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View Full Version : What Really Got You Hooked on Hiking?



WIAPilot
06-24-2012, 20:51
Family? Scouting? I bet there are some great stories out there!

Sarcasm the elf
06-24-2012, 21:03
The Internet...

10-K
06-24-2012, 21:07
I'm not hooked... I can quit anytime.

...pssst... The first hike is free.

Trail_Name
06-24-2012, 21:07
Honestly? This: http://vimeo.com/20218520 and it was confirmed by every hike since!

Mags
06-24-2012, 21:20
From my website:


1986 was the year I climbed Mt. Lafayette in New Hampshire. It was also my first time on the Appalachian Trail.


This is a story of my first time on the Appalachian Trail. In 1987 I was a Boy Scout in Troop 71 in my home town of Coventry, RI. Never went on a mountain before that day. The love of the outdoors would remain dormant but it came back with vengeance ten years later. This account was originally published in the March-April 2000 issue of Appalachian Trailway News; the magazine of the Appalachian Trail Conference.



Boy Scout Troop 71 of Coventry, Rhode Island is taking its annual Columbus Day Weekend camping trip to Mt. Lafayette in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. It is October 1986. I’m part of the troop, twelve years old, all excited that I’m going to get to go on a real mountain! And, to make this trip extra special, Dad’s going to be chaperone.

Dad often works overtime on Saturdays; ours is a young family –money and time are scarce. To spend a whole weekend with Dad is a treat.

Friday afternoon, I come home from school and see all the clothes Mom has packed for the trip. Mom’s afraid I’m going to “freeze up North”. The entire bed’s covered with warm clothes: several pairs of jeans, flannel shirts, sweaters, socks, and long underwear. Somehow, it seems like this is too much clothing for a three-day camping trip, but what do I know? I’m just twelve. For this trip I’m going to get to hike with my official Boy Scout rucksack, made of cotton canvas. Dad has even let me have his official U.S. Army pocket knife. With my rucksack, and knife, I’m going to climb that mountain!

Saturday mornings, all the Boy Scouts show up at the community center. I have on my hiking clothes: Sears Toughskins jeans, flannel shirt, long cotton underwear, sweat shirt, work boots. The bus ride to New Hampshire takes more than three hours, longer even than that ride to the big city of Providence. Looking out the windows, I see mountains. “No”, Dad says. “They’re just foothills”. If the foothills are this big, I think, how big are the mountains?
The bus finally pulls up the campground. Several canvas A-Frame tents have been set up, as well as a blue-plastic tarp to cook under. Sunday, we climb the mountain.
The hike begins in the morning. I don’t say anything, but I get tired fast. Dad knows. He takes the rucksack. Why can’t the other dads keep up with mine? Aren’t all Dads the same? We get to the summit. I ask Dad what the white rectangles are for. He says they mark a trail to the other mountains we can see. We take pictures and rest a while. Then troop climbs back down toward the campground.
Most Appalachian Trail hikers recall the first time they stepped on the trail. It’s different for everyone. For some hikers, it doesn’t happen until they take that first step on Springer Mountain. Others recall vacations to the Shenandoahs or maybe a picnic at a state park through which the trail is routed. Mine was as a twelve-year old, excited to be going with his Scout trip on a trip to New Hampshire.
It was not until ten years later that I learned what those white rectangles were. More importantly, I learned what they mean. Those white rectangles mean more than just markings for a long footpath. They mark a trail that can capture a person’s imagination, that make a twelve-year-old wonder, and dream and get excited about being on a mountain. That memory can last, and, when that twelve-year-old grows up, he still wonders and dreams and gets excited about being on a mountain.
http://pmags2.jzapin.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/laf86.jpg
A blurry, out of focus picture of me at 12 yrs old. It is the only picture I have from that day, so I'll take it. Notice the double white blazes by the side of the cairn.

Driver8
06-24-2012, 21:40
From my website:


1986 was the year I climbed Mt. Lafayette in New Hampshire. It was also my first time on the Appalachian Trail.

