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LIhikers
04-04-2008, 14:44
So, you say you like backpacking.
So much so that you go out in the cold of winter, the scortching heat of summer, the wet and windy spring time and the fall with all that it brings. You spend day after day unshowered, unkempt, and wearing the same dirty clothes. You slog through trails covered with water, mud and snow while carrying a considerable weight on your back. Your family and friends don't understand your desire to "leave it all behind" while you go hiking and in fact, some of them suspect you're daft.

Now, tell me why you keep returning to backpacking.

X-LinkedHiker
04-04-2008, 14:49
I do it because nothing else is as pure. Knowing that you can only return home safely because you took care of yourself and who your with is a good feeling every time you make it home. But beyond all of that, it is just too beautiful not to be outside trekking up the side of a mountain.
http://www.alphabluetech.com/kjhanlon/images/Picz/Albums/BOK/slides/100_3555.JPG
And because of places like this.

Tipi Walter
04-04-2008, 15:55
I think the question should be, "Why do we keep returning to towns, flush toilets and electricity?" In my case, it has to do with family responsibilites. Otherwise, I'd go back to living out permanently.

In any case, the answer to your question is a complex one and has been studied by men and women for centuries. And I just don't feel up to a long screed on the subject(man vs nature, etc).

buff_jeff
04-04-2008, 16:01
The views, the challenge, feeling of getting away, sense of adventure

buff_jeff
04-04-2008, 16:02
I think the question should be, "Why do we keep returning to towns, flush toilets and electricity?" In my case, it has to do with family responsibilites. Otherwise, I'd go back to living out permanently.

In any case, the answer to your question is a complex one and has been studied by men and women for centuries. And I just don't feel up to a long screed on the subject(man vs nature, etc).

For me, sometimes those rainy, miserable nights in the woods make me appreciate "society," and sometimes "society" makes me appreciate a lonely night in the woods.

Ghosthiker
04-04-2008, 16:16
There are stills trails I haven't walked, yet.

SlackPacking
04-04-2008, 16:30
For me, sometimes those rainy, miserable nights in the woods make me appreciate "society," and sometimes "society" makes me appreciate a lonely night in the woods.

Yes!!! and then there are days like these and if they don't get it after that then let them keep their concrete jungle...


http://forum.lostpedia.com/picture.php?albumid=66&pictureid=499

http://forum.lostpedia.com/picture.php?albumid=66&pictureid=494

http://forum.lostpedia.com/picture.php?albumid=66&pictureid=495

warraghiyagey
04-04-2008, 16:35
What Tipi Walter said for sure.:sun
And because I feel the most alive out 'there.'
And because of this.
http://profile.ak.facebook.com/profile6/1783/37/n536664155_7975.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?profile&id=536664155)

wakapak
04-04-2008, 16:37
What Tipi Walter said for sure.:sun
And because I feel the most alive out 'there.'


Amen to that!! :D For me, the bigger question is this: what keeps me away from being out there more than i'd like to admit?

as i told someone not too long ago...the wildnerness, nature and the mountains are all my 'church'....

warraghiyagey
04-04-2008, 16:40
as i told someone not too long ago...the wildnerness, nature and the mountains are all my 'church'....

Yes, yes, it is where I feel closest to the grand Artist.

Jim Adams
04-04-2008, 16:40
OMG, strange that you should ask today!
Every March is so much of a b***h for me....Springer Fever just kicks my a$$ every day..........well.....it is no big secret on WB how I feel about the desert and my PCT hike....lets just say I was a little disappointed. THIS MORNING I AWOKE WITH PCT FEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh no, not April too!
Now I read this question and suddenly the answer came to me. The sights are indeed great and the time out there is fun for the most part but to me, the answer is the personal freedom...probably more personal freedom than is available day to day anywhere else. Makes me better understand what the Forefathers of America were truely searching and fighting for......
.....damn I hope this doesn't last through all of April!:)

geek

Lilred
04-04-2008, 17:08
I have recently realized the reason I like to go out in the woods so much. I think my soul has a lot to do with it. In my everyday life I am surrounded by man made things; buildings, cars, concrete, etc.... In the woods, I'm surrounded by God made things. I sometimes wonder myself why I keep going out. I'm not sure I have the choice, it may be my soul wanting to be nearer to God than anything I can figure out. Then, of course, there is the thrill of the view from a mountaintop. Can't beat that!

leeki pole
04-04-2008, 17:37
Is it stopping at a cool running stream to fill your water bottle with the wildflowers blooming? Is it taking a rest break on a boulder overlooking a magnificent vista? Is it walking through the green tunnel just after sunrise, with the mist making the pathway glow in heavenly delight? Or a sunset, so absolutely spectacular that you don't even take a picture because you know your picture couldn't do it justice? These memories are what make me come back wet, tired, stinky and hungry. And with a huge smile on my face and tears in my eyes.

X-LinkedHiker
04-04-2008, 18:06
can't really beat that.
But I guess I can try.
http://www.alphabluetech.com/kjhanlon/images/Picz/Albums/GlenenocoTwo/slides/Glenenoco2608-156.jpg
Always nice just to run into something like this just scaling the side of a mountain top.

