How does hiking affect your life?

[Doctari]

After the following story I had an epiphany:

>On May 22 2010 at 1800 hrs, my mini van was TOTALED by a very stoned driver, as my car sat empty & parked in front of my house.

SO, I needed a new car, well, a replacement car anyway. Hey, I’m a hiker I have no spare money.

An affordable car would have been, well, a CAR. A small 2 door car would have been fine for most of my life. 9 months a year most of my driving is 5.6 miles each way to work, for most of July, September & October I also drive 68 miles each way each weekend to the Ohio Ren Fest where I am first aid / street performer. For all of the above a CAR would be best.

I bought a Jeep Cherokee at a cost of twice my stated budget. Why did I do this? For the 8 – 12 times a year I go hiking (KY, VA, Tenn, SE Ohio, etc.) & need to drive about 2% of the time on gravel rds or in snow. With my old 2 wheel drive truck, I got stuck on a hike ONE TIME, & that at Kincora. I live in SW Ohio, & honestly we don’t get that bad of winters here. 99% of my decision to get the Jeep was because it would aid my hiking. The added expense will interfere with my hiking opportunities to some extent, but that was also considered. <

At work last night, the fact that I had spent that much thought on a very large piece of hiking gear SHOCKED me. I started to think what else had I done to further my hiking lifestyle. Then, I wondered what others had done in the name of hiking.

Some of my hiking related decisions:
Even now, I’m not giving up the Jeep!
I’m loosing weight for my health, but not for any other reason than to lighten the load when I am hiking.
I pack lunches to work to save money for,,, Hiking. Yes, we need to replace the money from buying the Jeep, but I only consider that as an after thought. “Hey, if I pack a PB 7 J sand instead of eating at McDs, I can buy an extra dinner (or pair of socks) for my next trip.” Later I think: “Yea, can put a few $ towards Gas & electric too”
The ONLY web sites I go to are hiking related.
I learned to play the flute for when I go hiking.
Even at work, when buying a bottled drink, I think: "how could I use this when Hiking?"

So, what in YOUR regular life do you do in the name of hiking, or am I the only one with this problem?

[FritztheCat]

I find myself weighing everything. Not with a scale but with my hand as if trying to determine the weight. My wife and I will walk through a grocery store and I'll pick up random stuff just to see how heavy it is. It has become a running gag around the house.

I'm not an ultra-lighter by any stretch of the imagination but it is fun to make comments like "Ten bandaids in a box? I only need three because I can save .005 ounces by leaving the other seven at home."

I'm retiring from the military next month and as part of the running gag, I'm going to use my backpack to store the flowers/certificates for my family members in attendance. Then I'll "lighten my load" by giving them out. My family and office mates will totally understand so it should be a good time.

[Adayak]

I think one of the most important was hiking could affect someones life (and maybe mine someday) would be to pack up and move to a new city/state just because it has better hiking close by. You know... moving from the big city to the outdoors - that's a big change

[Bear Cables]

I sold my convertable sports car and bought an SUV to have more room for packs and...and golf clubs.

[Cabin Fever]

I am about to relocate for a different job and the number one attribute of the job was location...location that is close to the mountains. I was successful. Going to Chattanooga.

[tlap]

I can relate to that. A few months ago I sold my very 'green' and practical Prius and bought a Land Rover. OK, the Land Rover has always been my dream car, but I totally NEED it to get to the trailhead.

[Heavy G]

Doctari,

i am changing professions for hiking. for the past 7 years i have been the lead administrator for a series of homeless shelters for kids. that job has no beginning or end in the work day. even when i go out on the trail my blackberry still blew up with calls and messages.

So i am switching to teaching. i know when my day will begin and end, i have holidays off (a luxury that did not exist in my previous profession), i will have summers off to hit the trail, and i plan on starting a hiking/outdoors club! Certainly i will take a pay in cut and since the job market here in NJ is not good, i have to be patient while unemployed. But i am boat loads happier, and there is no salary or compensation that can match that!

[Hikerhead]

The banker dude was taken back when I told him I was 50. He thought I was closer to 40. I contribute that to hiking.

[Cookerhiker]

Well my year-ago relocation wasn't directly related to hiking but it does put me closer to a National Forest with good hiking, both for 1-2 days and long-distance (the 281 mile Sheltowee Trace), than anywhere I've lived. However, I also live farther from the AT than ever before.

The other thing is hiking is what motivates me to work out and try to stay aerobically fit. My enjoyment of the hike is tempered if I'm constantly huffing and puffing on the uphills.

[johnnybgood]

When visiting my brother and his wife on a weekend I am always invited to spend the night at their house , but of course I don't . They understand that I'll be backcountry camping somewhere in SNP that night , that's my MO and sticking to it.

