Ode to hiking

Some of you have heard me talk about hiking and some have showed curiosity about my ventures of long distances on the Appalachian Trail. Well, this summer, here's your chance. I am going to fit in a few weekends of backpacking in Shenandoah and this is an open invitation to all who want to come along. When folks show hesitation to such invitations, I find it's generally for the following two reasons...

"I don't have the right stuff"
Well, you are in luck, because you happen to know a person with a superfluous amount of outdoor gear! I pride myself in being somewhat of a minimalist in other aspects of life, but I seem to have gathered quite a collection of outdoor paraphernalia. I have enough to outfit you and at least a friend or two comfortably. I should also add that as long as you are equipped to eat and sleep and carry your stuff, you are pretty much set. There is really no need for fancy-shmancy hiking shirts and titanium pots (although all that stuff is quite neat). When Bethany and I stepped foot on the AT with 600 miles ahead of us, we were decked out with a homemade coffeecan cooking pot, 100% cotton t-shirts and a generic tent we called 'Stan' (Stan is another story, come hiking w/ me and I'll tell you) We made it and had a blast doing it.

"I don't think I could keep up"
In all seriousness, I am a very lazy person. I like to walk slow, look at everything, and eat at every possible chance, so this is just silly. I hope the folks that have been backpacking with me can vouch for this.

So really, it's not about hiking fast, long miles or being a hardcore grizzly-man type. It's about taking time to talk to friends or to just be silent. It's about getting into camp at 3 o'clock in the afternoon and laying on the grass, making shapes out of the clouds (reminiscent of the last trip). It's about cooking the most elaborate meal possible with a single white gas flame and having it taste better than anything you can recall. It's about seeing the small details of the forest that are often hidden at first glance and recognizing the awesomeness of a God that could create something with so much beauty and complexity. And one of my favorite aspects... it's about eating as many Snickers bars as you want.

This is a quote from an online journal of one of my trail buddies... ok, so this is about hiking 2,000 miles to Maine, but the concepts can be applied to the weekend warrior hiker...

"What strikes me most about life on the trail is the marked absence of conventional social pressures. On the slightly more superficial side of things, no one cares what anyone looks like because we've all looked the same for the last three months. This may seem trite to some, but all of the pressures of wearing the right stuff or having a body that looks a certain way are all cast aside. To not look in a mirror for days at a time, or compare yourself to others is a welcome change.
In a similar vein, the anonymity of our trail names and the irrelevance of our prior endeavors make this experience truly unique. It does not matter where one went to school, what job one held or how much one's bank account contains, because none of those things will help you get to Maine. To hear a 17 year old hiker teach a state senator how to hang a bear bag is proof enough that out here everyone is equal with one common goal"

Inspired yet?
so far this is my best guess of designated backpacking weekends...
June 10-11
June 30-July 2
July 14-16

put one on your calendar today and point your car to SNP.