Whatever the motivation, walking becomes a job, a day's hike is the daily grind. Like any office, the trail has its own jargon. A Dalton man is renowned for feeding hikers gourmet ice cream smothered with whipped cream and sprinkles. Hikers never refuse food. Screamin' from 170 to 155.
Many hikers take up smoking.
Some joke their bodies wouldn't rot due to the preservatives ingested from so much freeze-dried food. At night, bathed in the glow of white-gas stoves, the hikers talk less of the meaning of life than where to find good burgers. Perhaps their great quest is simply to finish what they started. And then I'd probably still crawl.