Great story, Mags. Thanks for sharing it. I got hooked a couple years ago b/c I love the challenge, love the scenery, the flora, the fauna, the rocks, the big views from high up. It's a nice habit to have.

WIAPilot
06-24-2012, 22:28
What an amazing story, Mags. Beautifully written!!

rocketsocks
06-24-2012, 23:10
My father asking"Hey,you want to go for a walk".But before that,when I was real little,we use to open the back gate,down the hill,across the West fork of the Trinity river,and on to a boy scout camp,near what was then Carswell AFB,I think this is why my favorite plane is the C-130,use to watch em all day and night.On the way back from the scout camp,I'd bring home some rocks(Marble I think),that to has become a area of interest for me.Funny how just answering a question,can bring ya back,Thanks Kathy....fond memories there.

MuddyWaters
06-24-2012, 23:27
It combined several things I like:

Gear
physical challenges
being in the mountains, seeing the world on foot, seeing things up close that most never will
doing things that 99% of population doesnt and cant hardly believe possible

cabbagehead
06-24-2012, 23:59
perhaps Lord of the Rings

AjR
06-25-2012, 01:20
For some reason, when I was in Afghanistan, where I walked everyday for a year, I suddenly thought backpacking when I got back to the states would be agreat idea. And it was. Needless to say, I've been hooked on mountain climbing, rock climbing, and backpacking since I got back. I think it's solitude away from all the everyday people and noises. While I was researching my trip in the Smokys at one point, I learned about the AT. After reading on it for countless hours, and doing a lot of research, I started telling everyone that I will thru-hike it one day. And one day I shall, just as soon as I am out of the military....

scree
06-25-2012, 01:36
When I was about 10 I went with my parents to Old Rag, not with the intention of hiking it, but rather just to have lunch at the upper parking lot and get some quiet time with the family. I remember wandering to check out the rocks at the trail head, then wanting to see where the trail went, so I went a bit further, marveling at how good it smelled and how quiet it was, and how big the boulders were. Then I went a little further, wanting to see more... wandering until I found a big, cracked relatively flat boulder to sit on and gaze up at the trees... which is about when my dad found me, and took me back to the car to leave. It was eight years after that before I got back up there to complete the hike, and I remember a feeling of awe when in my younger head, I'd seen so much of the mountain while in reality I'd barely seen anything. I never get tired of seeing what's around the next tree or rock, and never have enough time to go quite as far as I'd like to.

heavyfoot
06-25-2012, 01:46
Great story, Mags.

sailsET
06-25-2012, 07:17
I think it's solitude away from all the everyday people and noises.
Yep, that's definitely the thing, all right. Hailing from a seemingly endless metropolis of humanity, crammed together like an ant colony on steroids, to experience solitude and quiet is mind-blowing. A close friend introduced me to this thing called hiking, something that had never before entered my consciousness - walking just for walking's sake - because you can, and it's out there.

"So...
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
You're off the Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way!" -- Dr. Seuss

lemon b
06-25-2012, 07:33
My father .....

q-tip
06-25-2012, 08:37
The Quiet......

Whack-a-mole
06-25-2012, 09:00
I started in the Boy Scouts when I was 11. Our troop was pretty active and went camping every month. Once we were going to this place that all the older guys said was real cool. It was called the Appalachian Trail. We went to Roan Mtn in Feb. Cold weather camping at it's best. We went up and stayed in a shelter near Grassy Ridge, and I was hooked. As I got older and into more leadership positions in the troop, me and my friends started pushing for more BP trips rather than just regular camping trips. I've been doing it off and on ever since. When I came home from the service in '88, I started working wit a troop to take them on some extended trips, as the leadership they had at the time only took them camping. I know a lot of bad stuff has happened with Boy Scouts, and you read a lot of it on here. Please understand there are a lot of good troops out there, practicing good LNT practices, and getting kids out in the outdoors. Sometimes due to work and stuff, I don't get out as often as I would like, but I try to do 2 week long trips a year, with a few weekend trips thrown in. For an interesting story, check out a post from a month ago titled "True trail magic."

