Ever felt burnt out on the backcountry?

[shtinkypuppie]

I've been backpacking nearly full-time for the last 15 years. In a lot of ways, I built my life around the backcountry - I moved to higher elevation, got a job that gave me lots of time off, etc. I used to say that my life had two seasons: backpacking season and preparing for backpacking season.

These last few years, however, it's not been reaching me in the way it used to. Coming up to the crest of a pass or around a bend to some sweeping view used to be a near-religious experience for me, but lately it just feels sort of dull. Hiking seems like a chore; visiting the places I would have marveled at in the past now feels like I'm just checking off landmarks on a forced march.

Has anyone else ever felt this way? If so, were you able to rekindle your love of the backcountry? I hate the idea of giving it up, but I also hate the idea of trudging through a hobby I don't actually enjoy anymore.

Thanks in advance

[rayfound]

Not with the wilderness, no. Frankly, I am not sure I've had the opportunity to do it enough to not merely lament the weekends I never got a chance.

But With other hobbies, absolutely yes.

Which is to say - it is OKAY. take a break, do something else that does interest you. Maybe the bug to make miles will come back - maybe it won't. Backpacking isn't "1st order fun" - a lot of it from the outside looks downright lousy: you're cold, you're tired, you're wet, you're surrounded by mosquitos - so it is completely normal that you may not feel the counterbalance of the wilderness strongly enough to offset the downsides.

I will say, almost without exception, the best parts of any hobby are the connections and the friends that are involved. Maybe you take a step back from backpacking but along comes a new friend who's never done it but is interested - you may get sucked back in by guiding them through everything and experiencing that initial passion again. For me, I took my 9-year old son backpacking for the first time a week ago and that completely re-ignited my passion. I'm looking at gear again, I'm trying to figure out what weekends I don't have other engagements.

Likewise, maybe you need to consider a different focus on your backpacking: If you don't already maybe take up flyfishing, peak bagging, or some other hobby that can serve as the focal point of your hiking and backpacking.

[Harlen]

That sounds like a genuine crisis-- are you in mid-life yet? Never yet felt anything like it, but I have benefitted from what rayfound said above about re-focusing your trips on a different approach. 10 years ago I began getting into the mountains in the snowy season, and that was hugely satisfying for some unanticipated reasons. There is an appealing tension to winter trips, especially when I am alone. Another nice change for me was to go back to including a mountain climb to some trips. In the past, all of my trips were centered around reaching, and then climbing a cherished peak. This gives the trip an exciting goal to focus on, and feels distinctly different from a trip where you just head into a beautiful area, and wait for things to happen. Both are great, but you might try to base a trip on a mountain climb, or if you're like gazelle--4 or 5 mountain climbs! I also like the idea of Ray's to try fly fishing, and introducing friends to the mountains. I really hope that your passion for backpacking returns, or that you find another consuming passion-- how about scuba diving? Good Luck, Ian.

[windknot]

I'm more in Ray's camp (only have time to do 3-8 trips per season) so I usually find that I'm itching for more, rather than getting burnt out. However, I did spend a significant amount of time in the backcountry one summer after I graduated college. I was volunteering for a USFS field crew doing ecology research in Dusy Basin and in the Golden Trout Wilderness, and that work combined with my own personal trips resulted in me feeling "over" continuing to maximize days at one point. I ended up coming out of that trip early, focusing on other things for the next few weeks, and then was motivated to get back to it after that.

What also helps me is that my hobbies tend to be seasonal. I think about backpacking and backcountry fishing (my primary hobby/pastime while backpacking) quite a bit during the summer/fall, but once winter comes around I stop thinking about the backcountry almost entirely and shift focus to other pursuits until the following summer.

[c9h13no3]

IDK, do what you like. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[SSSdave]

There are certainly many more people that try backpacking just once or twice then never more due to its strenuous nature and discomforts. Sort of... been there, done that, so they can move on. Most are probably just trail hikers that enjoy scenery along trails. Suspect most that continue participating in the activity begin participating in more focused wilderness activities like fishing, peak bagging, photography, geology, long trail logistical challenges, speed hiking, trail running, botany, and other natural science pursuits. In other words, just hiking alone and viewing scenery may not be lasting goals beyond initial experiences.

The majority of backcountry visitors I usually meet (unlike most on this experienced enthusiast board) have in all ways very limited understanding of what they are looking at. Most can only identify trees as pines, willows, aspen, or oaks and plants as [insert color] wildflowers. The only rocks they might identify are granite, sandstone, and lava rock. The rest are just mysteries. Wazdat? The more one understands natural history, the greater potential one has for appreciating and enjoying what one sees. Nature, even in just our one mountain range, is so vast and complex, it can easily satisfy even the most studied natural history fan for a lifetime. Over decades, whole environments are seen as fascinating complex places.

