Thought it would be a nice thing to project ourselves to that end-of-hike celebratory ritual. What we do when we reach the car, be it hang up the trail shoes, grab a piece of foil-wrapped carrot cake, or as I suspect happens often, grab a sip of something cool and wet and trail-forbidden.

So I'm eliciting a response of what is your best memory of what you imbibed/did when you finished the trail, be it at the conclusion of a long, rainy weekend of backpacking, to making it to the end of the JMT. The best memory of that elation, at the moment you realized it was over, done, and just how good it felt, and what you did to celebrate that moment.

I've got several good ones, but I'll use this one since I got a pic:


End of a week-long North Cascades hike in Aug. 07, after finishing the anticlimatic mile-long trek back up to the car after the boat ride across Ross Lake.
Having a Pyramid Ale at 10 a.m., in deference to the peak by that name off camera to the right. (That's Alvaro, Tony & Debbie. The stinking ground squirrel on the right is kevonionia.) The guy we got to take the picture, a logger/park contract worker on holiday, a grizzly, affable guy, only agreed to take the picture if he could join us in a morning brew! I remember fantasizing this moment about noon the day before on the Little Beaver Creek trail.

Fess up! What was the moment? How did it feel? (Photos welcome.)

Ok, this will take a while to remember...

After I finished 3 weeks of Outward Bound...

(Consumed over ~5-6 hour period)

An ice cream cone
A bag of potato chips
A Baby Ruth bar
A beer
A glass of milk
A salad
A BBQ sandwich
Another salad
Ice Tea
12 oz NY Strip steak
More salad
Baked potato
Garlic bread

I think that's it, but I've probably forgotten something. It was 25 years ago after all <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

No, I didn't get sick...

MNS

MNS:

I was asking that question 1/2-way thru the list.

You're lucky you didn't 'splode!

The group of guys I hike with has a ritual of what we like to refer to as "post-hike engorgement" which involves a table-muscle workout of the most strenuous kind. This typically occurs at a pizza parlor with a buffet and beer and discussion includes most of us already remembering the hike to be much more epic than it actually was.

As I do not own a car, end-of-hike-celebration usually implies some kind of bus-train-boat trip to cool down (sometimes staying away from other passenger for various reasons of general appearence...), then back to home or accommodation, revengeful ditching of all pack content on the floor, a long hot shower if possible, a good long meal, then doing nothing, going nowhere for a while.

To be specific.

After a Grand Canyon trip:

A Navajo Taco at the Cameron Trading Post, or

salad bar at the Kayenta Holiday Inn.

Durango area:

trout at the Red Snapper.

Local:

Burrito at the Coyote Cantina,

crawfish etouffée at the Platte Canyon Grill, or

Kobe burger at Zoka's.

Some times I leave a can of fruit cocktail in the car.

OK, now you understand the screen name.

I wouldn't call it a ritual but it almost always seems to happen: Find a not-too-pretty Mexican restaurant and eat excessively.

Lol...it's "Misery Backpacking". It isn't what you hiked but how tall the tale becomes <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> You'd think after some of our post hike meals that we had summited a fortress and killed bears with our bare hands <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

It feels weird to NOT go out after a trip! It is the best part of the trip in ways....you still have that bonding feeling going but you can see the shower getting closer. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> Most of TR's have food shots in the photos at the end of the big greasy platters we order.

A change into clean underwear!!!

That's always a welcome relief.

Shave, shower, clean clothes, and then feast!

I discovered, while stopping to use their restroom, that McDonald's in the Northwest now carries Tillamook ice cream. So now I stop at the first one I come to for a cone--chocolate chip mint, my favorite!

Natural hot showers at Red's Meadow (all the hot water you want and their free!)
If nearby, eat at:
1) Tom's Place (on CA 395 between Bishop & Mammoth)
2) Johnny McNally's (on the Kern River, outside Kernville, CA)
3) If not one of the two preceeding, then my boys get to pick a place to eat

If i can make it to a public campground/KOA then i go there and shower and shave and cleanup the best I can. I then hail the first ride to 'town', and proceed to make a buffet owner cry <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> If that's not available then I hit a Mexican resturant and chow like there's no tomorrow....Generally I order so much the cooks come out to see who's eating all this stuff <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> But if there is a good pizza place around I'll order 2 large pies and head back to the campground and sit around enjoying them a slice at a time <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

My middle name is Pizza or should be! I'm not much for sweets, but can be tricked into eating them <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

2 things I like most after a long trail, a nice hot shower, and a really good selection of food <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> ya had to ask Kevonnia!

It depends on my mood. It varies from ice cream and a giant bottle of ice cold water to pizza to McDonalds Dollar Menu.
I must say that sometimes nothing hits the spot like a couple of McChickens and some fries.

Adam

Hiking shoes off, teva's on!
put beer in stream
swim/bath in nearest water body!
get beer and drink it
a small prayer to the mechanical gods that my car will start

I'll admit to being weird. Strange. You know, odd. Like that. After most hikes I would be just as happy to reload the pack and head back up another trail, as is, if I were able to stay out longer.

After a week of water every day, I can't say I'm aching for a brew, even though I like 'em well enough. And I just don't feel a need to chow down in a big way. I may break out some bacon to add to my next morning's breakfast, if I've been on the trail for more than 10 days. I shower when I get home, but since I bathe each day on the trail (if humanly possible), even that is not so much a celebration as a simple bit of cleaning up.

If there's one ritual I do more than any other, it is to stop the car at the nearest water source after I leave the trailhead parking, so I can wash all the windows before I drive home. I don't give a hoot about how dusty the body is. I want clean windows so I can see!