Kerosene
06-25-2012, 09:28
As a kid in the back of my parents' car driving through northern Vermont I remember seeing these white blazes disappearing into the dark woods. Much later I learned that it was the Long Trail. I got into camping with the Boy Scouts, but we really didn't do any backpacking per se. As sophomores in high school, one of my scouting buddies convinced two of us to join him on the AT from DWG to Unionville in early April 1973. Amazingly, in retrospect, our parents let us go, and we spent the first night a few miles from the DWG parking lot sleeping on the ground in our huge camp sleeping bags wrapped in our oversized plastic groundcloths (which of course got the bags wet from condensation). It was very, very cold that first morning.

We made it to Unionville, wearing jeans and cotton socks (http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=65) of all things, and went on to cover other Mid-Atlantic sections over the coming two spring breaks. Of the 3 of us, I alone caught 'the bug' and covered another 300 miles or so in sections in the 70's, plus a SOBO thru-hike of the LT after college. I moved to the Midwest for my career, but have always been able to recall each and every day of each of my hikes, until I finally decided to set a life goal to finish the entire AT in '99. Only Maine to go now!

wornoutboots
06-25-2012, 09:30
(Not too pretty) but mine started out partying in College at the Red River Gorge, wasn't much into hiking or camping but it was an excuse to party, I remember 2 of us carrying a fullsized cooler filled with @ 3 cases of Schafer (sp) beer, the ones with the outdoors scenes on them @ 3 miles to an amazing remote spot. That somewhat planted the outdoor seed. Fast forward to one early 2008 April sunrise drive to & walk up to Clingmans dome & having it all to my son & I, I was captivated by the many lakes of clouds & islands of mountian tops. While taking it all in a great group of Thruhikers walked up & told me that they night hiked to get there for the sunrise & I was intrigued by their adventure. So right then I headed down the AT to see what it was all about, I took an hour or so hike Sobo & was captivated by the scenery & solitude. After that a month or so later I found myself hiking from the Grayson Highlands into Damascus for Trail Days to research gear & anything I could find out about long distant hiking. While getting situated into Lost Mountain shelter on this trip, "Pips" one of the thru's I saw on Clingmans, walked into the shelter sobo & we gave each other the "don't I know you" look, it was really cool seeing her & then following her journal how she was struggling at that part of her hike w/ feet issue & how just seeing my familiar face & good conversation gave her that little extra she needed in comfort to carry on (it's actually pretty interesting how the trail gives back!!). I've sectioned ever since & I just surpassed the 500 mile mark last year.

Lion King
06-25-2012, 11:14
the way I felt after a month of being out there.

The first two weeks were hell, even though I enjoyed it, but after that...man, I have never looked back.

Lone Wolf
06-25-2012, 11:15
buffets and beer every few days

ATMountainTime
06-25-2012, 11:20
My dad was a scout master in our troop, we hiked ALOT. I was hiking by 4 years old. Hadn't really stopped since. I think what keeps me going it the peace and quiet and the physical challenge. But last year was a big one for me. I was in Cloudland Canyon Georgia, got up at O dark 30 in the morning, hiked the rim trail watched the sun come up with my dog and a cup of coffee. it was simply the most gorgeous morning in my life. Had been going through some job issues, and knew then, like most times. I belong in the woods.

Or in my wifes words "You aren't a stressed out ahole in the woods, you are more the real you"

hikerboy57
06-25-2012, 11:43
for me it was my first backpacking trip on the AT in 1976.slept at liberty springs campsite,started out the next morning before dawn, i remeber climbing lafayette up through the morning fog into brilliant sunlight, and except for the clouds still in the valleys, could see to the horizon with just the peaks sticking above the fog like islands. i spent the rest of the week in the pemi, an unforgettable trip that ive already told about here, so i wont go into all the details.
in the dvd Trek about 4 thru hikers, one of them speaks of franconia ridge being one of the most beautiful sights hed ever seen. it always makes me smile.
i agree.

theoilman
06-25-2012, 12:06
My original hiking was boy scouts in the early 1960s. None after 1965. Fast forward. Spring 2009 in SNP, did a couple of side trail day hikes, and the seed was planted that "hiking would be a nice thing to take up again." December 2009, triple bypass heart surgery. Walking would be best exercise to strengthen my heart. Combine, walking with some modest length trail hiking! Now have been on several 3 to 5 day hikes, but I am still learning what my body is really capable of (found out twice what is too much for me). First multi-day hike pack weighed nearly 40#. Next ones 25# to 28#, and is acceptable to me. (Probably 8 miles when elevation climbs are 1500 feet plus total is the max my body can do and still do more days.)