A-Train
04-04-2008, 18:49
For me it is, and has been, always about the money. And the chicks. :)

X-LinkedHiker
04-04-2008, 19:44
Ha ha, good answer A-Train. You know all those undiscovered naked Appalachian Trail chicks just running around. Who wouldn't put that on the top of their list. :)

hnryclay
04-05-2008, 00:26
peaceful solitude

Excitable Hiker
04-05-2008, 12:54
Bibles is shelters.;)

88BlueGT
04-07-2008, 00:08
the lack of people nagging and having no stress, the views and for me a big thing when backpacking is, when I get somewhere with a wonderful view everything becomes justified. And I always feel a sense of accomplishment knowing that I had to actually work to see what I'm seeing at the moment, you cant just drive your car or anything else... sounds stupid but thats how I think of it most of the time.

And my favorite and sort of a tradition is, as soon as start a hike and am deep enough into the woods where I can no longer hear sounds of society (cars, other humans, etc.) I like to let out a big yell (sometimes words, sometimes just venting yells lol) and feel so small in the world surrounding me.

Tipi Walter
04-07-2008, 09:31
Here's some of the reasons I go out:

Rock on the North Fork Citico.
Backpackers on Bob Bald.
Johnny B and Little Mitten climbing to the Bob.
Tipi home in the snow(NC).
Little Mitten sitting on the Bald River Cascades.
The same place in flood stage.

BTW, how do you guys attach large images??

chili36
04-07-2008, 09:51
I don't know that I have any "one" reason. There are a lot of them. I admit there are some days I ask myself "why am I doing this"....then, I see or experience something special and I know why.

bloodmountainman
04-07-2008, 10:08
Because "out There" is better than "in here"!:D

BradMT
04-07-2008, 23:24
Because "out There" is better than "in here"!:D

YES!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v312/brad300wsm/IM000580.jpg

bfitz
04-08-2008, 02:20
Your family and friends don't understand your desire to "leave it all behind" while you go hiking and in fact, some of them suspect you're daft.

Exactly. I keep coming back to hang out with some people who don't think I'm daft. They're kinda hard to find.

warraghiyagey
04-08-2008, 02:22
Birds of a feather my friend.:sun

Nearly Normal
04-08-2008, 04:16
I'm not sure, but usually begin planing the next trip on the ride home.

Gaiter
04-08-2008, 06:11
They're kinda hard to find.

very true

Hooch
04-08-2008, 06:17
So, you say you like backpacking.
So much so that you go out in the cold of winter, the scortching heat of summer, the wet and windy spring time and the fall with all that it brings. You spend day after day unshowered, unkempt, and wearing the same dirty clothes. You slog through trails covered with water, mud and snow while carrying a considerable weight on your back. Your family and friends don't understand your desire to "leave it all behind" while you go hiking and in fact, some of them suspect you're daft.

Now, tell me why you keep returning to backpacking.Because I can see beauty that the city will never be able to provide. I don't have to hear sirens, horns, helicopters and deal with traffic. I don't have to see people die or hear the cries of their loved ones when it happens. I can truly understand what "peace of mind" means when I'm "out there" somewhere.

Mini-Mosey
04-08-2008, 06:38
I like what someone said about their soul wanting to be nearer to God....and with them it may not be a choice. (Please forgive me for not remembering the name.) I like the physical and mental challenges also, even when I do groan.

Just got back last night from a loop backpacking trip in the Shenandoahs. VERY,VERY foggy, wet, chilly, gray....however, another great learning experience. The worst part was driving on Skyline Drive to get there....had to go SLOW so as not to hit anything since it was so foggy. Still got some great pics.

I do get anxious and lonely out there at times. But I still love it.

warraghiyagey
04-08-2008, 18:39
as i told someone not too long ago...the wildnerness, nature and the mountains are all my 'church'....


Yes, yes, it is where I feel closest to the grand Artist.


In the woods, I'm surrounded by God made things. I'm not sure I have the choice, it may be my soul wanting to be nearer to God than anything I can figure out.


I like what someone said about their soul wanting to be nearer to God
.
There is that theme for sure.:sun:sun

scout005
04-08-2008, 19:28
I can say this: I enjoy the physical effort, the fact that I have my world in my pack, 2 straps across my shoulders and x number of miles to walk. I don’t particularly enjoy humping a 30-40 pound ruck up and down mountains. I think most backpackers if they are honest, will agree with that. What I do enjoy is the feeling of being in the woods, hiking fast, putting that pack down at the end of the day and setting up at a nice campsite. There’s a feeling of accomplishing a simple satisfying act. That’s what brings me back to the trail year after year since 1975 and that’s what people who are tied to their warm houses and daily routines don’t understand. You have to pity those folks a bit. They’re missing out on a lot.

Summit
04-08-2008, 19:59
After this past weekend hike, what keeps me coming back is I doggone completely missed the trail I intended to hike! :confused: Never been to Shinning Rock Wilderness before and as it turns out the trail I wanted was across the bridge from the trailhead parking (no trail signs whatsoever in Wilderness areas). So I took a "sucker trail" down the wrong side of the river, and after two hours and realizing something wasn't right, wound up bushwacking to get on another trail and execute Plan B! :o I need to go back and hike the trail I meant to! :p

See Other Trails for more detail on my Shinning Rock Wilderness experience and photos in my gallery.