Anyone have any life changing revelations while hiking the AT?
Some problem solved by some unexpected thought gently entering awareness?
Some observation of nature suddenly putting your city life into perspective?
Some new path suddenly opening up before you as your realized the difference between past and future?
Some Labor Day Dream come to life?
Share your thoughts.
Laotse
Laotse
Yup, it happened to me in the desert on the PCT when I was hiking with my wife, GreasePot. We were contemplating our filthy feet and the lack of water to wash them with for days at a time, and how much of a pleasure it was to wash them once in a while. My agnostic wife then said, “Isn’t there something in the Bible about washing feet?” It was then I realized the significance of the gesture I’d been exposed to all my life, being brought up Catholic. In a desert culture where water is scarce, having a man you consider to be your teacher or spiritual guide offer to wash your feet must have been powerful.
Garlic
seriously I do not know of a single person who did not have some form of revelation about something while walking… I think it is the very nature of it…
aswah
aswah
It was cold rainy night, at the Perch Campsite on the side of MT. Adams in NH. I was staying in the shelter with a few of the guys from my group. I was laying on the hard wooden floor in my sleeping bag, laughing my ass off. While slowly drifting off that night I realized that you don’t need a huge house with a nice car. You don’t need a successful career and 2.5 kids to be happy. Not that any of those are bad…
It was that night that I knew I wasn’t going to be working in an office job and retiring at 65. There is great knowledge in living simply.
Super Scout
I’ve had many epiphanies while thru-hiking. One obvious observation on my first A.T. hike was the noise of society every time the trail crossed a major road & the drone of lawnmowers every time the trail dropped down into a town. Lawns themselves seemed so ridiculous - people chop down trees which eliminates their natural shade and wind protection, and then plant grass which needs to be fertilized, watered and cut with noisy polluting machines! I started to realize that much of what is called a materialistic life is utterly insane - slaving away in a cubicle in order to buy stuff that will end up in a landfill. Thoreau expressed it well when he said something like "I’d like to congratulate all the shopkeepers and businessmen for not having committed suicide a long time ago."javascript:smile(’:)’)
On a deeper level, I started noticing that things that I needed always seemed to be miraculously supplied - like toothpaste in a shelter or food, or water etc. Even the weather seemed to cooperate at times. In '97 on the PCT I was out of food in late September about a day south of Stehekin, WA. Lo and behold, there was a bag of gourmet food (Indian curry and exotic spices) hanging from a tree at head level. This was some amazing “trail magic” - or at least I thought so at the time, until I got into town the next day and all 6 of the thru-hikers who were just a few hours ahead of me on the Trail the day before never saw the bag or a person on the PCT!
And then there was the time in '01 during an extreme drought in Maine on the A.T. when I was out of water on Bemis Mountain (north of Andover) and I was told by hikers that the spring @ Bemis Mt. Lean-to was dry, but that there was a mud hole about 50 down from the spring. I still had about four miles to hike, it was getting late in the day and my mouth was so dry I could barely talk. I was walking along a high ridge, and came upon a gushing spring that was flowing right across the Trail! I can’t begin to tell you how grateful I was.
Needless to say, long distance hiking has renewed my faith in God.
freebird
laotse!.. thanks for posting such a thought provoking question!..(not to mention the chance to back off of worthless and silly pastimes i sometimes engage in, like “complaining”, and to take up the more favorable and pleasant endeavor of remembering my blessings!) :^)
as freebird and aswah have said, there are MANY of these sorts of experiences out there (and i hope a bunch of 'em get posted here, as i personally would enjoy reading them ALL!)
i like to call these experiences “kairos” moments…i.e., “snippets” of time (whether good or bad) that seem to call for OPPORTUNITIES to pause…to reflect…to grow…to learn!
i’m not a greek scholar by any means (and those of you out there who are may want to correct me on this), but “kairos”, i think, is a word used to describe “time”…it differs from another greek word for “time”, (the word “chronos”) in that it does seem to indicate a “detour into opportunity”, rather than just the same ol’ “rut of succession”…
since there’s really no good translation in english for “kairos”, it’s probably best to “picture” its concept (as “lifeshapes.com” does) :
“chronos” time would be depicted as a mere “line” (just one boring, meaningless moment in time followed by the next)…while “KAIROS” would look more like a detour off of that line into a rich and meaningful, or purposeful “circle” of growth and significance!
