In 2019 when I was 63 I did a 500 snippet of the Pacific Crest Trail. Because of needing to resupply, my long hike was really a series of 9 trips, each individual trip lasting about 5 days, more or less, like a work week. I started to think of a day hiking as "a day at the office". Already on "Monday", my first day back on trail I would be thinking about "Friday", the day I could get to town and eat restaurant food instead of the food in my pack that I was tired of.
I don't know how these guys and other long distance hikers maintain their motivation, or rather, I don't know how they continue to find enough reward in the activity to make up for the deprivation, repetition.
I don't know how these guys and other long distance hikers maintain their motivation, or rather, I don't know how they continue to find enough reward in the activity to make up for the deprivation, repetition.