While at famous Thousand Island Lake a week+ ago, my first sunny morning I spent three hours lugging about my big tripod and other day hiking gear about the outlet bridge through north shore areas. The whole time the usual "village" at the 1/4 miles legal camping limit had a half dozen tents set up from several groups. I'd met a few of them the afternoon before as they traveled along the trail approaching the lake and most appeared to be under the age of 30. Early morning at the lake given sunlight from the east, is by far the most scenic to enjoy exploring those areas considered one of the most scenic landscapes in the range. Instead after light had begun to become too harsh for best photography, at least a dozen of them except for one guy that tried some fishing, were still all standing or sitting, drinking coffee, snacking, yakking around a central spot on that flat camping zone. When that did break up, the first I saw leave, just packed up and hit the trail.

[Gogd]

I've often welcomed the end of extended trips, craving for a hot bath, followed by a bloody rare steak and matching cabernet, or a pizza & beer! Sometimes chapped lips and skin incentivized my progress back to the parking lot. I think the most burned out I've been occurred after a certain expedition where the duration was many weeks, the physical demand was at my limits, the privation was extreme, the risk significant, the food sub-marginal, and the companionship curt. A protracted storm and exhausting our provisions forced an evacuation, leaving much equipment behind. Without going into the details, let it suffice I ended up in a depression for the next six months, eventually emerging with a different set of priorities that redefined my adventure objectives.

1. Try asking yourself what made you fall in love with adventuring in the first place? This may guide your analysis. Come up with three top reasons. Hopefully one or more of these incentives are still compelling.
2. Likewise what is it that you don't like/resent about your trips. Keep it limited to the top three. Perhaps consider reducing the amount of such negatives in future trips.
3. Are there expectations that the experience failed to meet? Again, the top three. Maybe you realized your expectations were not rational, or perhaps not worth the effort to achieve. Or maybe they are achievable and worthy of the effort, but you feel stymied at achieving your goals.

When I talk to people about their motives, the folks that have done it for years only to eventually have a falling out with the sport are those who got into it for reasons that did not resonate with their own values and priorities. Two examples are doing something to satisfy someone else, and adopting "bucket list" agendas that are dictated by others. Burnt out thru hikers are the epitome of what happens when other people's expectations drive our motivation. So many of them will say been there, done that, and are on to different challenges. Some found it wasn't ever for them. But the ones who prevail, will share it is a spiritual/introspective experience they get from the activity. They journey for its own sake, more than merely earning the right to carve another notch on their hiking staff. Some get swept up by the physicality of the sport, pitting themselves against their limitations, taking on more miles, tougher routes, inclement weather, Spartan comforts, lighter or heavier packs. And at some point these folks also discover their limits and no longer wish to push the envelope. But some find they still enjoy their trips in these extremes, and are bolstered by other motives.

So do you hike mostly solo? Consider finding a buddy to share the experience. Do you hike mostly with others? Try soloing a bit, it can be a real eye opener. Try looking at other aspects the experience offers. Harlan relates how he extended his journeys into the 4th season, finding an entirely different experience. There are those became accomplished backcountry chefs: Eutran's TRs have some very yummy meals, themselves making the hike worthwhile. Some work on refining their inner Ansel Adams: SSSDave is the complete package photographer, with a keen eye, and technical mastery. I never considered the logistic complexity that goes into a photo-expedition.

Ultimately the question beckons: what interests you in this stage of your life? I ask older people facing mid life crisis, what would you do for the rest of your life, if you won the lottery? What is worthy of getting out of bed every morning, when one is financially set? The discussion ultimately gravitates toward whatever best engages your spirit, otherwise you are just finding novel ways to kill time!

Ed

[erutan]

Last summer we got a bit over it, as we were backpacking on/off most of June to September, and decided to just hang out on the coast vs trying to push some short October trips.

Changes of scenery can be really helpful - I've been really enjoying the southwest (AZ/UT) Jan-Apr though I wouldn't want to live there year round. Most of my research time is spent where I'm at outside of summer (I've just been checking in here every other month or so), and with other hobbies and interests (and client work) it feels pretty fresh when I come back to the Sierra, though it's what I've centered my life around since 2011.

Having picked up fishing in the last few years adds another layer to it, so the suggestions to try adding some different aspect make sense to me. Also no harm in stepping back for a while.

[giantbrookie]

I fall into the same category as windknot and rayfound in the sense I do not go up enough, to get myself to the point of saturation. Even my most extreme year, in 1997, I figure I spent about 40 days in the backcountry in a year dubbed the "Year of 100 Lakes" because Judy and I fished over 100 different backcountry lakes in the Sierra (105 to be exact including some twice) and on that last day of the "season" (early November that year), we wished for more and already started scheming about the next season.

I think everyone has a sort of saturation level with whatever they like doing for a hobby or for fun, so I think, standing back and taking a bit of time away can help bring the enjoyment back; or maybe not. Many folks' interests change with time, though, but I haven't known anyone who was an outdoor enthusiast who drifted away from it for anything other than physical reasons (ie loss of mobility took away the option).

Anyhow I suspect a little time away will rekindle the magic for you.

[rayfound]

I'm more in Ray's camp (only have time to do 3-8 trips per season) so I usually find that I'm itching for more, rather than getting burnt out.

3 is honestly on the high end for me, no wonder I have never come close to burning out on the wilderness.