View Full Version : Hikers are Happy....
OwlsRevenge
05-17-2008, 15:14
I was ust poking around the galleries......and it struck me that almost every picture of a hiker showed either total joy or a mild satisfaction type of happy. :)
What makes hikers so happy? :)
But more importantly, what's been your happiest moment hiking? I'm sure alot of people will say ' when it was over!', but other than that - when did you find yourself just totally happy out on the trail?
Digital cameras. Images of hikers with frowns have been discarded. Really, would you post a photo of yourself or your friends having a bad time?
Cookerhiker
05-17-2008, 15:23
When you've hiked for over 35 years, it's hard to pick "the" happiest moment. A few:
1. Hiking up Katahdin Sept. 14, 2005 on a nice day culminating 27 years of section-hiking the AT.
2. The Presidentials, July '82. Hiking in thick fog with 6' visibility SOBO from The Perch Shelter up Mt. Washington. I reached the top of Washington, barely making out the buildings. 10 minutes later, a strong wind blew all the clouds away revealing views everythere. The rest of the day hiking to Mizpah in bright sunshine was a joy.
3. Smokies October '04 - hiking from Cosby to Pecks Corner shelters on a splendid Fall day.
4. Tennessee May '05 hiking from Erwin up Beauty Spot and Unaka to Cherry Gap Shelter on a gorgeous day with bluets, spring beauties, columbine, and many other flowers at their peak.
5. Shenandoah NP May '88 hiking among the fringed phacelia (my favorite4 wildflower) and seeing a bear.
And there are more
dessertrat
05-17-2008, 15:44
Nobody TAKES a picture of themselves when they are miserable.
Bare Bear
05-17-2008, 16:26
The pain is part of it and I have posted some miserable photos but then a year or two later "stepped on a gator I couldn't see in the chest high grass" seems more adverturesome than a bad day.
River Runner
05-17-2008, 16:31
Just being outdoors in the woods makes me happy. If it's a warm pretty day, so much the better, but I'm even happy if it's raining. It's just something about getting out away from the trappings of civilization and getting into the woods.
Nobody TAKES a picture of themselves when they are miserable.
I wish I had a picture of my brother on top of Moosilauke last May, standing in ankle deep water, rain coming in sideways, trying to get his rain gear on, yelling into the wind, "this sucks!" Priceless. It brought tears to my eyes ... I was laughing so hard.
Maybe we should have a best sniveling photo contest. Nah, too many people would fake it.
Just being outdoors in the woods makes me happy. If it's a warm pretty day, so much the better, but I'm even happy if it's raining. It's just something about getting out away from the trappings of civilization and getting into the woods.
I agree, but its hard to get motivated to setup camp in the rain. Now I carry a light tarp in addition to my tent. When it's raining and I'm done for the day, I hang under the tarp with an adult beverage until I'm motivated.
OwlsRevenge
05-18-2008, 00:29
To those that scoff....you may not take a picture of you when you're unhappy - but like some of these posts show - others will be more than happy to do so! :) I had a fellow fisherman once take a pic of me after I'd been stung 14 times by yellow jackets....if I still had it i'd let you see me in all my agony.
to those of you that want to rain on my happy thread,....
take a hike! :)
LOL
haha.
i lol'd myself.
I had a fellow fisherman once take a pic of me after I'd been stung 14 times by yellow jackets....if I still had it i'd let you see me in all my agony.
Ouch! I don't think the one epipen I carry would help me much in a similar situation.
TIDE-HSV
05-18-2008, 01:10
Digital cameras. Images of hikers with frowns have been discarded. Really, would you post a photo of yourself or your friends having a bad time?
Now, that's funny, I don't care who you are. There have been so many times when I wouldn't have wanted pix taken. However, I maintain that the memorable hikes are the survived disasters. I don't know why this incident sprang to mind, but I'm thinking of a January hike up to Mt. Sterling in the GSMNP and watching my stove disappear down into a 3' deep hole in the snow, despite the insulating pad I put under it. My face probably wasn't joyous...
Owl,
Still looking for the picture of that fateful day, but here's the story told by one of the attendees:
"I would have kept quiet but here it is.
Let me preface this by saying that Owl has a bug problem. I don't mean he has bugs but that he has a genuine neurosis about being stung by something. Two minutes out of the car and he was dodging everytime any insect flew near him.
