Not normally mentioned things I really like about hiking [Archive]

sbhikes

04-22-2010, 20:56

These are things I really really like that don't usually get mentioned:

- I love washing my feet in ice cold snow melt streams. I like the pain and the pleasure of it.

- I love feeling cold air on my face in the morning. I love it when my cheeks are cold.

- I love to start climbing again. Going downhill feels like I'm not going anywhere. Going uphill feels like forward progress. I like settling in for a long climb, putting it in low gear and forgetting all about it. It's meditative.

- I love going to bed in pain and waking up good as new.

- I love being toasty warm under my quilt. What I mean is, there's a certain measure of warmth where I just feel this huge pleasure come over me. This never happens at home.

- I love to walk along knife-edge ridges, especially with a strong wind so you have to brace yourself with your trekking poles. The Goat Rocks in Washington was a supreme experience of this.

What are some of your unusual favorite things?

Cookerhiker

04-22-2010, 21:15

I take it you mean something other than views, mountains, flowers, wildlife etc.

Enjoying the effect on deciduous trees of the Golden Hour of dawn in winter or early spring. http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=14142&catid=member&orderby=posts&direction=DESC&imageuser=5065&cutoffdate=-1

Taking boots & socks off in mid-day to dry my feet.

Hearing the white-throated sparrow

Taking off the sweaty shirt when finishing day's hike

Soaking the bandana in the spring/stream, then wiping my face with it

Feeling the initial gimpiness each morning wear off after about 15 minutes

Starting the morning with an uphill

Skidsteer

04-22-2010, 21:23

I love waking up to pale light through nylon and birds singing. I also enjoy going back to sleep if it's raining.

I like good cold spring water especially in the Summer.

WalkingStick75

04-22-2010, 21:26

I love being the first one on the trail in the morning and wiping the spider webs off my face as I walk.

Hoop

04-22-2010, 21:47

Regarding a spring or small flow, enjoying its movement, drinking it. The night wind in the trees.

DAJA

04-22-2010, 21:55

I love the routine and even more the simplicity of the routine...

Bear Cables

04-22-2010, 21:56

In my real world life I am a very high maintaince gal, make up, hair, clothes,nails the whole package. So...on the trail I love the dirt and grit, the sweat, the dirty hair and the freedom it brings.

Bear Cables

04-22-2010, 21:57

I love crawling into my cocoon of a tent and snuggling in with my book at the end of the day.

Yahtzee

04-22-2010, 22:19

The complete silence of the woods in March.

FritztheCat

04-22-2010, 22:24

I love that morning cup of coffee. Tastes better out in the woods.

Alligator

04-22-2010, 22:30

The sun and the wind on my face.

The stillness of winter.

The song of the wood thrush.

Walking in a deluge, when the trail is a waterfall.

Seeing pileated woodpeckers and owls.

Panchito

04-22-2010, 22:40

I love how baffled I am by driving a car in traffic even after just 3 days in the woods.

Calling sock clean because I haven't worn them in 2 days

TheTank

04-22-2010, 22:44

I love this thread because it made me really think about hiking.

I love everything about hiking, and what I like most are the things that I cannot simulate outside of hiking, which are the things people have been trying to avoid and the situations you do never get in normal life.

I love hiking in the rain.

I love the feeling that I am in the worst possible physical situation, being close to hypothermia, with everything you own soaking wet, and temperatures below freezing. Yet being in the best possible mental situation, knowing that somehow you will pull through and be alive for tomorrow.

I love the feeling that things cannot get any worse. Just because at that point I realize how good things are.

guitboxdude25

04-22-2010, 22:49

I like the feeling of accomplishment every day I hike.

I like hoping into my hammock when it's cold outside and having a real warm sleeping bag. I like feeling both the cold mountain air and the warmness basically.

I like meeting people along the trail and each other feeling the pain(and pleasures) along with meeting people at shelters and discussing how the day was.

I like the feeling that I'm 100% free.