i guess this sounds like a bit of “mumbo jumbo”, but understanding these two “lifeshapes” has been a great way for me to understand better how to deal with those big (and little) “WHYS” in life (and on the trail)!
there were many kairos moments for me and paw-ee in both '03 and '06!..(reaching a “tiny” wooden sawhorse on the top of “the greatest mountain” would definitely be one!)…but i think one of the most significant “revelations” we had woven throughout ALL of these moments was the powerful feeling of “SMALLNESS” we learned…and the knowledge that, indeed, it is “okay” to be “small”…as mother teresa has said, “we can do no great things…only small things with great love”!
i don’t think there are many out there who will hike a long and beautiful trail like the AT without knowing at some pinpoint moment along the way, the “sweetness” of realizing Something (or Someone?) bigger than and totally “outside of” or “apart from” SELF!..to me, that is a “DELICIOUS” epiphany!!!
walking in the woods is one thing…walking in the woods with the awareness of the actual presence of a loving and powerful Creator, is quite another!
"
maw-ee
Paul speaks of this and Aquinas speaks of this. In our modern-day paradigm, many hikers have received a general revelation of sorts on the trail. Whether it is looking up at the stars and seeing a small glimpse of the vastness of creation, observing the aesthetic of the surroundings from the trail (e.g. flowers, vistas, etc.), or realizing the intelligent design of our ecosystem, we all see general revelation. However, unfortunately, only a few people on the trail have experienced special revelation.
Perhaps Nimblewill Nomad speaks to the beginnings of special revelation most eloquently when he talks of the “Three Wise Men” revealed to him on the trail. He said that while his backpack was quite a physical burden, and the trials of the trail posed an emotional burden, in the end it was the spiritual burden that he carried that was the heaviest. It took a while for him to realize his spiritual burden.
Saint Paul’s life was changed when he was “hiking” on the trail to Damascus and the Lord revealed Himself (Acts 9). It seems that though general revelation is amazing and points to God in the distance, it is actually special revelation (i.e. a God-encounter) that thoroughly changes a person’s life.
Clay
I guess to sum up from from I have read from many of that have replied to this good question,Our God IS an AWESOME GOD !!! Hope all the current hikers and future hikers enjoy your walk in God`s Garden.
JustMel
I actually do most of my praying while hiking. I think it amounts to being in the ultimate comfort zone as far as rationally thinking on one’s life. I never carry a watch while hiking. It’s either daylight or dark. The phone doesn’t ring on the trail, door to door salesmen don’t show up on the trail, too heavy to carry a TV on the trail. The more simply it can be, the better.
Boquack
Let me just say that if you do a long hike & it strengthens your faith - I’m honestly happy for you. But, I think it’s important to remember that people have different reactions wrt/ matters metaphysical.
Personally, after spending months sleeping & walking outside, I marveled at the mechanics of Nature. I saw more and more how ancient the earth was, how insignificant and brief my presence was, and how everything I encountered was interconnected. When I was standing on top of a mountain, I didn’t look at the beauty beneath me as the handiwork of God, but rather Geology, Biology, Physics, and the history of humanity. Still, for me, I think it was no less profound of an experience. To really get a sense of “knowing” the earth - first hand - even a little bit, was intoxicating and made me want to learn more about everything. I’ve never been more at peace with my place in grander scheme of things than after a thru-hike.
Jonathan
I spend most of my off days in the woods. I do the maint. at my wifes church. When church members ask her why i don’t go to church she tells them: He goes to his church! When i’m out there its my time to contemplate and reflect on life. Jonathan is right. To watch the cycle of life around you while on the trail is awesome! Last week the elk started bugleing Rut has begun. WOW! Take A Hike!
Boomer
Walking out of the woods, I saw three or four large homes. I asked Patience, “Why, as Americans, do we think we need so much materially, to be happy?” Truthfully, I was feeling a little smug, with my backpack on my back. Before Patience could respond these words crossed my mind. “How many people in the world would give most anything to just have what you have on your back - shelter, a few days food, clean water, and a change of clothes?” Boy, was I humbled.
Slow Motion