded depressed in other posts this week

and I don't think it's the first time I noticed that in your posts.
A lot of good people put up some good suggestions here already.
One that I would consider before undertaking a move would be to see a doctor and try to determine the cause of your depression.
It might just be disappointment caused by returning to a less spectacular locale or it might be a problem you'll be bringing with you anywhere you go.
Coldfeet's post is very interesting and hits close to home. I can "waste" hours on this site and others, wishing I wasn't sitting in a NYC skyscraper or going home to a cookie-cutter development in flat eastern PA.
That's depression! The time-wasting, I mean.

 

[anita514]

I'm always in a great mood when out in the woods or mountains. unfortunately it only lasts till I hit the border on my way back home

 

[audrey]

Freddy, you're far from alone. When I play the three wishes game, sometimes it's for a mountain, a lake, and a river to be in my own back yard. Just looking at them would cure the blues. One dream is to head north after retirement - just 4 or 5 years more!

 

[Stan]

My hikes sustain me for at least a few days after I return to the rat race ... then I start planning and looking forward to the next one, even if it is weeks away. I've come to enjoy the balance between the urban hustle and bustle and getting away ... I think the former gives me a greater appreciation for the latter.

I have theories that I'd like a generous government grant to explore in greater detail. One is that more time at higher elevations, due to reduced oxygen, kills certain brain cells starting with the ones containing neuroses, mean thoughts and ill temper. The other is that tequila after every hike prevents arthritis and blends with adrenaline to create a craving for music by Joe Ely and food made with corn tortillas. Any grant writers out there who can help?

 

[Blue]

When I worked in Boston, I remember getting on the Red Line after spending a week on the Long Trail. It seemed ultra-noisy and crowded.

I keep memories too, pictures are great. I didn't wash my gaitors after doing a section of the Long Trail, just so that each time I touched the dirt, I knew where it was from. Sometimes I leave a wrapper in my pack, so I'll think about where I was last.

Now I live away from the city and have a logging road to jog/ski up and down, so I can reconnect.

It's similar to the end of baseball season.
Night after night, I look at the radio - I want to listen to the Red Sox, but alas..

 

[Rick]

I think I get the opposite effect. I am a country person and the biggest city I've lived in is Sterling MA (With the exception of mistakenly renting an apatment in Rochester NY for a couple of years) .
We are now out in the country again in PA and I do get depressed driving to Jersey every day, but I am happy to be back under big skies every night.

I have found that living in the country tends to reduce the propensity to have to feel like you need to get out on a trail when you can just walk up and down hills on old roads, fields woods and pipeline ROWs near your house with nary a passing car more than every 10-15 minutes.

'Course it means facing the NJ commuter traffic every day, but these NJ road hardened grit eatin' drivers are like old ladies easy compared to Boston commuters

 

[timmus]

I'm always in a great mood when out in the woods or mountains. unfortunately it only lasts till I hit the border on my way back home

I usually go through three stages while driving back to Montreal from the ADK:

#1- From TH parking lot to I-87 is all about the hike I just did, the views, the trail, the adrenaline is still flowing in my body, I feel good.

#2- I-87 to the border I am on cruise control, my stomach asking for food, I put a cd. I feel a bit like a zombie.

#3- Border to home ? I am thinking : OH no ! 8:30 ! I am late again, I told my boyfriend I would be home to help him with the eat-bath-sleep kid's routine !! He is going to be mad and will not let me go next time ! ARGHHHH !

Oh, and yes, depressed for the next couple of days. I write my report, make my drawing about the hike and print photos so I can feel better.

 

[RGF1]

Freddy, I feel something like what you describe when I leave Aspen . But ot make it worse I am going from one rural area to another . My guess is you might want to find a smaller place to live in less crowded . A place that might have bit of a yard . Some people like Chimineas as a way to have fire and a no longer use gas grill but a charcoal one . If you can afford and find a small place out side of NYC I would go for it If were in your situation.
It surely must be some what depressing to go back to a city I have to go into Boston to see spme docotors I take the train . I am sure glad to be back in a more rurual area . Not all of us want to be in or are comfortable in a city.
Too bad we do not have more fast or high speed mass transit . Sounds like you want out of NYC. Is there a aforadable place you cn move ot and comute in on a commuter rail ?
To be honesat i do not think I could deal witrh a city for long maybe it is time for you to move away

 

[alpinista]

Freddy -- as someone who has lived in both NYC and Boston _ as well as too many spots in between to count _ I personally found it more difficult and more depressing returning to NYC than I ever have returning to Mass.

When I lived in Manhattan, I was totally into heading to the Gunks and rock climbing. I absolutely loved camping out, heading out each day to climb, and then would get incredibly depressed even on the ride back home. The whole week I'd be in a funk, longing to return to the sights and smells of the outdoors, the ability to move freely without bumping into a bunch of smelly, grouchy people on the subway.

I think it's because the differences between the mountains and NYC are soooo stark, and because there's so little terrain even close to approaching wilderness in NYC.

Boston is a much more "livable" city, and it's easier to get up north fairly quickly to the wilderness. At least in Boston, you can own a car without too much of a hassle -- making for a quick escape.

So ... my recommendation: move to Boston!

 

[Carmel]

I wouldn't call it "post hike" depression...

It's called..."Now i have to go back to work" depression!!!



generally experienced after any time off doing everything that you love...

 

[ROCKYSUMMIT]

Freddy, I thought I was the only one that felt this way! Obviously we're not.It's amazing how many of all these comments really hit home.I lived in the Bronx as a kid, moved to N.J., been going to my place in the Catskills and hiking every weekend for 17 years and returning to Jersey on Sunday nights.All this seemed to be working as planned,but as I've grown older,it's getting harder to return to the rat race.The weekend fix just doesn't seem to be enough anymore.Gotta find a way to generate enough income for me and my family to stay up north!....Good luck to all!

 

[coldfeet]

Check out my new situtation..I interview this afternoon for a summer job working as the nature specialist in a sleep away camp in the catskills for 06 and my kids will go for a fraction of the cost...sounds great, (I'm an elementary teacher)

....but..i only get 6 days off over 7 1/2 weeks...
it also means no more weekend family bike/beach trips..no more short weekend camping trips with family and friends..no more organized hiking trips...

But I'll leaning towards it because it will give my children a chance to experience a sleep away camp...I think the camp is off Route 17 around exit 124?

ps..my wife smiled when I thought about going

Freddy, lets hang out, and pull the plugs on some of those billboards!

sorry for spelling, i'm the science teacher