Why Do You Do It?

[Old Boots]

After years of canoeing the Boundary Waters of No. Minn. and Ontario, hiking on the AT, working in Glacier Park for a season, and climbing Kilimanjaro, I ask myself why do you it? I have come to the conclusion that it is to get and keep in touch with the wildness in me. Living in this air conditioned, electronically nourished bubble we call civilization, I need to be reminded that I am an animal more a part of mountains, lakes, rivers, heat and cold, rain and snow than the glass menagerie we have created.
i am interested in what compels you to abandon you easy hair and TVfor the rigors of the AT.

[Carbo]

I guess we'd still think the world was flat if we didn't have this instinct.

[Rasty]

I guess we'd still think the world was flat if we didn't have this instinct.

The world is flat! At least it is in coastal North Carolina. Went hiking in Croatan National Forest and called my wife as a joke when we summitted at 22' above sea level.

[coach lou]

I feel real, more alive when in the wilds. Even thought the east coast is not very wild. I also feel safer and more comfortable. What you see is what you got, as the saying goes. I feel more in control in the wilds.

[BFI]

It's what keeps me young and alive.

[Penn-J]

Men come tamely home at night only from the next field or street, where their household echoes haunt, and their life pines because it breathes its own breath over again; their shadows, morning and evening, reach farther than thier daily steps.

We should come home from far, from adventures, and perils, and discoveries every day, with new experience and character.

I love Thoreau! Whenever the people around me say "why do you hike?", that hiking isnt fun, or its stupid, or their eyes glaze over when I mention something about my past hikes, I remember Mr. Thoreau's words.

[coach lou]

Men come tamely home at night only from the next field or street, where their household echoes haunt, and their life pines because it breathes its own breath over again; their shadows, morning and evening, reach farther than thier daily steps.

We should come home from far, from adventures, and perils, and discoveries every day, with new experience and character.

I love Thoreau! Whenever the people around me say "why do you hike?", that hiking isnt fun, or its stupid, or their eyes glaze over when I mention something about my past hikes, I remember Mr. Thoreau's words.

My favorite Author.

[Penn-J]

i am interested in what compels you to abandon you easy hair and TVfor the rigors of the AT.

What comes to my mind right off the bat is that nobody ever says on thier death bed "I wish I would have sat in my easy chair and watched more TV"

Well, maybe some people would but I would feel sorry for them.

[Penn-J]

My favorite Author.

Yeah, mine too. Ed Abbey and Annie Dilard are close seconds.

[rocketsocks]

To live deliberately, and with out man made influences.

[jos2thehua]

I just love getting out there. It clears my mind and makes me feel more comfortable and I am detached from all the worries of the world. Even when I've had bad experiences like mild dehydration and heat exhaustion I've just found a sense of appreciation for every bit of it.

[hikerboy57]

to rediscover again and again and again how little i really need to be happy.
still need the tent fly however.
also to seek out and explore new life, new civilizations, to boldly go where a couple million have gone before!!!

[Penn-J]

To walk; to see and to see what you see. –BENTON MACKAYE, 1971

[AjR]

I grew up in the woods. It's literally become a part of me. Growing up, it was; "Hey, let's go fishing" then fishing would turn into a long hike down a creek, or a river, or around a lake. Like hunting would turn into a two to three day trip, always hiking farther into the woods than most would do. Or just to escape chores. I always had a choice, but I feel very detached after being away from the wild for too long. I find myself daydreaming about my next hunt, or fishing trip, or hike. It's a part of me now, something that I could not give up, even if I wanted to. If all technology was gone tomorrow, I honestly would not be bothered by it at all....

[WIAPilot]

I spent several years as a child in Alaska, NC and VA. Even then, I would hike off by myself. Later in HS and college, no one ever thought that I was into hiking because I was into the party crowd. But I hiked and camped all the time. Last September, I suddenly stopped breathing in a restaurant in Phoenix and the medics rushed me to the hospital. I recovered, but it made me reevaluate my life. What made me the happiest? I was a little surprised to discover that more than the parties and the glitz - some of my very best moments were hiking. That was the start of the AT for me. Life is too short not to do what you truly love.

[Old Boots]

I love this. Do you have these conversations with others on the trail and off. How do they react to it?

[Rasty]

Peace. It's the one place no one can reach me. No email. No phone calls. No text messages. Wake up. Walk. Look at stuff that is not a "problem" to be fixed. Walk some more. Drink coffee. Eat. Maybe read a little bit. Sleep. Repeat.

[Snoring Sarge]

The sovereign invigorator of the body is exercise, and of all the exercises walking is the best.
Thomas Jefferson

[OzJacko]

Outdoors I feel like I am me.
When I feel the cold, get wet from the rain and climb a mountain (actually hills around here), I feel more alive.
As for hiking a long trail that adds an "accomplishment" factor to the whole experience.
i.e. Hiking I do because it suits me. Long distance hiking I do because it challenges me.
Lots more reasons but those sum up most of it.

[A1ien]

What comes to my mind right off the bat is that nobody ever says on thier death bed "I wish I would have sat in my easy chair and watched more TV"

Well, maybe some people would but I would feel sorry for them.

I've been wondering lately if any successful thru-hikers end up saying, "I wish I'd never hiked the AT" . . .