View Full Version : Purpose in Hiking the Trail
BarefootForester
04-06-2008, 00:01
Hello all
I have a question to pose to everyone. I was just wondering what your guy's purpose is in hiking the trail. I know that when I do it it's going to give me time to think, time to reflect on my life and figure things out. I was just wondering other reasons that you all hike the trail.
cause it's there....:rolleyes: :p
For myself it would be to live a healthy life as part of nature.
Hiking seems to be one of the better ways left to experience and express that.
4eyedbuzzard
04-06-2008, 00:25
Gold, Glory, and God :rolleyes:
Seriously? I just like to get away from civilization for a bit.
warraghiyagey
04-06-2008, 00:28
It is where I have truly felt alive, unencumbered by the minutiae, living as close to the life humans were meant to as we seem to can. So it goes.
stranger
04-06-2008, 02:13
Clear direction, clear goals, clear understanding, it's just so simple.
angewrite
04-06-2008, 02:27
I'm never happier than when I'm hiking
fiddlehead
04-06-2008, 02:37
I like to walk! far.
Ramble~On
04-06-2008, 03:18
Becasue I have been bad....and must be punished.
Lone Wolf
04-06-2008, 04:48
to get chicks and eat buffets.
When I first hiked the trail my purpose in doing so was the fact that I was avoiding the law. As the walk progressed I learned that there was a whole lot more going on in my life than I could possibly imagine and the only thing that was in my way of progressing was me.
gsingjane
04-06-2008, 06:09
I like to be in a situation where I only have to worry about the basic requirements of eating, sleeping and walking, instead of the (seemingly millions) of things I am responsible for at home with my family and volunteer work. I enjoy my family and what I do, but I also really, really like taking a break from it all from time to time.
I have also found, as a side effect, that backpacking has helped me become a less fearful person. Before I started, I was afraid to drive on the freeway, but after my first trip, when I saw I really could survive for five days in the woods (albeit with many mistakes) somehow I was less afraid to try things, and now I drive on the expressway all the time. I was also too timid to try other sports, like wall climbing and ropes, and now I am an instructor! So it seems that backpacking has opened up new possibilities for me in many areas.
Jane in CT
So I can say "Yeah I took a dump in the woods"
StarLyte
04-06-2008, 06:49
I like to be in a situation where I only have to worry about the basic requirements of eating, sleeping and walking, instead of the (seemingly millions) of things I am responsible for at home with my family and volunteer work. I enjoy my family and what I do, but I also really, really like taking a break from it all from time to time...
Jane in CT
Same here Jane!
No worry out there, just keeping an eye on the sky and one step in front of me.
WalkingStick75
04-06-2008, 07:20
Not sure? I will have to go on a hike and think about that :)
Its fun
Cheapest vacation out there
Extremely good for your body
Relieves Stress
....... I was just wondering what your guy's purpose is in hiking the trail? I know that when I do it it's going to give me time to think, time to reflect on my life and figure things out. ......................ETC......................... .........
Yea! Yea!...thats it!....dats da ticket!:D
"Jigsaw" & I will see ya'll out there Apr 26-May 10 NoBo
Turk Gap to Harpers Ferry
hurryinghoosier
04-06-2008, 09:11
For 62 years I have danced to someones tune other than mine. Its time to be free!!!
To hike is to simply ...... BE.
I hike therefore I am ........ to be one with existence.
To listen to the sound of the world.
To strip away the masks that we all wear day in and day out and become who you really are, if only for a few fleeting moments.
To wake up in some of the most beautiful spots on earth.
And to get away from the damn telephone .... and the talking heads on the trash box.
serenityrich
04-06-2008, 09:14
I want to go an entire year when I don't have to be responsible for a job, house or a car. Being out here gives me that freedom.
To blessed to be stressed.
It's good for my soul.
yup, that's the reason for me too.
definitely good for the soul! :)
To live free and follow the path the Lord has for me.
I have indoors allergies and live in a metropolis with heavy air - the cool freshness of the mountain air really makes me feel so much better. Lot of stress relief, too, but for me its primarily a very physical relief. Hiking allows me to spend time doing something in an environment that is good for me. I like physical exertion and would get bored with simple camping.