I am not a thru hiker, and probably never will be. A couple of week long hikes per year and a couple of week-ends is my current plan.

Planning on hiking the "Jesus Trail" from Nazareth to Capernium in spring of 2014 (65 Km, 40 mi). A trip to Israel and see the Holy Land is on my bucket list, so combine it with hiking, after all, Jesus didn't take the bus. The Jesus Trail covers much of the area of His ministry.

Mags
06-25-2012, 12:08
Or in my wifes words "You aren't a stressed out ahole in the woods, you are more the real you"

Adrianna say something similar about me, too. As she put it once "Vacation Paul is more fun than Work Paul".

But work Paul has to pay the bills... Laid-Off Paul was REALLY fun, but was "almost Broke-Paul" by the end. ;)

ATMountainTime
06-25-2012, 12:30
Adrianna say something similar about me, too. As she put it once "Vacation Paul is more fun than Work Paul".

But work Paul has to pay the bills... Laid-Off Paul was REALLY fun, but was "almost Broke-Paul" by the end. ;)

Couldn't agree more, Laid off mountain time was alot of fun, long trips for a week or more at a time....sadly, my resume got picked up and i got hired. lol

Creek Dancer
06-25-2012, 13:27
Outward Bound, Colorado, 1990.

AAhiker
06-25-2012, 13:54
My father, brothers and I used to go on camping trip once a year right after school let out and I always enjoyed it but what really got me hooked was a bit further down the road. It was my 4th year in the Navy and I was stationed over in washington state. My car was crapping out on me and I had about 60 bucks til payday which wasn't even enough money for gas back and forth to work for the week. Luckily I never took leave so it seemed like the best option. I took my beat up jetta a backpack and some stuff I had lying around, bought powerbars and beef jerky, looked at my dachshund/corgi mix and said, "Alright pup, here we go!" We drove out to to Ross Lake recreation area in the North Cascades and off we went. When I got back to the car exhausted and smelling of dirt and wood, I looked back towards where I just came from and I knew right then that there was no place I would ever want to be more than in the wilderness with a pack on my back hiking towards something and nothing forever... Then of course I went to the nearest diner and me and my pup stuffed our faces with as much food as we could possibly consume.

Driver8
06-25-2012, 14:07
Planning on hiking the "Jesus Trail" from Nazareth to Capernium in spring of 2014 (65 Km, 40 mi). A trip to Israel and see the Holy Land is on my bucket list, so combine it with hiking, after all, Jesus didn't take the bus. The Jesus Trail covers much of the area of His ministry.

I would really like to hike the Jesus Trail. First read about it a few months ago and love the idea.


My father, brothers and I used to go on camping trip once a year right after school let out and I always enjoyed it but what really got me hooked was a bit further down the road. It was my 4th year in the Navy and I was stationed over in washington state. My car was crapping out on me and I had about 60 bucks til payday which wasn't even enough money for gas back and forth to work for the week. Luckily I never took leave so it seemed like the best option. I took my beat up jetta a backpack and some stuff I had lying around, bought powerbars and beef jerky, looked at my dachshund/corgi mix and said, "Alright pup, here we go!" We drove out to to Ross Lake recreation area in the North Cascades and off we went. When I got back to the car exhausted and smelling of dirt and wood, I looked back towards where I just came from and I knew right then that there was no place I would ever want to be more than in the wilderness with a pack on my back hiking towards something and nothing forever... Then of course I went to the nearest diner and me and my pup stuffed our faces with as much food as we could possibly consume.