Owl and KB invited me up to the mountains to do some fishing. We stopped at a small stream on our way to the Chatooga river area. After fishing about a quarter mile upstream I volunteered to see if the road paralleling the stream was about 50 feet up the hill next to the stream as we thought. After climbing the hill about 200 feet with no end in sight I yelled back to them "No road, follow the stream, I'll meet you". All they heard was "ROAD" and started up the hill. Five minutes later I'm back at the stream when I hear the two of them up on the mountain. Shouting back up at them I was waiting about two minutes when I heard Owl let out a howl. Then another. And another. And another. I thought it was his bug yell because I had heard it already that morning. But he kept howling as he came down the mountain.
I couldn't see him because of the trees so I didn't know what to think. My thoughts ran from such visions of the big baby panicing fron a bee to visions of maybe a bear or unplatonic advances by some mountain man ala Ned Beatty. I didn't know whether to go shew the bee away or run for my life.
It seems that when Owl and KB went up the mountain one of them kicked a yellow jacket nest in the ground. When they heard me below they turned around and came back the same way. Owl walked right into his own version of heIl, a swarm of angry yellow jackets. KB followed right behind. After realizing what was happening, Owl simply fell the rest of the way down the mountain. Screaming all the way. KB dropped his fly rod as he initially ran from the attack but being a true fly fisherman showing more determination than sense, he went back and got the rod.
Back at the stream Owl showed up with eight or nine stings throughout his body and KB followed behind rubbing five or six stings. Well it seemed pretty hilarious for a second until Owl looked like he was going into adrenaline shock and KB said he might be allergic. So we dashed back down the river to the car.
Back at the car we put a local anesthetic on the "bites". KB looked alright but Owl seemed to be getting worse. He felt faint and went and laid down in the back of the car. His lips showed a tinge of blue. He looked like he was in a slight shock. (During this whole ordeal he never shut up. Can you believe that! Just an aside)
After about ten minutes he started to calm down and his color came back. I'd like to report that he was a trooper the rest of the day but he did have his moments of whining.
Those guys got chewed up pretty badly but the way it happened was pretty hilarious after the first fear wore off (which was alot sooner for me since I wasn't a stingee). Owl tumbled all the way down that mountain with his flyrod in his hand and did nothing more than scratch the reel seat. We headed to the west branch of the Chatooga after that. Thanks KB and Owl for making my first trip trout fishing away from the Hooch a memorable one. By the way, I caught a fish."
Feral Bill
05-18-2008, 13:13
Nobody TAKES a picture of themselves when they are miserable.
Oh, really?4106
Most people like to remember happy things, pictures are a way to do that. Also almost everyone is happy doing a hobby (any hobby) and the pictures we see reflect that joy.
I’m sure if you were to hunt down pictures of people doing any hobby, you would generally see pictures of happy people.
OwlsRevenge
05-18-2008, 15:08
I should stop sometime on GA 60 and take some pics of the folks going uphill on their roadracing bikes. heh.
Ok, so for those of you out there keeping track, the majority opinion seems to be that hiking does not make people necessarily happier...or happy....or content..or at peace.
Hiking, camping, backpacking, and other outdoor persuits are just as capable of bringing someone peace and joy as bingo, video games or weightlifting.
got it.
forget I asked.
WalkingStick75
05-18-2008, 19:03
I hiked up Whitecap last year in a serious downpour their was also a group of kids 12-14 years old that would have been a good picture of miserable! That is all except for this one kid with braces, never saw him without a smile.
TIDE-HSV
05-18-2008, 19:39
I contend that you remember the hikes where you overcame adversity, at least those are the ones I remember. They're neat to recall - after it's over...
kayak karl
05-18-2008, 19:54
Nobody TAKES a picture of themselves when they are miserable.
i did. reminds me not to do that again. don't tell my ex:D
My happiest hiking day was my last day with my daughter.
AFTER THAT-- MY happiest hiking day was my first date with Nessmuk. We hiked up Little Rocky Row (Blue Blaze) and the next day--date#2--we hiked Big House Mt. (Nature Conservancy). I had found me a hiking man....and he's still here.
We just returned from Trail Days, a hike from Elk Garden to Mt. Rogers Summit and today, a hike up Old Orchard.
Life is sweet!
Frau
Blissful
05-18-2008, 22:09
We're happy 'cause we love what we are doing!
But my pic taken at the ME line - I really had to force a smile for that one; I was not in a good mood that day. I never thought I would get to the Maine line - it was a tough hiking day.
Nobody TAKES a picture of themselves when they are miserable.
Maybe I was not miserable, but I did have a "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" am I doing this ?!?!?! moment one snowy morning on the CDT
http://www.pmags.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=14331&g2_serialNumber=2&g2_GALLERYSID=894c968a5d4676f5c57d89d4d931c940