Like I say, I'm weird. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

I get back to the car, take off the boots and put on the tenni-shoes (with clean socks).
Put on a clean, cotton t-shirt.
Find the nearest place that has an ice cold Dr. Pepper (it's a Texas thing!)

Tango

Lots of them, all good. Probably the most memorable one would be after an amost 30 km day out
of kannanaskis, on a very hot day.. running out of water for the last 5 clicks, but humping along anyway, getting to the car and finding a beer and a diet coke stashed under the seat that I had forgotten about. and since the car was in the trees and it was cold at night it was cold! I don't think I ever recall a lime diet coke and a big rock ale tasting so good - sitting barefoot on the lakeshore
with a big grin on my face because I had a really good day.

My other favorite - hot springs - There's a couple of good two to three dayers up here that go through mountain passes and canyons into Jasper national park from the outside, and end in Miette
Hot springs. - where there is hot springs and massive buffalo burgers, and the most amazing walnut brownies anywhere. Even better, swim trunks and towels are two bucks so you don't have to pack them <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Finally, I do recall bringing over a buddy from sweden to do a few hikes here this summer. We had great weather except for our time on Rockwall trail in Kootenay National park. The rain gods paid us back there. It was still very enjoyable (see all the pics Here. ) But the post hike engorgement back at home in the backyard was kind of a memorable demolishing of a good lot of prime Alberta Moo - and I get comments on it from people who go through the pics and see the last one, below:

phat:

Great shots along the Rock Wall. You deserved that feast. I'm sure sun would have been preferred on the hike, but those low clouds made for some interesting atmospheric photos. The larch tree is a uniquely beautiful thing.

Two in particular that I recall. First, after walking across the Grand Canyon in one day, an ice cream cone at the South Rim had to be the best ice cream cone I've ever had. Second, the end of the JMT. I carried 2 miniature bottles of single-malt (Talisker, I think) every step of the way, and my friend and I toasted our success on the top of Whitney.

After leaving the Chattooga we (5 of us) headed into town and went to a Pizza joint. We all had a beer and Big Mike (should be renamed Big Ego) was shoveling Captains Wafers crackers down his throat as fast as he could. A girl wallked in and stared right at Big Mike - of course he noticed -he said "she's checkin' me out" -- and when I turned to look at him I busted out in laughter -- he had crumbs all over his lips and a Captain Wafer rapper stuck to the side of his face. I never laughed so hard.

Another one was when we got lost in the boonies -close to Kentucky state line -and we pulled into the roughest looking gas station I have ever seen.
We sent Scott in to get directions -Scott is a distance runner and weighs about 145- his ankles look like twigs and he walks like a
banty Rooster with his little arms all cocked back and chest out- if he wears shorts I ask him "are those your legs, or are you riding a chicken" -- there is a lot of taunting with this group.
Anyway ,he hops out of the car and lo and behold he is wearing his cut off jeans that we all call the Daisy Dukes, a Cowboys t-shirt that is too small, and a pair of Jerusalem Cruisers - you should have seen the look on the locals faces -

One on me -- I had been nawing chocolate power bars all freezing day - stick it in your mouth, bent it, twist it, pull it, and maybe your warm slobber will soften it up enough that you can get a bite and not pull your teeth out of your head.
We hit a Rocky Top Market in Wartburg, TN on the way home - first stop out of a dry county - and we knew there was a cutie that worked there most weekends - well, I just about hit myself in the face with the door on the way in and she looks at me and giggles - I'm thinking 'she must think I'm a dork'. What I did not know until I got back to the car (I wondered why everyone was laughing at me so hard) is that I had a ring of chocolate about an inch wide around my mouth from working power bars - it had been there most of the day - and no one bothered to tell me. Thanks fellas! They laughed almost all the way home.

Actually the photos don't do it justice, the atmosphererics of the clouds whizzing around there
while you're standing in the passes was pretty neat. My only regret on that trip was that we didn't get to do the last pass because on the last morning there were thunderstorms, so rather than risk it
we bailed out. Being caught in the alpine with tstorms around you isn't really cool.

i usually just take a few minutes to think about the hike, then a few minutes to convince myself not to turn right around, blow off the rest of the day, and head back into the woods.

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

My ritual depends a lot on the situation.

Solo short trip: the trip itself is my celebration. It is my get-a-way. I usually just sigh and head home. Depending on the weather I might stop for a cup of coffee for the drive home.

Solo long trip: same as above except I definitely stop for coffee and breakfast (it doesn't matter the time of day, for some reason I always want breakfast).

Non-solo short: We drive around a while looking for a diner. At the diner (I always eat breakfast food if available) we talk about hot showers and reminisce about the funny things that happened on the trip.

Non-solo long: Same as above but usually too tired to talk much at the diner. Comments are mostly one-liners baout how "good the coffee tastes".

The last part of my ritual is when I get home. No matter the trip I download photos from my camera and enter the trip into my log. If I was with others, I send out an email thanking everyone for the company.

the best one however, to which we refer as the "best meal ever", actually happened at the end of the very first day. It was an odd combination of events, but let me try to explain.

- It was several years ago
- It was the first trip that most of us had gone on in a looooong time
- Most of us had 40+ lbs. on our backs (for an overnighter, we hadn't seen the light yet)
- It was one of those days in the Ozarks, in the spring, where it just rains ALL day
- The trailhead was on the other side of the creek and the large rocks to walk across had
washed away a month before.

So, we wandered up and down the creek for a couple of hours, not realizing the strain we were placing on our legs and joints by walking back and forth in sand. We eventually decided to just ford the creek and subsequently soaked ourselves to the bone.

Needless to say, we spent the entire day completely soaked, energy zapped, and walking in a downpoor. Once we finally arrived, we ate an entire summer sausage, a block of Velveta cheese, and a giant box of Triscuits.

It was AMAZING how good that meal tasted.