I like the AT as it is well-established and easy to follow with plenty of info available so that I feel I know what I'm getting into. I never really feel alone out there, although I get plenty of solitude, too.
Like others have said, its good for the soul out there.
To see what there is to see.
Just because it's there.
A home (at least for a while)
Appalachian Tater
04-06-2008, 18:17
Change of environment.
Blissful
04-06-2008, 21:24
cause it's there....:rolleyes: :p
Aw man.... you got the catch-all phrase!
I wanted to do it because I thought it would be neat to hike from Georgia to Maine by my own foot power and see it all. A real adventure rather than the humdrum of daily living. And a thirty year dream that came to pass.
because existence precedes essence
If you're asking about thruhiking, I can't answer that one. If you're asking about section hiking, I can.
I view hiking on the AT as an excuse to get some exercise I wouldn't ordinarily get, meet people I wouldn't otherwise meet, enjoy views I wouldn't otherwise see, sleep with the sounds of nature rather than civilization, to have the freedom to chose how hard, how far, and where to walk and to answer to no other human for a little while.........
When I'm home I wish more people I know would try it.
When I'm on the trail, I'm glad they don't.
doggiebag
04-06-2008, 22:02
I like being able to look back across some distant peak or ridgeline and knowing that I was walking there just yesterday ... or looking far into the horizon at some mountain and knowing I'll be there tomorrow.
It gives a place to be, a place to plan for. It's that place you can always project. "Where you going this weekend?" "What did you do last weekend?" What you doing this summer?" My students already know the answers, as do my family.
Big Terrapin
04-07-2008, 08:38
1) cuz it's there
2)
Becasue I have been bad....and must be punished.
it is always good to punish yourself with good behavior:sun
gold bond
04-07-2008, 10:20
Because the things you can see hiking won't come to you....you have to go to it! Post cards and pictures are nice but there alot of things that I can say "yeah...seen that!"
Lion King
04-07-2008, 13:49
I longed for my feet to hurt, for bugs to eat me alive and for the rain to soak me regularly.
X-LinkedHiker
04-07-2008, 14:22
For me it is pretty much for the connection with earth. To enjoy the peace and serenity of being outdoors where you have nothing but everything you need at the same time. The sounds of the rivers, streams and creeks as they go over the waterfalls is some of the best of natures noises in my opinion. Short Answer: Enjoy natures beauty, while I still can.
I am surprised no one has said "To meet new people, make new friends, get to know the local cultures, etc. etc.". In contrast, several people mentioned or referred to solitude, "oneness" and other "get back to nature" themes.
What's up with that? Most of the time, especially if someone wants to hike the trail in less than 5-6 months, the rationale is that they'd be missing out on one of the best things about hiking the AT - hobnobbing with other hikers and chatting up the locals.
Personlly, I hike mainly for the solitude and the physcial challenge. I'm not anti-people, and I don't mind talking to people I run across on the trail but the fact is, I spend the majority of my time meeting and talking to people because of my social and employment obligations. The social component of the AT is the least appealing aspect of the trail to me.
Except for WB of course...
Green is good for the soul!
To walk. To see. To see what you see.
--Benton Mackaye
About sums it up for me as well.
My "purpose in walking the trail"? I think I ask myself that very question pretty much every day I'm out there.
On the AT, it was to hike the whole trail to Katahdin. If I hadn't been that stubbornly, stupidly dogmatic, I might not have finished my thru-hike.
Other trails or AT sections? It's a different story every time. Sometimes for a series of views. Sometimes for a bit of a challenge. Sometimes because Gump syndrome kicks in.... "I just felt like walking......."
Oh yeah, and for chicks and buffets ;)....
BlackCloud
04-08-2008, 10:51
I go to get away from it all.
I like to listen to the wind, smell the flowers, taste the clean water, watch the sun, and feel the dirt beneath my boots....
X-LinkedHiker
04-08-2008, 11:36
Just to say I can and have done it. The harder the challenge, the better you feel afterwards.
KirkMcquest
04-08-2008, 12:12
To have an adventure.
I go to get away from it all.
same!
i'd imagine this is a big reason most of us are out there. i try to remember that before i start telling people what to do and how to do it, without them asking for advise.