I love hiking up a mountain and into a forest. Such a hike is straightforward and uncomplicated. Writing today about hiking up mountains and through forests, I’ve reduced it to three elements: the physical, the financial, and the psychological. And before I ask my readers to actually weather any of these elements, I shall open with a couple of notions on what this essay is not about – a prologue if you will.
This essay is not about cliff-hanger cliches referencing the ascension of a mountain as being a climb onto the edge of space and time. Nor is this essay a Zen adventure of the necessary tramping into a deep and dark wood with the sole purpose of getting lost only to find one’s real self. This essay is only about certain elements of hiking and certain facts about the footfalls in the forests where I’m hiking.
The physical element:
Spending time in Nature, in especially uncultivated and inhospitable regions, is both daunting and exhilarating. It is so cool to be splashing my face in a mountain stream; it is so wonderful to feel the spray ‘neath a mountain waterfall; it is so gripping to navigate a rugged ridge-line, knowing that any misstep could be life threatening. It is always invigorating spending time in Nature.
Hiking, especially the designated moderate to strenuous mountain hiking, demands a certain level of fitness. Spending at least an hour a day, five days a week in a local gym, I am ever striving to be ever-ready for hiking. Even though in fair weather I run three miles every day around my favourite lake (Wascana), still, my legs need the gym workouts to be hike-ready.
The financial element:
Hiking has a back-load of financial realities that need to be reckoned with. Travel costs money; travelling to anywhere is expensive. I live on the Canadian Prairies and therefore a means of good transportation is a must for the eight-hour trip to the Canadian Rockies. Also, I need a place of lodging when I get there. Reliable vehicles and quality lodgings cost money, never mind the added costs of park passes and parking fees. Food need not be included into the budget because, hike or not hike, I still have to eat.
Hiking also demands certain gear and equipment. Hiking is about ditching the powder blue suit or skirt, along with the bruin leather pointed oxfords or heels, and replacing these corporate costumes with cap-a-pie hiking garb. For even the most middling hike, every hiker needs a cap or hat, sunglasses, a long-sleeved shirt, walking shorts, hiking shoes or boots, a backpack, and poles; most of which, save for the footwear and poles, can likely and readily be gotten (cheaply) from one’s own armoire. If you must buy something, when buying anything actually to go hiking, brand names are best. Quality pays. Quality gear and equipment will last through most anyone's hiking years.
The psychological element:
Hobby hiking is a freedom from the hobbles of work. When I hike the weight of work is not in my backpack. When I hike I’ve no team meetings, no client interviews, no end-of-day deadlines. When I hike I've no home duties of vacuuming the floors or scrubbing the decks. When I hike I always attempt to appreciate the nature of things in the forest. I am referring to things as the chipmunks and hares, the birds and the bears (yikes), and the flowers and trees, and the waterfalls and streams.
Walking any trail is therapy for me, but trekking into forests deep can Zen-like. Walking between old trees, especially, offers that Zen sense of space and time. (But as I stated earlier, this essay is not about that. Just know that for me, every hike up a mountain is another page in my bildungsroman, appending another character script to my alterity.)
And speaking of alterity, as in all things in life ...
IN THE FOREST, THINGS ARE NOT ALWAYS AS THEY SEEM!
The following three pictures were taken with my iPhone while tramping the mountain trails near Banff, Alberta, Canada. Please note, the first photo is not a real bear (no kidding!); the second photo is not a real rodent; the third photo is not a real bird.
Factoid: All three photos are really just optical illusions that I felt compelled to "click" and share!
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