View Full Version : Do long-distance hikers appreciate the beauty around them?
White Oak
07-09-2004, 23:17
Do thru-hikers appreciate the beauty around them every day? Or do many of them get caught up in the miles to be hiked, looking forward to the next hitch into town for the big meal, and get jaded to the scenery? Maybe weekenders and section hikers apprecitate more the stark contrast between modern life and the scenery of the trail.
Hammock Hanger
07-10-2004, 07:37
Do thru-hikers appreciate the beauty around them every day? Or do many of them get caught up in the miles to be hiked, looking forward to the next hitch into town for the big meal, and get jaded to the scenery? Maybe weekenders and section hikers apprecitate more the stark contrast between modern life and the scenery of the trail.
I wouldn't say that it is a case of looking forward to the next hitch into town...
I think it is more a case of a long distance hiker being in the forest more then a weekender/section hiker. WHen you hike through miles and miles of the green tunnel where there are no views and nothing much to look at you have a tendency to go into your head and zone a little. You would be suprised though at how quickly a LD hiker can hear a movement in the woods, or spot a change in the scenery, or smell a scent in the air. I don't think the LD hiker gets jaded at all, in fact I think they become more atune to it, a part of it. Sue/HH
slatchley
07-10-2004, 07:41
I find that I am so focused on the ground that I miss many of the small beauties on the trail. I definitely appreciate the big ones though.
Lone Wolf
07-10-2004, 07:45
Thru-hikers spend much less time at views and on mountaintops than day hikers and section hikers. Thru-hikers are always looking at thier watches and worrying about miles. Gotta go! Gotta go!
Hammock Hanger
07-10-2004, 08:00
Thru-hikers spend much less time at views and on mountaintops than day hikers and section hikers. Thru-hikers are always looking at thier watches and worrying about miles. Gotta go! Gotta go!
Just because a hiker spends 10 minutes enjoying a view instead of a hour doesn't mean that they enjoyed it any less...
Good morning LW, you are up and online bright and early. :sun Sue/HH
Lone Wolf
07-10-2004, 08:11
I betcha that hiker who spends 10 minutes would like to spend an hour or more but it's a waste of daylight. Gotta get them miles! :cool:
Good morning to you too HH. I'm always up around 0600 daily.
Hammock Hanger
07-10-2004, 08:15
I betcha that hiker who spends 10 minutes would like to spend an hour or more but it's a waste of daylight. Gotta get them miles! :cool:
Good morning to you too HH. I'm always up around 0600 daily.
Okay, ya got me on that one...:bse Sue/HH
hungryhowie
07-10-2004, 09:12
Miles? Miles? Heck, I have six months to reach Maine, what's an hour at this awesome overlook, or 20 minutes studying this red eft newt, or 4 days at Upper Goose Pond, etc, etc?
I'm not saying that I don't hike, but I don't hike with a watch. My hike began and ended focused on nature and the environment around me. At the begining that meant taking lots of breaks becuase I wasn't experienced enough to be able to hike and look at the same time. Toward the northern sections, however, I trained my legs to do all of the navigation on the trail so that I could look out and appreciate my surroundings. If I felt a drawl to stop, I always satiated it before moving on. Whether that meant 30 seconds, 10 minutes, 1 hour, 12 hours, or 4 days was up to me, but I don't recall ever leaving and wishing I'd spent more time there...ok....well, maybe I'd still like to be hiking back and forth of the New England section of the AT...but come on, I ran out of money. I'll be back.
-Howie
I wouldn't say that it is a case of looking forward to the next hitch into town...
I think it is more a case of a long distance hiker being in the forest more then a weekender/section hiker. WHen you hike through miles and miles of the green tunnel where there are no views and nothing much to look at you have a tendency to go into your head and zone a little....etc,etc,etc Sue/HH
it's the same for this section-hiker!
BUT, i tend to make sure i see ALL points of interest & scenery when not far from the trail! :D
fiddlehead
07-10-2005, 02:06
"Do long-distance hikers appreciate the scenery around them? "
I don't know why others are out there but for me, i thoroughly enjoy the scenery around me.
That doesn't mean i sit for a long time at a special lookout.
I can look while walking too. (not as easy on the AT as other trails though)
Why be out there if you're not appreciating the environment you're in?
Not much to look at? If that is the case of Long distance hikers it is sad. There is always plenty to look at even when there aren't wide open views. How about the forest, the streams, lakes, big tall trees? May be I may feel different after months in the woods..but in my experience..a few weeks or less in past trips, I have never been able to be bored. So much to see!
nhhiker
I wouldn't say that it is a case of looking forward to the next hitch into town...