[sbhikes]

Ways hiking has affected my life:
- Suffering from major depression, I went hiking in an area bursting with carpets of wildflowers. I felt so alive. I realized nature had the power to heal mental illness.
- Struggling with a demanding job I found hiking was a great release of energy.
- Struggling with being overweight, I found hiking was great for weight loss.
- I was alone for many years when I met my boyfriend on a Sierra Club hike. We've been together for over 10 years now.
- I decided to change careers so I used my love of hiking to make a hiking web site. I went from earning near minimum wage to a salary above the median US salary by using that for my resume.
- I gave up my above median salary job to go for a PCT hike. I didn't make it to Canada, so I tried again a year later. Hiking the PCT meant more to me than a good salary.
- Hiking the PCT taught me a lot about what is important in life. Taught me a lot about my feet, too. Gave me lingering foot injuries, too.
- When I go hiking now, I'm brought back to life on the PCT. I get flashbacks, I get feelings of happiness that wash over me. I belong on the trail. I love the trail. I love trail life.

[Tinker]

It makes me hard to be around when I haven't been doing it for a while. :/

[garlic08]

First thru-hike: Leased out the house furnished, and built an 8' x 8' shed in the back to hold extra "stuff". Had to get rid of a lot of stuff to fit in the shed, and that was good. Came home from hike, and had no idea why we had a shed full of stuff. Got rid of it all. Learned a lot of lessons about what's important in life.

Last thru-hike, four years later: Leased out the house unfurnished, fit everything we own including furniture into a 4' x 8' closet in a friend's garage.

The house is still leased out, and we haven't been home yet though the hike was over two years ago. Everything I've needed has fit into two packs (one for hiking, one for not hiking), or has wheels on it (a car and a bike). I've hiked a few shorter trails (AZT, PNT, WT) along the way. We've been renting furnished houses and apartments all over the West.

That's how hiking affected my life, and it's all for the better.

[Sarcasm the elf]

It makes me hard to be around when I haven't been doing it for a while. :/

I'll second that. More than once my girlfriend has offered to drive me two hours plus to the trailhead because of the great mood I'm in after my return.

She has been telling me for over a year now that I need to quit my job and do a thru hike and I'm starting to think she's serious.

[fredmugs]

After my first AT hike I decided to get divorced.

Since then keeping in shape for hiking has been a major motivation for me. I am not one of those people who believes that the trail will get you in shape. Every winter I put on a lot of belly fat and then burn it off getting ready for hiking season. Without my hikes I'm not sure I could be as motivated.

After I (hopefully) finish section hiking the AT next year I plan on hiking out west with the purpose of scouting places to retire to.

[max patch]

I bought a Jeep Cherokee at a cost of twice my stated budget. Why did I do this? For the 8 – 12 times a year I go hiking (KY, VA, Tenn, SE Ohio, etc.) & need to drive about 2% of the time on gravel rds or in snow. With my old 2 wheel drive truck, I got stuck on a hike ONE TIME, & that at Kincora.

I used to drive a sports car and the only place I couldn't drive on it in Georgia was the road to Blue Ridge Gap. I replaced it with a 4wd car and it couldn't make it up that road either!

I think that for AT hiking, unless you routinely drive the tote roads of Maine, that almost any car will get you to almost all trailheads and that the financially smart thing to do would to rent a trail car the one time a year you probably need it.

Of course I don't follow my own advice.

[sbhikes]

Why would it matter if your car could get to the trailhead or not? You can always walk to the trailhead. That's what I did last year. I walked out my door, down the street, over the mountains eastward until I reached the PCT.

[tlap]

Getting through rough roads to the trail is more of an issue for day and section hikers.

When your time is limited, you want to enjoy as much of it as possible on the trail, and not fritter it away in getting there.

[weary]

....I think that for AT hiking, unless you routinely drive the tote roads of Maine, that almost any car will get you to almost all trailheads .....

I agree -- and it's true even for almost all Maine trails. But during the quarter century I maintained a couple of miles of trail on Whitecap, I kept a 4-wheel drive Dodge Ram pickup going, mostly because it was the only vehicle that would ford two streams that crossed an abandoned logging road.

The culverts had been pulled out, so the truck had to go down a steep banking, across a boulder-filled stream and up the other side. Of course I needed a four wheeler. If I didn't cross those streams, I'd have to walk two miles further before reaching my trailhead, while carrying clippers and a two pound bow saw, and sometimes twice a year, no less. I like to keep my priorities straight.

Weary

[McPick]

"Ways hiking has affected my life:"

Please allow me to include that because of your willingness to share your experiences, the way hiking has affected your lives has certainly, and most positively, affected the lives of others.

Example: We LOVE our Wishbone!

See ya!