Okay, so here's another quote, "Haters got to hate"
Sorry, couldn't resist ...
But I do think it's unnecessary to put down one approach to backpacking even if it's a bit different than your own. ?


While I have heard and read this sort of thing several times from folks who don't do long trips --- about having heard this sort of thing from long distance hikers --- on three different long trips now I've never heard it from another thru-hiker. I'm not saying that it's never expressed (how could I know ...), just that I don't think it's any sort of common sentiment, and in fact I suggest that such a feeling might be quite rare. You can't spend months and months on the trail where a variety of other thru-hikers are most of your socialization without getting to know the breed pretty well. It certainly is diverse, but this sort of comment just doesn't seem like the sort of thing I would expect to hear from any that I've met.

There certainly can be a sort of depression when the trip is over (doubtless part of why I spend some time on forums like this ...), but it has nothing to do with having gone "too fast" or the like.

I think it's all good. To be clear, on the flip side I definitely do not subscribe to the view the thru-hikers are some special group to be treated with awe or anything like that (!). It just seems to me that we should each of us just go the pace that makes us happy, and be happy for others who optimize for different things.

I know nothing about the route that Phat took, but from a quick look it seems like a pretty cool place to hike through at any pace.