Trailweaver

04-23-2010, 01:33

I like how good I feel mentally after I've done something I thought I couldn't do - make that climb two more miles or pitch the tent in the dark with the wind blowing, etc.

I like hearing the complete silence you hear after about 15 minutes of hiking from the road - nothing but the wind in the trees.

TIDE-HSV

04-23-2010, 02:05

I love the way backpacking forces one back to basics - covering the distance, the next meal, the next dump and pee, and the next decent night's sleep. Then, it starts all over again...

Father Dragon

04-23-2010, 03:13

The simplicity and deliberateness of living while hiking.

The feeling of self reliance and the self esteem that transfers back to everyday living.

Having great stories about crazy weather or animal encounters that shock people that live never far from their arm chair.

The philosophy that has developed in my life that pushing to the top yields great rewards.

garbanz

04-23-2010, 06:52

I like eating breakfast with a different scenic view every morning coupled with the anticipation of what the trail will bring today. Of moving on and covering new areas, pausing in silent witness to majestic overlooks.

modiyooch

04-23-2010, 07:28

I like not knowing and not caring what time it is . I don't carry a watch.
I like waking at the break of day. It's not my nature.
I like sleeping right after sunset. Also, not my nature.
I like the simplicity of routine. walking, eating, sleeping
I like eating.

DAJA

04-23-2010, 07:36

I too enjoying peeing in the woods.. Of coarse, I also enjoy peeing in the woods in my own back yard, so I guess thats not hiking specific... Fortunately I don't have neighbors!

stumpknocker

04-23-2010, 07:41

moytoy

04-23-2010, 08:11

I like the simple adventure of not knowing what around the next bend.

I like to see and listen to a flowing creek or river. It's even more exciting when I'm approaching a river or waterfall and it's getting louder and louder.

I like to sit in a quiet place and mentally visit with family and friends who physically cannot be with me.

I like this thread!

Manwich

04-23-2010, 08:38

I like the steam rising from my pee

MelNino

04-23-2010, 08:56

I love this thread

Just repeating what other have said:

I love being dirty and getting away with it
I love the "pain" of climbing a mountain
I love the feeling I am fit
I love eating on the trail and not caring how many calories is in my food
I love not shaving ;)
I love being part of a group on the trail
I love knowing my coworkers are inside behind a computer screen

garlic08

04-23-2010, 09:19

One of the things I love about hiking is that I can't quite define exactly what it is I love about hiking.

Old Hiker

04-23-2010, 09:28

I love when the "Chatty Kathy" (male and female) hikers disappear ahead and I have the silence of the woods.
I love waking up at 0600 and realizing I was so tired from yesterday's hike I didn't have to get up during the night.
I love waking up and hearing the sound of light rain on my hammock rain fly at 0200.
I love even more hearing the absence of light rain on my hammock rain fly when it's time to get up.
I love the anticipation of the last 10 minutes driving to the trailhead.
I love the feeling of a full pack at the trailhead.
I love touching the first white blaze on the section hike.
I love the second or third day of the hike when I realize I've forgotten something and it's too late to do anything about it.
I love someone asking me why I do a certain thing and I can teach a new skill to someone (mostly my Scouts!).
I love listening to someone insist that his/her way of doing something is right and my way is wrong and if I don't do it their way the sun will explode, the planet will implode, dogs and cats will live together, etc. etc. etc. and I do two things: I keep doing it my way just to drive them nuts because it has worked for me lo, these many years (even though their way MAY be better) and I think to myself, "What a moe-ron!".

TheKO

04-23-2010, 09:55

Stopping for a rest after a ball buster uphill climb and drinking cold spring water after devouring a handfull of gorp.

Ender

04-23-2010, 10:04

I love the moment after three days of hiking when you suddenly notice hiking just became easier. The same thing happens after three weeks, and again at three months. Each time it's like a switch is flipped, and I'm instantly a stronger hiker.

