anatomy of a hiker...

[bender73]

just a thought. who hikes? why? what drives you?

what is your goal?

 

[Stephen]

Excellent question. I just posted on VFTT why I started hiking. Allow me to quote:

My ex-girlfriend (who first got me into hiking) took me to Blue Job. I cruised up there to the fire tower, but wanted to explore, so we went around the fields on the back side of the hill for hours, no map, no compass, no GPS, total n00b.

We ended up finding a road and hiking back around the hill to our car at dusk, It was really the event that led me into taking hiking up more regularly! At least, more regularly than dating.

It's one of the places I plan on bringing my kids to when they are old enough to start getting thier "mountain legs" started.

As far as the NH4K goes, here's my write-up from my website:

Why are you doing this to yourself?

While my best friends Bill and Bob were biking the White Mountains in July of 2001, I was driving the camping gear and food. During the times I waited for them, I studied the NH Gazeteer Atlas (Delorme). I was intrigued by the list of 4000 footers, and wondered if I could possibly attain that goal...

On July 30, 2001, while at work discussing it with Rob (who has completed the NH4K and is working on the NE4K), I decided I wanted to go for it. I set my first goal of doing my first 4K by the end of summer 2001.

The rest of the story is that I did not do my first 4K until the following July, when I hiked the Osceolas.

-Stephen

 

[Skier75]

I'd have to say my car usually drives me to the trail head ....LOL, JK. No, I did some small hikes in my early twenties and could never get my friends into it, but then I met UK, that's when I really started to get into it. Now, we do it for enjoyment, exercise, and clean fresh air. As far as goals go....well we really haven't set any goals, but I'd say if I did, I think I'd like to try some 4 thousand footers as well as some of the AT. Other than that we just go out and enjoy it as much as we can. Work always seems to interfere somehow. :roll:

 

[bender73]

c'mon only 2 replies?!

well, i'll go then.

i used to be a very active person (i.e. skiing and very good at high school sports).

while i still stay active by going to the gym 3-5 days a week life still seems to be very normal. i get bored very easy and even though my daily job as an NP in surgery is very exciting and keeps the adreneline flowing, i still come home to the typical routine. gym, TV, surf the web, and then bedtime.

i'm very new to hiking but to get out in the wilderness with nothing but nature and the woman you love is just great.

my goal is to hike up mt. washington (but i need a bit more experience)

ultimate goal? everest!!! (but the reality is that i wouldn't even attempt that unless i had solid skills and proven my ability on another high altitude climb) i gotta crawl before i walk...let alone run!!!

 

[Stephen]

my goal is to hike up mt. washington (but i need a bit more experience)

I hiked Washington as my first hike of my second year of hiking 4000'ers. If you respect her, she'll be good to you.

Find a day with good weather, pick a wise route (I was very pleased with the Ammonusuc-Jewell loop) and don't be afraid to turn around. As it's often said, the mountain will be there another day.

I found that my Washington hike didn't nearly kick my butt as much as my recent cruise up Carrigain, but I took many more breaks and didn't try to beat book time... just found my rhythm and enjoyed the hike. When we started to see hail at the top, we knew not to dawdle around for very long.

And bring a hat, and gloves. Grabbing wet rocks repeatedly over a long period of time will cool your fingers off REAL quick.

My Washington advice, FWIW.

-Stephen

 

[Sherpa John]

Religion

Health

comrarderie

To Push limit's

 

[Jaytrek57]

I hike b/c it is fun.

IMHO, every other reason is a distance second.

 

[SilentCal]

Anyone can walk anywhere. Hiking, is walking with a purpose of clearing your mind and escaping to the outdoors. Whether it be a summit, waterfall, backcountry pond or just an amble in the woods, it's the escape from the real world that drives me.

 

[cbcbd]

I like nature and being outside. The less between me and nature the better.

 

[smitty77]

I don't really know why I do it. I guess just because I like it. My high-energy dog seems to like it a lot too, which keeps me on some sort of trail every weekend. That will be my biggest accomplishment this year - We hiked every weekend since the beginning of May. Sure it wasn't the mountains, but it was mileage on trail and it was peaceful. Two or three more hikes and we'll have hiked the entire 18 miles of the Tully Trail, which for us will be more like 50 miles because we had to do it in many out-and-back sections, some overlapping.

Smitty

 

[MichaelJ]

Because the world is an incredible place and so few people really see it. To stand on a ridge or summit and just soak in the wilderness around me, even heading up the trail sloughing off my weekday worries, gives me a sense of place in the world (an insignificant one, but a place nonetheless).

Plus, as someone who spent much of his life out of shape, when I hike it feels great to push my body to new limits. It's a kind of sore that feels sooo good.

That's the short answer. Here's a longer one that I wrote upon finishing my 67 4000-footers:

Like I said earlier, the inspiration was everyone around me - you folks.

It goes back to when I first started on VFTT and the other boards. I was just learning to hike for the sake of hiking; the idea of the lists was only just introduced to me.

As I met more people, this one had finished the 48, that one was working on the winter list, another one was finishing the 100 ... it felt like a challenge to me. Could I really be "one of those hikers" and complete a list? Could I truly take this activity and make it my own?