That's what I'm talking about! :)

RED-DOG
06-25-2012, 14:08
I got tired of society B.S did a Flip-Flop in 96 and couln't stop. RED-DOG

ATMountainTime
06-25-2012, 15:16
My 90 pound rescue Yellow lab named Luke Skywalker is always an inspiration to hike, of course his idea of hike is my idea of slat out sprint.

Bear Cables
06-25-2012, 17:21
Through Scouting. My sons were in an awesome troop that did alot of backpacking. I was asked by the scoutmaster, who became my backpacking mentor, if I wanted to go play with the troop on a backpacking weekend. I said sure! After that intro hike we hiked 6 days in VA and the next year headed for Philmont. It was there I really got hooked. The knowledge that I could endure 11 days in the backcountry were so empowering to me as a then 43 year old mother of teen boys! The boys are grown and married now but I still hit the trail about 3 times a year. I converted my sister from a camping day hiker to a backpacking nut like me! We have made and continue to make wonderful sisterhood memories!

Praha4
06-25-2012, 17:42
spending 3 weeks at Camp Merrill in late Oct-early Nov 1976 during the Mtn phase of Army Ranger school. Fell in love with the north GA mountains during peak color season. C-rations and LRPs were the menu of the day. I would have killed for a couple Snickers bars at the time!

Different Socks
06-25-2012, 20:10
Way back in high school I heard about the AT and wrote up a bucket list of things to do by the time I was 30. I subsequently forgot about the lit and/or lost it. Then many years later just after my thru hike i found the list again and was shocked that 13 years earlier i had a dream to do the AT and actually did it.
What got me hooked? I read Cindy Ross' book "A woman's Journey" and got all exicted about doing the PCT then decided to do the AT first.

Biggie Master
06-25-2012, 21:15
Lots of things... The simple curiosity of "where does that trail go?"... the ability to get away from the rat race... setting a goal and working to complete it... the opportunity to keep an aging body in reasonably decent shape... the smell of the forrest... the cheeseburger and beer at the other end of the hike... Aqua Mira flavored water is the new Perrier... all the cool kids are doing it... it doesn't hurt my a$$ like sitting on a bike seat does... it can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make it... unlike golf, I actually get better the more I do it...

Who knows? All I know is that I keep trail maps on my night stand, almost every night I'm on some web site looking at gear or lurking WB threads, and I plan my holiday weekends for which section can I do and where are parking and shuttles available... So, whatever the specific reason -- I'm hooked.

LockJaww
06-25-2012, 21:29
I spent five years in the Airborne Infantry..Fort Stewart Ga and Vicenza Italy. Walked lots of miles through the Ga swamps and plenty of miles threw the Mts/hills in Germany. I figured if I could get the Army out of the equation this walking threw the boonies would be fun. That was over thirty years ago......I was right.

P-Train
06-25-2012, 22:10
I've always liked it since Scouts 35 years ago. And I suck at fishing.

jwalton
06-25-2012, 23:35
Probably close to 50 years ago, a family trip to Gatlinburg with a sidetrip to clingman's. I didn't know what the trail was, but I remember stepping on it and looking both ways. does it really go from Ga to Me? Today I'm dreaming, but the working days are numbered and the AT is at the top of the bucket list. (Second is a bike trip, Skyline Drive & BRP on my road bike).

Jim Adams
06-26-2012, 09:09
Mags,
You brought tears to my eyes...made me "feel" that mountain again! GREAT READ!