I think it is more a case of a long distance hiker being in the forest more then a weekender/section hiker. WHen you hike through miles and miles of the green tunnel where there are no views and nothing much to look at you have a tendency to go into your head and zone a little. You would be suprised though at how quickly a LD hiker can hear a movement in the woods, or spot a change in the scenery, or smell a scent in the air. I don't think the LD hiker gets jaded at all, in fact I think they become more atune to it, a part of it. Sue/HH
I recently told a hiker hiker who was bored with the scenery and thinking of getting off how I felt. Scenery is icing on the cake. The cake is being there and spending time traveling in the woods and mountains. What I LOVE about that is after awhile I'm not just out there- I'm part of it!
Tha Wookie
07-10-2005, 10:46
It just depends on the person. I know a guy who hiked the trail in under 60 days and another who hiked it in 8 months. Both thru-hikers, totally different perspectives. It took me 5 months and 9 days for the AT. I saw a lot, but I'm sure I missed a lot. After hiking more and learning more how to "soak it in", I think I could hike it faster while still taking more in thatn before. It is a skill to be practiced.
SGT Rock
07-10-2005, 10:59
Shouldn't the question be: do you (or did you) appreciate nature on a long distance hike? Asking me if someone else did isn't really a good way to mine data. And "appreciate" can mean different things to different people, we all don't want to sit on a cliff and watch the stars and contemplate the layers of existence, some prefer different ways of enjoying the outdoors that may involve the challenge of a good uphill climb etc.
well seeing how it did not say thru hikers i would say yes ,and no thru hikers dont really appreciate it like people who hike on a no time frame,when i first hiked it was alot about the miles the last 5yrs no If i want to put my tent up on a cliff theres where i am at for the night ,also when i hiked last year i was all for doing the whole pct but i guess the blue blaze fevor hit me and i ended up everywhere but the pct but a few hundred miles of it I dont know why but kings canyon and the sequoia nat forest sucked me into a trance for a month and a half .then headed north to oregon again got sucked into trances of exploring the rainbow gathering and other trails around crater lake Its not the miles i will remember but the beauty of thr scenery and the folks i met:dance ky next hike IAT for the scenery
Happy Feet
07-10-2005, 15:36
Speaking for myself, I DO appreciate the scenery and am very sensitive to what is going on around me. I agree with HH that your senses are hightened and you become more intune with your surroundings. I often will spot things that my non-long distance hiking friends don't even notice. I don't have to spend a lot of time looking at something to appreciate it. Catching a glimpse of a pileated woodpecker flying through the woods and then disappearing, or seeing a fleeing bear or other wild animal may only take a few seconds (or less), but I appreciate that.
We once overheard some dayhikers in the Whites say "Those d*mn thruhikers are always in such a hurry. They don't know what they're missing". I'd put money on the fact that even though I was hiking faster and spent less time taking breaks than they did, that I saw as much and appreciated it as much if not more than they did on their leisurely day hike.
Do thru-hikers appreciate the beauty around them every day? .
A few do. Many do not. The many mentions of the "long green tunnel" reflects a failure to appreciate the many fascinating things that abound in that tunnel -- flowers, plants, trees, insects, butterflies, birds, animals, rocks, fungi, amphibians....
The trail is far more than pretty mountains and landscapes, whether viewed for 10 minutes or 10 hours. But to appreciate the small things requires more knowledge and curiosity than most hikers are willing to acquire.
Weary
wacocelt
07-10-2005, 19:46
I enjoy my ten minutes (if THAT much) on the 'views' that I choose to stop at. What I really enjoy is my time in the outdoors and finishing the afternoon early enough to relax and eat twice before bed. I'm just not one of those ' stand on the top of a mountain and ooh and ahh' type of folks. I spend more time checking out shelf fungus' and water sources that pop out of rocks and trees.
The horizon is for sailors, the trees are for soldiers!
Puck MeGa
i love nature secenery period on the trail or not.and besides thru hikers are not the only people on the trail,when i finsh the AT next year,i will have done it over a peroid of 5 years:cool: neo
Tramper Al
07-10-2005, 22:28
I like to think there is a spirit of acceptance and tolerance on the trail.
I don't understand the need in this 'poll' and many other threads to try to stereotype or otherwise define others' experiences or appreciation or whatever, because they are thru hikers, section hikers, day hikers, or 'tourists'. Are we (they) all the same, do you suppose? I find between the lines a need to belittle others' experiences as inferior because they don't hike the same hike.
Tha Wookie
07-10-2005, 22:28
I occurred to me once that anyone who thinks he can tell how much another appreciates is a fool.
SGT Rock
07-10-2005, 22:32
I occurred to me once that anyone who thinks he can tell how much another appreciates is a fool.
Exactly my point, just said in a different way
fiddlehead
07-10-2005, 23:57
I have to laugh when i read people writing that speed hikers don't enjoy the trail as much as slower hikers.