And so hiking became not just a reason for improving my physical health, not just a means to try to achieve a spiritual peace among the mountains, but now a challenge to see if I could be a part of the group.

Yup, it felt like trying to get into a clique, to be one of the cool kids with a patch on my pack. Sure, my first trip reports were all about doing my hikes for the sake of everyone else, the reading audience. But as the summits slipped by, as the numbers got higher, it changed. The feedback from my posts, more trips hiking with friends and in groups, the realization of the "hiking family", that's really what made it happen.

I finished my 48 with a huge crowd and it was truly wonderful; however, I wanted something a little more mellow for my 67. I wanted to make sure I did it for myself - that the goal wasn't the summit party but the mountain.

I didn't hike up the trail alone, and I knew people would be there, but when I came through the fog to the summit, I realized what I had. You had climbed up this mountain with me, for me - my stepping on a little brass disc mattered.

That was the inspiration - the worlds these boards has created, the people here behind the screen names, the common ground we share when we leave our homes and step from the rocks into the mud. We do, in fact, reach our summits for ourselves but we will get there together. And so long as we continue to celebrate each other, I will take all of the inspiration I can get from you to continue my journeys.

 

[Mike P.]

Well said Michael.

I started orginally when after a divorce I found I really had not traveled very far from home. Orginally I was going to Highpoint, I was single & while I knew people who were collecting visits to ballparks, I thought of highpoints or State Capitols but Carson City, Trenton, Des Moines & Lansing sounded pretty lame & something the car would accomplish so High Points it was. I started with New England & NY, NJ. Soon after I started, (after RI, MA, VT) I met a woman sho wold become my wife. traveling would not as important but hiking was a worthwhile reason to get away for a day every once in a while when she could not go.

 

[severine]

I hike b/c it is fun.

IMHO, every other reason is a distance second.

Good answer! WHEN I hike (which hasn't been often lately), it's for that reason. To have fun. Sometimes it's to get away from all the stressors, but if it isn't fun, it isn't worth it.

 

[Greg]

My brother got me into hiking when I was about 13. He's significantly older than me and was in the twenties at the time. Most of his buddies didn't hike that often any more so I was the next logical companion. Throughout my teens we did many hikes in the Whites and a few trips up to the ADKs. I've never followed lists and in fact never knew of lists until I started this site. I've revisited peaks many times and don't really feel the need to hike all peaks on any given list. I understand the appeal though. I hike because I have this sense of peace when hiking that is hard to find in almost any other activity. I really enjoy backpacking or base camping too so often my trips to the Whites will include overnights. Dayhikes are enjoyable, but there's nothing like spending a few nights out in the backcountry...

 

[cbcbd]

Dayhikes are enjoyable, but there's nothing like spending a few nights out in the backcountry...

Amen, brotha!
Nothing like losing your daily schedule and adapting to nature's schedule... being simplified to the bare necessities of life - food, water, sleep, and the will to keep on going.

 

[beren]

I grew up in Maine on the edge of the North woods. The forest and trails around our house was our playground. My first run-in with a black bear was at the age of five, and all my childhood fantasies involved the woods and the seemingly mysterious paths that meandered through them to little vales covered in moss and beauty.

Now I live in the city far from the North woods - too many people, too much noise, too much of everything. I miss the friend I grew up with and hiking (wherever it is) is my chance to "hang out" with that friend and recharge the batteries.

I take my children and wife out hiking sometimes. It thrills my heart when my 6-year old says she wants to go hiking. It seems like she, too, is getting to know my "friend."

The physical part is just a great side-effect for me, but the most important part. When I walk down the trail, I can feel the weight of stresses drop off and the woods envelop me in their peaceful mood. I feel at home.

Growing up within sight of Katahdin, mountains have always held that mystique as well. They seem to have their own personality that is a delight to discover, as well as a challenge to which I feel enrouaged to rise. After three attempts, my wife and I climbed up Katahdin 2003. Now the AT and then Denali (and perhaps more highpoints along the way) are my ultimate goals.

Soory, so long. But there's nothing like hiking i9n the woods to make me wax poetic... :lol:

 

[MtnMagic]

I hike for the complete experience, to keep my blood pressure down, to keep my lungs, heart, body and my soul healthy and in shape. I just love being in the outdoors; the sight of all the trees, the smell of balsam fir in the forest, the beauty and roar of waterfalls, to behold the majestic mountains while seeing one range behind the next with a delightful formation of clouds over them, the snow blanketing the landscape, the sounds of songbirds, the whoosh of the wings of a raven flying overhead, the sounds of trail talk with your fellow hikers or of the chance meeting of another hiker. Or the sounds of silence.

To see the world in a grain of sand, to see heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hands, and eternity in an hour.

 

[pedxing]

I find it tremendously healing.

 

[Ridgewalker]

Well said pedxing, that's why I hike too and because it makes me closer to God.

 

[MichaelJ]

I hike for so many reasons it's hard to enumerate; I would have to go back to something written long ago (it was very hard to write) to truly get it in words. But I will say that there are two major aspects:

One is the communion with nature, whether it be the green life of summer or the white forbidding of winter. There's just something about being out there, away from technology, away from the worries and cares of day to day life.

The other is a sense of personal accomplishment. The fact that I have the ability to get to these places, to use my body to summit or traverse, that I actually worked for it and did it.