why?
it was the way my father spent time with his kids. from as young as i can remeber, we would hike on the weekends. as i got older, the hikes got more challenging. 8-15 miles in the sweltering Maryland humidity, in below freezing wind chill, in sleet, heavy rain, fog, even at night. we would often cover 10 miles or more, the run the last mile to the landcruiser in the dark of a hot july night. i often dreaded it before we would go on a saturday, and lamented it during a freezing walk in a wind swept pine barrens, but when i had time alone, i would often find myself doing the same thing. why? you develop a sense of toughness and self reliance that carries you through other things in life. when a bunch of us got stranded in the middle of iceland, i was the only one who knew how to access the situation without fear. hiking has enabled me to realistically understand my own physical psychological limits.
aside from all that, it just feels good. the physical exertion, the feeling of having earned the experience, the feeling of quiet fellowship with the other hikers you meet. all of this keeps me coming back.
it was the way my father spent time with his kids. from as young as i can remeber, we would hike on the weekends. as i got older, the hikes got more challenging. 8-15 miles in the sweltering Maryland humidity, in below freezing wind chill, in sleet, heavy rain, fog, even at night. we would often cover 10 miles or more, the run the last mile to the landcruiser in the dark of a hot july night. i often dreaded it before we would go on a saturday, and lamented it during a freezing walk in a wind swept pine barrens, but when i had time alone, i would often find myself doing the same thing. why? you develop a sense of toughness and self reliance that carries you through other things in life. when a bunch of us got stranded in the middle of iceland, i was the only one who knew how to access the situation without fear. hiking has enabled me to realistically understand my own physical psychological limits.
aside from all that, it just feels good. the physical exertion, the feeling of having earned the experience, the feeling of quiet fellowship with the other hikers you meet. all of this keeps me coming back.