Reminds of a time when i was running the john muir trail with my ultra running buddy who once said: "Ah, twilight! A time when all good runners are out enjoying the light show and the hikers are in their tents reading Steinbeck"
Shortly after we saw one of the best sunsets, over the Sierra's, with it's extended Alpen Glow that lit up the whole sky and then hiked past a guy in a tent, silloutted by his flashlight reading a book!
We jogged/hiked about 19 hours a day on average and i enjoyed the hour before and after the sun came and went more than any. It's a very special time of day and for some reason, i only am up that early when hiking or running.
I certainly am not putting down Steinbeck here, (or people who read, hike, or sleep in tents) it's just that people are out there for whatever reasons.
But the light show is a big reason for me.
I "Ah, twilight! A time when all good runners are out enjoying the light show and the hikers are in their tents reading Steinbeck"
Reminds me of what Chris told me when he did an AT section hike. Chris tends hike from sunup to sundown. Some of the AT hikers chastised him because he would hike all day rathern than "stop and smell the roses". He found it funny how many of these "stop and smell the roses" hikers would spend a large amount of daylight in shelters....
When I do my long hikes, tend to hike from sunup to sundown myself. Even when not on thru-hikes, love twlight hiking, too. And night hiking...ah yes.
What I also find interesting about the quote is how both groups (runners and hikers) have conceptions about each other that just aren't 100% true. :)
In my experience it is kind of hard to appreciate the differences between a boreal chicadee and a black capped when hungry, blistered, and racing a thunderstorm over an exposed ridge.
For me, those differences become more beautiful when wimp hiking.
RIck B
For me, those differences become more beautiful when wimp hiking.
RIck B
Interesting choice of words.
SGT Rock
07-11-2005, 15:20
Taking a nap on a bald, playing catch and release with crawfish in a stream, watchin the sunset from a cliff. All ways to enjoy nature, but my ways. I'm sure others do it different.
For the best star-show you have to go deep in the desert away from towns with ultra-clear skies in my experience.
For the best star-show you have to go deep in the desert away from towns with ultra-clear skies in my experience.
Since 2001, have spent every Thanksgiving in the Utah desert - all but one year in Escalante National Monument.
Escalante N.M. is supposed to have the least amount of light pollution in the lower 48.
One of my closest friends in town is a research astronomer with CU (studies quasars for a living..who cool is that ?!?!), and is an avid hiker. He is one of the people who will join me for some crazy high milage/off trail day hikes. We often come back in the dark. He will give our little band an impromptu night time sky lecture.
Anyway, every year he gives a star talk in Utah. Sitting in the Utah desert with the sky above and getting a star talk from an astronomer? Quite the memorable experience.
The Utah desert at twilight and night is just awesome. Some day I hope to do a long hike through canyon country...that's how much I love it. At Sgt. Rock said the night sky is unlike anything you will see in most of the lower 48.
Spirit Walker
07-11-2005, 16:11
It may depend on why people are hiking the trail. Not everyone hikes the trail because they love nature and natural beauty. For some, the physical challenge is all. For others, the community is what draws them to the trail. There are a lot of other reasons to hike the AT.
For me, the beauty and living so closely with the natural world is what keeps me on a hiking. I never become jaded.
But I remember Roni at the Gathering last year talking about how boring he thought the views were in Colorado - just row after row of snow covered ridges. Seen one view, seen em all. His attitude toward Montana was the same - just ridgeline views, how dull. He prefered to walk the roads instead of the ridges. I laughed and realized that it really does take all kinds.
Yea, but Baxter SP offers the northen lights, too.
Probably not visible from "The Birches", but don't know.
Rick B
fiddlehead
07-11-2005, 21:46
Spirit Walker said: "But I remember Roni at the Gathering last year talking about how boring he thought the views were in Colorado - just row after row of snow covered ridges. Seen one view, seen em all. His attitude toward Montana was the same - just ridgeline views, how dull. He prefered to walk the roads instead of the ridges. I laughed and realized that it really does take all kinds"
Yeah, i remember that guy. I found it hard to communicate with someone that thought what i saw as the best, he saw as the worst. Wasn't he from Israel? I guess he prefers the desert?
Lone Wolf
07-11-2005, 21:50
Wonder what Bill Erwin thought of the views?
But I remember Roni at the Gathering last year talking about how boring he thought the views were in Colorado - just row after row of snow covered ridges. Seen one view, seen em all. His attitude toward Montana was the same - just ridgeline views, how dull. He prefered to walk the roads instead of the ridges. I laughed and realized that it really does take all kinds.
LOL... "Seen one redwood, seen them all!"
I enjoyed much of Roni's journal, but I don't think he ever accepted and respected the CDT for what it is and try to compare it to the PCT too often.
"The CDT, it ain't for everyone!"