I love the smell of northern pine trees (or fir trees).

I love those blue berries you find in New Hampshire... they aren't edible, but they're very pretty.

I love wild edible berries. I love them a lot.

I love reading late into the night by the light of my headlamp.

I love the smell of campfires, especially from a distance when approaching a campsite.

makoboy

04-23-2010, 10:18

I love leaving my Blackberry at home and forgetting I have a job.

I love laying down in the sun on vista and falling asleep for a few minutes in the afternoon.

Roland

04-23-2010, 10:20

~I keep doing it my way just to drive them nuts because it has worked for me lo, these many years (even though their way MAY be better) and I think to myself, "What a moe-ron!".

This made me chuckle, because I may have done this myself. But, when one is closed-minded to a better way, does this really make the OTHER guy a moron? :D

Black bear

04-23-2010, 10:32

I love being surrounded by the forest canopy just before you hit a summit and the view opens up in front of you.

I love looking out over the massiveness of the mountains and they are so big they seem like they should make a massive sound but they are completely silent and it just makes seem that much more impressive.

I love coming into camp right after a tough climb that you thought would never end when you think every ridge you climb should be the last but they keep its not and you somehow push thru.

Finally, there is nothing like hiking when the woods are covered with snow and the snow keeps coming. The silence of the woods in snow is the best.

Gray Blazer

04-23-2010, 10:48

This thread makes a good read. It's very poetic. Sorry for messing up the flow.

I love being close to the creator while being alone in the woods. I love how the angels lift my feet when I feel I can't climb any further.

Rocket Jones

04-23-2010, 10:56

I love walking along and hearing the animal sounds on either side of the trail. Not being sure whether it was a squirrel or a bird on the ground, and once in a while spooking a deer that bounds away up the hillside.

I love spotting deer from downwind, and stopping for a minute or ten just to watch them.

I love finding beaver ponds or trees uprooted in a storm and realizing that not everything that happens on earth happens because of man.

berkshirebirder

04-23-2010, 11:10

The hiking, eh, not so much. What I most like is the quiet and the unexpectedness of the sights and sounds along the trail--coming across a fawn so young it's lying still until its mother returns, hearing birds and trying to figure out what they are, seeing an unusual plant or a patch of blooms. I especially love the look of the woods late in the afternoon, when long slanted shadows stream through the trees.

bigcranky

04-23-2010, 11:11

I love the pre-dawn light.

I love walking very early in the morning when there is no one on the trail except me.

I love rain in July when I am hot and sweaty and the rain cools me off while I'm hiking.

I love racing the thunderstorm to camp, and getting my tent set up and hopping inside just before the skies open up.

I love the warmth of the sun on a cold winter morning as I crawl out of my bag and start making coffee. That coffee tastes darn good, too.

I love cowboy camping on bald summits in cool weather. Watching the light fade, and then watching again the next morning as the sky starts from black and slowly gets pink, then orange, then the sun comes up.

Roland

04-23-2010, 11:17

I love how rime ice glistens like jewels on krumhlotz at tree line.
I love the crunching sound of my footsteps on the snow when the temperature is below zero.
I love the sound of water babbling beneath the snow, during spring thaw.
I love seeing the woods come alive again, in the springtime.
I love walking in the warm, summer rain.
I love the smell after a rainstorm.
I love the sound of gentle rain on my tent.
I love listening to thunder, while hunkered comfortably in my tent.
I love the explosion of color in the fall.
I love the musky smell of rotting autumn leaves.
I love the long shadows of the early morning light.
I love how hiking makes me feel alive.

Old Grouse

04-23-2010, 11:25

I love feeling the need to just stop and stand still, and then a moment later a deer walks into view or a bird flies that you would have missed, and you marvel at where that "stop walking'" instinct came from.

double d

04-23-2010, 11:37

Wow, very cool thread. I love the way cold, mountain water tastes going down after hiking all day and then you pause to take it all in and take another long drink from your water bottle. Makes you want to live forever.

Spokes

04-23-2010, 13:11

Mine are sensory based:

Brilliant sunbeams cast through the trees and onto the trail (visual)

The "kerplunk" sound your foot makes when you fall into a mud hole in Maine (auditory)

The texture of old wooden planks inside some shelters (tactile)

Every AYCE along the way (gustation)

My own "hiker funk" (olfactory).

fredmugs

04-23-2010, 13:53

I love that a 20 mile hike beats a 40 minute commute.

I love calling my friends while they're at work and saying "Guess where I'm having lunch right now?"

Buzz_Lightfoot

04-23-2010, 13:59

Where do I begin?

I love almost all.

I may curse on an uphill when my heart feels like it is going to explode. I might curse when I slip on a wet rock and skin my leg. Tempory feelings.

Later, when I get to camp, drop the pack, I love how LIGHT I feel.

After scoping out a place to set up I love cooking and eating. All the backpacker stoves are so nifty and ingenious.

I love the people I run into "out there". Much more likely they will be someone whose company I will enjoy.

I love realizing I forgot to check the weather report and not knowing that a slow moving cold front with severe thunderstorms is due to pass over just after dark. The sound of thunder and rain drumming as if from a fire hose. I love realzing that I am staying dry. "Wow, this hammock really DOES work!"

I love the night.

BL

flemdawg1

04-23-2010, 14:51

I love the smell of napalm in the morning.

I love it when a plan comes together.

I love pina coladas and getting caught in the rain.

I Love little baby ducks
Old pickup trucks
Slow moving trains and rain
I Love little country streams
Sleep without dreams
Sunday school in May and hay
And I love you too :D

Gray Blazer

04-23-2010, 14:57

Some people don't get it.

I love you anyway, Flemdawg1.

flemdawg1

04-23-2010, 16:28

Some people don't get it.

I love you anyway, Flemdawg1.

Alright I'l do fer realz this time.

The cool chill of morning.

The taste of salt as I rinse off my head after a hard day.

Watching animals in the full moon light.

The crunch off coffee grounds in my teeth.

The tartness/sweetness of a berry or apple growing by the trail.

Press

04-23-2010, 18:51

I love drinking a cup of tea watching the woods get dark.

I love taking a late afternoon snooze in my tent while the rain falls.

I love getting together a nice pile of dry firewood and contemplating it.

I love realizing I'm doing what I wanted to do when I was a little kid dreaming about getting off on my own with just my own stuff to live outside all the time.

johnnybgood

04-23-2010, 21:27

* Becoming chilled as my sweat soaked shirt dries while atop a breezy overlook.

* Dipping my cap in a cool stream and then wringing it out over my head.

* Listening to the wind as it dances through the trees before a storm.

Turtle2

04-23-2010, 22:04

I love the sound of the trees creaking in the wind as they rub together.

I love the squirrels throwing bark at me while I'm taking a breather.

I love being in the "here and now" without the hustle and bustle.

Hikingsasquatch

04-23-2010, 23:35

Being in the moment.
Waking up without an alarm clock or a pressing agenda.
Becoming more appreciative of simple pleasures.
Having nothing to do but play in the mountains.
Resharpening my senses.
Growing in solitude, then cherishing the company of kindred spirits.
Identifying with a unique group of nomads.
Not knowing what to expect.
Believing in Trail Magic.

Furlough

04-24-2010, 11:31

I love waking up at my normal 0430 work-week time and then going back to sleep for however long I want.
I love coffee in the morning.
I love that time in the evening when the day time creatures go quiet and the night time creatures have not started their symphony yet, a magic nearly silent few minutes.
I love to hear the rufous sided towhee calling for all "to drink your teaeeee".
I love waking up at O dark thirty to a full moon lighting up my tent as if someone just flipped on a light switch.
I love rock hopping the streams.
I love seeing a solitary tree growing out of a rock.
I love the high dry ridge lines where the Virginia pines predominate and the mountain laurel fills in the gaps.
I love to laugh at myself for believing that last false summit was really the summit.
I love the wild flowers.
I love finding the American Chestnut Trees, hanging on - waiting - one day, maybe they will make it all the way back.
I love finding a Hemlock still standing tall - a hold out from the adlegids destruction.
In spring the Red Buds and DogWoods in bloom.
The blood red leaves of the Black Gum tree.
Bear poop in the middle of the trail, yes bears do shi! in the woods.

moon_whisperer

04-24-2010, 11:55

I love the changing ecology as you gain elevation

I love the faces of people when you tell them where you started hiking

harryfred

04-24-2010, 13:02

I love just walking.
I love seeing overlooks, waterfalls, old village sites, mine and lumber camps/equipment, what have you. That can only be seen after a several hour hike.
I love sippin' whiskey and watching the world go dark at twilight.
I love sharing my bottle with someone I just met and talking like old friends.
I love getting up in the middle of the night, in winter, and staring at the stars through the bare trees.
I love meeting and talking with thru hikers. Hearing their tales, cheering them on and sometimes being able to help them out.
By this time tomorrow I'll be on the trail and my youngest son has decided to go with me I'm really going to love sharing with him.

Nean

04-24-2010, 13:46

... but I like to pee from high places....:o

really tire of people telling me to get down off the shelter though.....:eek:

springerfever

04-24-2010, 14:06

Diane, thanks for starting this thread. So nice to know that there are others that just enjoy some of life's simple, no-cost pleasures.

Some of my favorites:

Getting up before the crack of dawn to hike up to an overlook/fire tower to watch the sunrise. Mountains poking up through a layer of clouds/fog and then the layer disappearing as day breaks is awe-inspiring.

Coming out on a rocky bald just after a summer thundershower. The rocks are steaming, the air is filled with ozone, birds are chirping once again.

Returning to the trailhead after a four day hike and catching the first glimpse of your car.

Sinking back into your down bag ; dog tired, reliving the events of the day and looking forward to what tomorrow promises.

Picking a campsite.

Picking a campsite that has an ice-cold stream to soak your feet in after a fifteen mile day.

Getting the daylights scared out of you by a ruffed grouse taking wing just a few feet from you. Talk about a rush.....heart beat goes off the chart for a few minutes !

The feeling of self-sufficiency and realizing how liberating it is not to have all that STUFF.

Nailing the branch for your food bag on the FIRST throw.

Meeting people that feel the same as you about hiking. So many people just don't get IT and trying to explain is often futile. Good to know there are others that appreciate nature and what it offers.

Connie

04-24-2010, 16:04

I love stepping out under the canopy of stars, at night, when I have to pee. I can't do that living in a house. It wouldn't be the same.

I love walking in the wind-driven rain.

I really like having few things, but great stuff, for the sense of self-sufficiency I feel.*

Of course, the talent and skill of many people* made that great stuff.

Nevertheless, the only place I feel the world is perfect happens when I am outdoors.

The things other people have mentioned here are true for me, too. <not napalm>

I will read this thread, when I miss getting outdoors, which is almost all the time in am in town. Why? Because it powerfully calls into remembrance those experiences.

Cookerhiker

04-24-2010, 16:46

....Nailing the branch for your food bag on the FIRST throw...

Me too! Love it:)

I love stepping out under the canopy of stars, at night, when I have to pee. I can't do that living in a house. It wouldn't be the same......

Me too, but I can't do it at home not because of social inhibitions but because of the light pollution.

Connie

04-24-2010, 18:39

Me, because in a house I am surrounded by the trappings, and traps, of "civilization".

I am reasonably certain, the nitrogen in the pee is "watering" the plants.

I feel I belong in the universe.

Walking in the wind-driven rain makes me feel that way, as well. I am making my own warmth as I walk.

The minimalism of lightweight gear and backpacking suitable clothing helps. That is what I am grateful for, from "society".