I started hiking because I wanted to see what the view was like from the top of the mountain instead of the river.

geek

Red Hat
06-26-2012, 11:55
I learned to love day hiking in the Girl Scouts back in the 50s & early 60s. I didn't get into backpacking until the late 70s when my eldest daugher was in scouts. Then, after two more kids, I missed about 20 years....but kept thinking "someday". In 2003, I first stepped on the AT and haven't looked back!

atmilkman
06-26-2012, 12:27
What got me hooked on hiking is what was around the next bend and what was over the next hill. But what really, really got me hooked on hiking was walking thru the archway at Neel's and the first time I saw Blood Mountain Shelter. I know some will say "eewee that grossed-out place". But this was back in the 70's and I thought it was the coolest place. I haven't seen it in over 30 years (closer to 40) and from what I've heard and read it's not like it used to be. That's sad, very sad. Like I said I thought it was the just the greatest place. I met a thru-hiker there from Ireland "cheerios" getting ready to go to college, we were about the same age. Saw him again later on down at Neel's wolfing down micro-waveable green pepper and onion steak sandwiches like they were cookies. Watched him walk out back on his way and have been hooked ever since.

Deer Hunter
06-26-2012, 12:49
It relaxes me like nothing else can.

Live_for_hiking
06-26-2012, 13:02
Volksmarching when I lived in Gemany.

Plodderman
06-26-2012, 14:47
Have hiked as long as I can remember. I love the outdoors and no schedule so a week or two backpacking fill the void. Probably when I was 8-10 and packed my first peanut butter sandwich in my cub scout backpack and went in the woods for an hour or two. Just the peaceful feeling of being on my own, hooked me.

jos2thehua
06-27-2012, 23:15
Love of all things natural and outdoorsy. Plenty of adventures exploring around my big back yard when I was younger. Really there are just too many things to specify but to sum it up it would be the first thing I mentioned.

WhiplashEm
06-27-2012, 23:35
The Fiery Gizzard trail in TN when I was about 19 or 20. My dad convinced me to go w/ him one Saturday and said it would be an easy hike, and (this I will remember very clearly till the day I die) in the car on the way there he said, "Oh by the way, I looked at the guidebook again and it's actually rated as 'very difficult'". I nearly died that day, and loved every minute of it.

Hairbear
06-28-2012, 06:19
thoreau said the masses of mankind lead lives of quit desperation when its quiet i feel no desperation.

John B
06-28-2012, 07:13
Pilot, what about a thread asking what made you rethink hiking such that it's no longer something that you care to do very often?

peakbagger
06-28-2012, 08:22
Like many Mainers, I went up to Baxter State Park with a youth group in 1970 and 1971. The weather was marignal the first year so we only climbed the Owl in the mist but the next year we did the Hunt Trail up and the Abol trail down. We were exhausted and dehydrated on top, but that view down into Chimney Pond and seeing the knifes edge really hooked me. I hiked on occasion in High School and college but after a stint in the midwest, I moved to the whites and have hiked year round ever since. I may not be the fastest hiker but I do cover the miles

WIAPilot
06-28-2012, 09:00
Pilot, what about a thread asking what made you rethink hiking such that it's no longer something that you care to do very often?

Well John, it's like this: After I ended our all-consuming love affair upon discovering you simply couldn't keep up with me - on the trail, I just lost all interest in hiking. I really had placed such high hopes on you carrying my tent during our journey. I'm just so disenchanted that all I can do is post on WB instead of hike. My new hope is to find a retired Special Ops officer who will at least carry my WM Sleeping Bag...

on_the_GOEZ
06-28-2012, 10:13
Met some SOBO thru hikers in GSMNP in '04 eating cold ramen and oatmeal. Have been hooked ever since :)

Rasty
06-28-2012, 10:29
Started young. Just a little social hiking with friends, innocent really. Then I started going a little more on weekends, not a big deal. Then during the summer I would go for a whole week, I wasn't hooked, I could quit any time. Then I started hiking alone. It was all I could think of. I finally quit cold turkey. I was clean for six years. Then one day my kids wanted to go for a short hike. I thought to myself, I can handle one little day hike. Now I hooked again. Hiking socially, hiking alone, going into bear and tick infested neighborhoods to get my fix.

John B
06-28-2012, 10:33
I went to a boardingschool (now Berry College) in Rome, GA, for high school, which isn’t far fromthe southern terminus of the AT. We didseveral 2-3 day hikes on the AT, so that’s how I learned of it. Then Bryson’s book recaptured my interest. But after quite a few long section hikes,which I really enjoyed, I found that I had other interests and hobbies thatwere more important. Now distance runninghas supplanted distance hiking, and I look forward to my first 50-mile race(Iron Mt., Damascus, VA) this September. Still enjoy hiking, but it’s now further down the priority list.

