Mike's Mountain Musings: 15 Percent Concentrated Power Of Will

Mike’s Mountain Musings: 15 Percent Concentrated Power Of Will

“This is 10 percent luck, 20 percent skill, 15 percent concentrated power of will, 5 percent pleasure and 50 percent pain. . .”

The mental side of thru-hiking can make or break the experience. In part, it can be about summoning the will to push a 19 mile day, as I did on May 6 at the instigation of my hiking mates, in order to set up a “short” day over rough terrain including two large declines and climbs on May 7. It can also be about summoning the will to get up and keep going after the trail, inevitably, kicks you in the teeth through bad weather, a fall, or a twisted ankle.

Even more important, however, is the shift to micro-planning after the macro-planning which precedes the hike. Decisions about gear, food, and mail drops are quickly subordinated to those regarding meals, snacks, water, and shelter. Dozens of potentially consequential decisions are made every day. Multiple choice time:It is late in the day and you crest a ridge a half mile from your intended campsite, which is at the base of a steep incline. You are tired. Do you:

A. Push straight over the top and get yourself into camp as soon as possible;
B. Relax. After all, you are almost there!;
C. Let out a war whoop! Fist bumps all around;
D. Sit down, have a snack, drink some water, and then carefully move on.

The answer, of course, is D, as any other answer is an invitation to injury (although B and C would be acceptable if they were followed by D). This assumes, of course, that you were well enough prepared to know what that last half mile looked like, and that you carried sufficient water. If you did not you might find yourself in a bad situation as a consequence of a cascade of circumstances that stemmed from one bad decision. That happened recently to one of my hiking mates.

He found himself .6 miles away from the conclusion of the day, puking, as a consequence of dehydration, as a consequence of running out of water, as a consequence of a dry water source, as a consequence of leaving camp without a full load of water, on a day where temperatures broke 80 degrees.
Good preparation, and good decision making is, however, what leads thru-hikers along the White Blazes to Magic Places: