The first rule of this forum, in pertinent part, states: “Pages on this site are for the purpose of sharing your hiking knowledge with others.”
Consistent with that purpose, I would like to ask the most basic question of all: “Why do we hike?”
And, for those of you who believe we operate on a pleasure and pain principle, what pleasure does hiking provide us and what pain does hiking allow us to avoid?
Conan
Conan
a sense of accomplishing something, to be outside and slow the world down for a lil while, to have a reason to buy all the new gear
clong
In a World in which so many struggle to find purpose amidst the complexity of modern life, long distance hiking offers an escape to a simpler existence - one in which the goals are challenging, yet clearly defined, the obstacles numerous, but always surmountable through individual effort, and one’s worries few and tractable. It is an existence that is at once both wholly contrived and perfectly natural.
The goals are arbitrary - set by none other than the individual himself - and that same individual is largely free from pressure to conform to prescribed right and wrong as to how he sets about achieving these. In this simplified existence, progress and wellbeing can be defined by a few simple variables - these alone giving a measure of the quality of one’s actions. It is an environment in which the effects of one’s moral code are clear to see.
The ideas and values held for a lifetime are thrown into stark relief by the experience, and are replaced, discarded, reaffirmed or added to as the journey progresses. More often than not the validity of these adjustments holds true when we return to our ‘normal’ lives. The person who achieves his goals and does so in a manner true to his own innate sense of ‘right’ can only return a stronger and more self-reliant individual.
Everyone has their own agenda and reasons.
Some do it to get away from things and some do it to get back to things inside of themselves, some do it because as Mallory said, because its there.
For me, I do it for the physical strength and exhaustion. I dig the ability to get into really good shape in a few months and to smell fresh air and to be able to think and to ‘see’ what I have been overlooking in my own life, be it how I treat people, how I treat myself or any number of other things I come back to woods ot be healed for.
I like the lack of television and phones and internet and then lack of the attitudes of the worst kind that try to control and decide what is right and true for everyone around them, although this happens on the trails as well, and those people suck, but they do exist, only in much much smaller numbers.
I like drinking from a trickle off the teat of a mountain. I like waking to birds singing and the brisk sharp mountian air as the clouds rise away and the the sun finds its way onto my face.
I like that initial drip of sweat that drops over my brow and onto my nose letting me know I am once again working my body as it was meant to be worked.
More then words can say and much more then I can write here, its a healer. The best one ever.
Lion King
This was the most asked question when I thru-hiked last year. For the first half of the hike I would answer - “because of the challange”. Upon much thought of this question, my answer evolved into another answer - to feel young again. Although I was 64 years old, I felt as if I was 16 again. The AT was like the “Fountain of Youth”.
Chuck
in 2005 i hiked the pct to bring my relationship closer with GOD. it was absolutely amazing to be out there in HIS creation day after day and being able to walk with HIM. in 2007 me and my soon to be wife will be hiking the pct together so that we as a couple can make our relationship solid together and so that we as a couple can establish a very solid relationship with GOD together.
have a wonderful day!
TYVEK
TYVEK
I suppose the easiest answer is: Because it feels like coming home. There’s a wild spark in each of us, and hiking-particularly in the wilderness-brings it out in a way that feels like a second skin.
I have found that the time I am truly comfortable with WHO I am (flaws and all) is when doing long-distance sport (hiking/kayaking). There is something about human powered motion that breeds awareness and acceptance in the self and others. Movement is a spiritual thing.
Guys, I want to be hiking.
Sharon
In terms of long-distance hiking, I think we’re all searching. For something. Such a vague word, yet that search is also vague. We don’t know what it is that we’re looking for, but we believe that the answers may be had in nature. We hope we’ll know ‘it’ when we find it.
We turn to the woods when our lives are changing. Graduation, retirement, a change in careers or relationship. Our lives become unhinged and our routines fail to hold the days together. We turn to the woods. To waking up each morning and having a known destination, a purpose. To one foot in front of the other. To a life where our routines keep us alive and are connected to our lives.
Tumblina
“What you do on your own scale for your own soul is all that matters…Walking skillfully along the top of the world we may receive a priceless vista of our lives and that which is truly important to us.” J. Salz
“The true result of endeavor, whether on a mountain or in any context…the real measure of success…the true value of the enterprise - lies in the example to others of human motivation and human contact.” J. Hunt
Just two quotes that help me muse about this very fundamental question… Asking why we hike, or undertake any other adventure, is to ask why we do anything at all…
At one time or another all of the above musings reflected why I chose to go, or to remain out there. And the changing nature of my motivations and enthusiasm as to ‘why’ invited me to consider that ‘why’ is a fluid concept that I myself must create and then re-create again and again and again…Every answer in that sense is a valid one. What each answer means to each of us then becomes part of our own special ‘why’.
I love how all of you describe your own ‘why’ and what results musing about it have given you…
DSD
“Summit-Stones” by DSD
DSD
Translation of DSD post: “Everybody has their own reasons–I hiked up to this point for views and for adventure–and I might hike for the same or different reasons in the future.”
Jabber
For the sense of adventure and endless horizons, for the comraderie, and to escape the drudgery of the rat race.
striker
Well, I have hiked some on the AT over the years, but for a different reason than I plan my thru-hike of the AT. I ran my first marathon because I wanted to know if I could do it, what it felt like. Now at 64 and in the Autumn of my years, I want to experience something exciting, something to make me feel alive, and to see if I can do it. Yes, I look forward to meeting other hikers, seeing the sights, etc, but I really just want the challenge of getting the ole legs in shape and just see if I can do it. Just me and the trail and the Good Lord above. I can’t wait. Moon Man
Moon Man
I havn’t hiked yet, but I’m an athlete and I like to compete. When you’re hiking you’re competing against yourself and pushing yourself to do something that most people wouldn’t do. I like that feeling, so that’s why I hike.
Emily
I’m the opposite of the escape theorists. I get out to engage. I live in a city and find myself ignoring smells, sounds, sights and even people every day. The trail experience opens me right up, keen and alert to all my senses and abilities. I’m not escaping and nothing is escaping me. Unless of course I’m exhausted.
Ablejack