Giantsbane
06-30-2012, 13:45
The old guy took me canoeing in Northern Minnesota for the first time when I was 10 and I've been hooked on the outdoors ever since. It wasn't until last year that I did my first long distance hike but I feel in love with it at that moment. There is just something so powerful in being able to say "Yea, I walked (insert amount of miles) with everything I needed on my back."

RockDoc
06-30-2012, 14:56
Doing the 4 state hike in the Boy Scouts twice (the second time we were rained out on Lamb's Knoll) in the late 1960's/early 1970's fortunately did not kill my interest in hiking, despite the blisters, poor gear, and bad weather.

It was really something visceral. Gotta get out there... Both body and mind craved time in the woods. I think it goes back to our ancestry and our evolution. Took a year off to hike after high school, did 100 days on the AT and then hitchhiked to all the best National Parks to hike out west. Didn't get my fill so I got BA, MS, and PhD in geology, which led to some nice "hiking for dollars" jobs.

My conclusion is that it is visceral with some people. Hiker's just have to hike. But's it's not common. A fairly small number of people are really what we call "hiker material", but you can even identify them when they are kids.

atj_Hiker
06-30-2012, 15:49
Being woke up in Tri-Corner shelter by my 15 year old boy who had been woke up by a black bear smelling his feet. We were sleeping on the top bunks. 4 other bears visited the shelter during the next couple hours. Always looking forward to the next moment mother nature has! Animals, scenery, etc.

Double Wide
07-01-2012, 20:51
I'm a little late to the hiking party. When I was a kid in scouts, I loved all of the other outdoor activities, but I always kinda thought hiking was pointless. I did the bare minimum of 2 five-mile hikes to get my hiking 'skill award' (remember those little medal things you wore on your belt?), but had no desire to get the merit badge. (Well, I did a 50-mile weekend with Order of the Arrow scouts once, but it wasn't nearly as fun as I thought it would be...)

Anyhow, fast forward about 30 years and I found my ass laid out in the ICU at Vanderbilt Medical Center a couple years ago with about a dozen tubes running in and out of me and the surgeon telling me to call my family to say goodbye--I wasn't likely to make it another day. Well, miracle of miracles happened, I survived a tricky operation and eight days later they sent me home. My rehabilitation consisted of walking as much as I could every day. At first I could only go about 60 feet, but eventually I made a couple of laps around the backyard at my sister's house, and then moved on to circling the cul-de-sac a few times a day.

After about a month, I was looking to expand my horizons from just walking the neighborhood, and I bought a copy of that 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles of Nashville book. My first solo hike was the 1.3 mile paved fitness trail at Anderson Rd on Percy Priest lake. Each week I tried to go a little further and check off another hike--my goal was to eventually do all sixty of 'em. But one day, I was up at Beaman Park, a few miles northwest of the city, absolutely alone in the woods (it was a weekday so there was NOBODY out at the park), enjoying the fabulous 2.1 mile loop trail. About 75% through the hike, I sat down on a huge pile of rocks next to the trail to rest.

Once I caught my breath, I was entranced by the sounds of the woods and wondered just how many critters were watching me at the time. Of course it gave me time to think about how far I'd come up to that point, and I dang near broke down right there on the side of the trail thinking about what a great second chance I had been given. It was then that I realized how much I enjoyed hiking--I've always loved the outdoors, but the chance to clear the space between my ears and really think about everything that was important to me while out there was the deal closer. Since then, I embraced the hobby and now read everything I can get my hands on. Soon after, I 'rediscovered' the Appalachian Trail, and made thru-hiking it my goal.

Not just a 'someday it would be nice to do goal', but a definite plan to make it happen goal.

I'm outta here in 20 months. March 11, 2014.

