Date: 2015-03-26
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Background: My First HikeI was probably 8 years old. Dad and I had gone to a privately owned woods to hunt mushrooms. I never found any, but Dad was pretty good at it. I quickly grew tired of the chore and started to pick a bouquet of wildflowers to take home for Mom. (In my defense, this was the 50s, and I was totally unaware of the fact that I should leave them in their place.) They were everywhere in every color! All shapes and sizes, all unique in their beauty. The closer I looked at them, the more glorious their detail. This was probably the first time in my life that I looked around and felt God¢s hand in a place.Fast Forward About 30 YearsI hadn¢t done any real hiking because of school and having three kids. Life was pretty sedentary - until I went to Maine one summer to take a class for my masters degree. Environmental chemistry. A crazy lady in the class urged all the females to get up early one morning and go for a hike before breakfast. Sure, I said. I¢ll go.Wow. We hiked several miles along the Shore Trail - the rocky edge of Otter Cliffs where it meets the ocean at Acadia National Park. I was in awe, even though I was soaked in sweat and exhausted. And I¢m pretty sure I slept through class that morning. We did daily field trips with this class and I hiked all over the island, falling in love with the place, and with hiking. We went places and saw things that were only possible if we walked. We visited caves, bogs, streams, and mountain tops. I was hooked.Fast Forward Another 25 YearsI¢m addicted to hiking. As I read other people¢s trail journals, I find that people hike the trail for all sorts of reasons. Some go for adventure, others go to challenge themselves, and some go to explore and learn. Some hikers go to heal from a trauma that has occurred like a death or divorce, or to think and work out a problem. Some like the fresh air and freedom from being inside, or the exercise you get outside of the gym. And hiking is an incredible pressure release valve from ¢everyday life¢. But MY reason for hiking? On any given day, I don¢t have just one reason. I hike for a combination of reasons, in the same way I layer shirts and jackets to prepare for uncertain weather. Other times, I have a specific reason for hiking on a certain day unlike any other day, like having a different pair of hiking shoes for different types of trail conditions. But my reason almost always involves my relationship with God.I want to experience God¢s presence, and the best way for me to do that is to be outside in His creation. I delight in seeing swatches of God¢s beauty, listening to the sounds of the woods, smelling wildflowers, and connecting with nature in a way that provides me deeply satisfying peace. I love getting lost in the rhythm of my footsteps and the click of my hiking poles against the trail; the silence and the songs and thoughts in my head; the conversations with God. I love God¢s creation; the hills and the rocks and the deer that bolt off into the trees and the squirrels that scramble across the trail. I love the appearance of spring wildflowers and mourn at their fading, and celebrate the emergence of green leaves, only to be followed by catching my breath when they turn brilliant colors in the fall. Even when I¢m hiking a trail that I¢ve been on multiple times before, I notice things that I haven¢t noticed before, and I emerge from the trail feeling mentally refreshed, sharper, and happier. It gives me inspiration that carries over into my off-trail life.But, I also hike to be humbled: to know what it feels like to be exhausted beyond belief, unsure of my location, frustrated, cold, wet, or in pain. It¢s through our pain, aches, and weaknesses that God gives us the strength and desire to go on.   I¢ve heard it said that the trail is an equal opportunity abuser. It doesn¢t care if you¢re young or old, rich or poor, dumb or smart, republican or democrat, man or woman. It treats everyone the same. Yes, I confess. I am addicted to hiking. It doesn't make much sense to many people, but I enjoy hiking more than almost anything else. That is why it is often so difficult for me to accept limitations my body puts on me as I get older. But nature has the power to put life into perspective and bring contentment to my soul, making the limitations easier to live with.