"You will discover as the years pass that hiking becomes a beautiful, warm, round pumpkin that sits up on a shelf, always ready to be taken down... It wouldn't be the same round and personal pumpkin, of course, if you hadn't grown it yourself... And its always sitting up there on the shelf, that big beautiful pumpkin - just waiting for you to wave the wand and turn it into something more magical." C. FletcherHiking is an adventure medium that is second to none... In so many ways hiking is the 'destination' rather than just a means of travel. I was foraging through a Long Distance Hiking Trail forum recently and stumbled upon some trail elders musing about 'why' they hike... Their comments reflected a depth of musing that I enjoy so much... And now here I sit, enjoying my own memories and musings about why I went and why I've stayed so long in that special environment...
I remember balancing along the continental divide, trails of the Colorado, my pulse in the high Sierras...and so many other trails beneath my appreciative feet. There is another side to our self that we may just sense on a sunrise hike, a shared day hike, a solo long distance trek, during the low tide of a beach hike, across lengthy portages, moving so quietly through a desert or canyon, and even ridge walking above most of the world...
And I have so much enjoyed placing a few Summit Stones while wandering these many trails...
DSD
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