Wait'll you get a load of MY trail journal...

hikerboy57
07-01-2012, 21:30
awesome story. much better t.hen bryson. thanks for sharing

WIAPilot
07-01-2012, 21:35
Double Wide-Wow. What a magnificent story. I look forward to reading your journal. If you need anything, let me know. I think most of us would be honored to help you achieve this dream.

bamboo bob
07-01-2012, 21:38
I was vacationing in Maine a long time ago and picked up a hitchhiker that turned out to be a NOBO. I thought "awsome" Later when I realized I could eat as much junk food as I wanted I was hooked. 12000 miles later my wife says I have to keep the weight off this time :(

Driver8
07-01-2012, 22:03
Once I caught my breath, I was entranced by the sounds of the woods and wondered just how many critters were watching me at the time. Of course it gave me time to think about how far I'd come up to that point, and I dang near broke down right there on the side of the trail thinking about what a great second chance I had been given. It was then that I realized how much I enjoyed hiking--I've always loved the outdoors, but the chance to clear the space between my ears and really think about everything that was important to me while out there was the deal closer. Since then, I embraced the hobby and now read everything I can get my hands on. Soon after, I 'rediscovered' the Appalachian Trail, and made thru-hiking it my goal.

Not just a 'someday it would be nice to do goal', but a definite plan to make it happen goal.

I'm outta here in 20 months. March 11, 2014.

Wait'll you get a load of MY trail journal...

You are my man, Double Wide. Hell, listening to you might just talk me into the notion of doing the whole A.T. myself. For now, I'm a weekend hiker, incipient peakbagger and gym rat, having lost 50 lbs and needing to lose another 50 or so. Those lost pounds make one a lot faster hiker, as you may also know.

I salute you, Bravo!

rocketsocks
07-01-2012, 22:12
I'm a little late to the hiking party. When I was a kid in scouts, I loved all of the other outdoor activities, but I always kinda thought hiking was pointless. I did the bare minimum of 2 five-mile hikes to get my hiking 'skill award' (remember those little medal things you wore on your belt?), but had no desire to get the merit badge. (Well, I did a 50-mile weekend with Order of the Arrow scouts once, but it wasn't nearly as fun as I thought it would be...)

Anyhow, fast forward about 30 years and I found my ass laid out in the ICU at Vanderbilt Medical Center a couple years ago with about a dozen tubes running in and out of me and the surgeon telling me to call my family to say goodbye--I wasn't likely to make it another day. Well, miracle of miracles happened, I survived a tricky operation and eight days later they sent me home. My rehabilitation consisted of walking as much as I could every day. At first I could only go about 60 feet, but eventually I made a couple of laps around the backyard at my sister's house, and then moved on to circling the cul-de-sac a few times a day.

After about a month, I was looking to expand my horizons from just walking the neighborhood, and I bought a copy of that 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles of Nashville book. My first solo hike was the 1.3 mile paved fitness trail at Anderson Rd on Percy Priest lake. Each week I tried to go a little further and check off another hike--my goal was to eventually do all sixty of 'em. But one day, I was up at Beaman Park, a few miles northwest of the city, absolutely alone in the woods (it was a weekday so there was NOBODY out at the park), enjoying the fabulous 2.1 mile loop trail. About 75% through the hike, I sat down on a huge pile of rocks next to the trail to rest.

Once I caught my breath, I was entranced by the sounds of the woods and wondered just how many critters were watching me at the time. Of course it gave me time to think about how far I'd come up to that point, and I dang near broke down right there on the side of the trail thinking about what a great second chance I had been given. It was then that I realized how much I enjoyed hiking--I've always loved the outdoors, but the chance to clear the space between my ears and really think about everything that was important to me while out there was the deal closer. Since then, I embraced the hobby and now read everything I can get my hands on. Soon after, I 'rediscovered' the Appalachian Trail, and made thru-hiking it my goal.

Not just a 'someday it would be nice to do goal', but a definite plan to make it happen goal.

I'm outta here in 20 months. March 11, 2014.

Wait'll you get a load of MY trail journal...What an awesome attitude you have,I'm now looking forward to your hike too.Go get em,uuurah!