How would you answer this question?

[Drybones]

I believe someone asked the question once "why do you want to climb Mt. Everest" and the answer was "it's there", not really a very good answer. If someone asked me why I want to spends weeks or months on a trail getting cold, wet, hungry, blistered feet, sleep on the ground, etc., etc., etc., I really dont know the answer myself. Do you really know why you do it?

[Wise Old Owl]

Because everyone else is doing it?

[chilln]

In January issue of backpacker magazine there is a picture of a guys tattoo that sums it up. "The journey is the destination."

[MuddyWaters]

I believe someone asked the question once "why do you want to climb Mt. Everest" and the answer was "it's there", not really a very good answer. If someone asked me why I want to spends weeks or months on a trail getting cold, wet, hungry, blistered feet, sleep on the ground, etc., etc., etc., I really dont know the answer myself. Do you really know why you do it?

Today the answer to the Mt Everest question would be "Because even though I have little experience, I have $75,000 to spare and can pay someone to take me there, then I can brag about it to everyone I know, especially the parts about stepping over dieing people that were equally inexperienced, as I make my way up or down from the summit."

More people summit everest each year, than thru hike the PCT.

50-the-line-up-750x500.jpg




Hiking on well travelled long trails, is about having a little adventure in you life, in a controlled situation.
The startling few that venture OFF established trails, is indicative that that is a little too much adventure for most. Too much planning, too many contingencies. Too much skill required. Trail hiking is easy hiking by comparison.

[10-K]

I love to hike. Ask them if there's anything they love to do. It's like that.

[kayak karl]

Why would anyone NOT want to go on vacation?

[chilln]

oops darn whiteblaze

[johnnybgood]

My answer to this would be ; to escape the rigors of the world.
Some people drink to relieve stress, I prefer to spend time hiking in the woods .

[Rain Man]

I was born and raised (many years ago) in rural South Carolina. Around my home were vast woods, fields, and many creeks and "branches," with few houses. If I was not inside eating or reading (or gluing plastic model airplanes together), I was outside soaking up the natural world that God made.

I'm still a kid?

RainMan

P.S. Besides, I need the exercise.

P.P.S. Not to mention my wife occasionally says "take a hike, Bozo!", though I'm not sure we have the same thing when she says that. LOL JK.

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[perrymk]

Places that require getting cold, wet, hungry, blistered feet, etc. are usually hard to get to and thus better for hiding the bodies.

[Kookork]

Because it is a "controlled miserable long vacation" like non other.

[capehiker]

I love to hike. Ask them if there's anything they love to do. It's like that.

And we have a winner. Sometimes it's as simple as that.

[Coffee]

I have not been able to explain the attraction of long backpacking trips to people who don't enjoy outdoor activities. The questions I get always have to do with either perceived unpleasant aspects of the trip (rain, sleeping on the ground, insects) or vastly overrated dangers such as bears, mountain lions and rattlesnakes. Most people who know me well assume that I like this type of activity because it is cheaper than other types of long vacations. Although I like the possibility of low costs that isn't why I like backpacking. I get more utility from a backpacking trip than spending a week sitting on some beach at a high end resort and that would be true even if both activities were the same cost.

[HikerMom58]

Why would anyone NOT want to go on vacation?

Ahhh.... if you're referring to hiking as a vacation?.... Just remember that is your (and many others) idea of a vacation. I could introduce you to a whole lot of people that would NOT want to go on this type of vacation... Isn't that the whole point of this thread? What do you say to people that wonder why you hike and put yourself through all the things Drybones listed?

Plenty of my friends & family members have made it perfectly clear to me, it's not their idea of a vacation.

They ask, "why would you want spend your vacation time- hiking?".... doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun to me. They are completely serious!! That's cool.

I have no answer for them...except- I like it. It's my thang... do what you wanna do!

This is what I enjoy about hiking- I like to section hike. I like to pick and choose the times I hike. (when it's not pouring rain, freezing cold, oppressive heat etc..) I'm not "hard core". I like to "get lucky" and hike when it's close to perfect weather etc..

That's exactly what happened to me the first 12 days I was out on the trail. No rain, perfect weather, fun people to hike with, etc.... I could vacation like that, forever!!

My feet hurt, I got some blisters, I couldn't shower after sweating buckets all day etc.. but I LOVED it!

It's not for everyone!! That's what makes a site, like this one, so . We LOVE it!!

[Coffee]

I suspect that after Wild comes out on the big screens next year, lots of people will assume that those going on a long backpacking trip are hiding from something or have lots of emotional issues, and perhaps drug problems. I can hardly wait for the concerned looks and probing questions in addition to questions on rain, sleeping on the ground, insects, bears, mountain lions, and rattlesnakes!

[4eyedbuzzard]

Today the answer to the Mt Everest question would be "Because even though I have little experience, I have $75,000 to spare and can pay someone to take me there, then I can brag about it to everyone I know, especially the parts about stepping over dieing people that were equally inexperienced, as I make my way up or down from the summit."

While there have indeed been some who fit your description, most who climb Everest have significant experience and training. Generally you will need several lesser peaks summitted, such as Aconcagua, Denali, Cho Oyu, etc. in order to be considered as a client. Even though it is a very popular undertaking requiring substantial funds, it is still an incredibly difficult and dangerous climb even though not as technically difficult add some of the other 8000 meter peaks. Money plus a whim alone won't get you on the mountain - you need some documented mountaineering skills to get accepted as a client by any reputable guide/expedition service.

[BCPete]

The voice in my head is telling me I should.

[ShaneP]

because I love camping and hiking and sleeping alone in the woods

[Dogwood]

To know I'm alive. BEST drug there is.

To know we're doing the exact thing in the exact time that we're meant to brings contentment and a glimpse of LIFE that is meant for all of us all the time. Yet, we're too often sidetracked into accepting cheap counterfeits as a replacement for being truly alive. WAKE UP! Go for a hike.

Look into the faces, notice the contentment, feel the energy, and notice the sobering balance and awareness of someone who hikes a lot who often "gets away." With all that we can be sold on NOTHING is better than LIFE.

[Siarl]

I was born and raised (many years ago) in rural South Carolina. Around my home were vast woods, fields, and many creeks and "branches," with few houses. If I was not inside eating or reading (or gluing plastic model airplanes together), I was outside soaking up the natural world that God made.

I'm still a kid?

RainMan

P.S. Besides, I need the exercise.

P.P.S. Not to mention my wife occasionally says "take a hike, Bozo!", though I'm not sure we have the same thing when she says that. LOL JK.

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You nailed it right there for me. I grew up in rural Augusta County, VA (just a few miles from Waynesboro) and if I wasn't reading a book, I was out in the woods discovering mossy beds beneath the pine trees and listening to the water run across the stones of the nearby creeks and listening to the breeze travel overhead in the trees. We would vacation at Shenandoah National Park, travel the Blue Ridge Parkway, picnic at Hungry Mother State Park, and hike the many battlefields of the Civil War. Now, 36 years later, I want to revisit, reconnect, and rediscover the magic in the Appalachian Mountains. My partner calls hiking, "walking for the hell of it" and refuses to see any sense to doing it. But I love walking for the hell of it.