Survey: In a good hike and backpacking trip?

What do you look for in a good hike and backpacking trip?

1) Scenery?

2) Good friends?

3) Solitude?

4) Athletic Challenge?

5) Just getting back to your car or truck.

I'll go ahead and respond to my own post, and say -- I tend to enjoy an element of danger and knowing I have accomplished something that the middle of the road crowd have not.

Solitude vs Good friends -- I have positives for both. There are times when I luv having the whole trip on the trip by myself, and other times I enjoy all the people for ideas and conversation.

Obviously the number one for me is the scenery.

It kinda depends on my mood but normally I plan it based on the order you already had your in EXCEPT I never look at it and say "what kind of athletic challenge will it be!" Then it would be no fun!


1) Scenery...destination

2) Good friends a must

3) Solitude is often an option!

Right now I am fortunate enough that i can get out almost every weekend so I don't have to be quite as selective. Last weekend it was 9 miles with the scouts, the weekend b4 was McAffee Knob, weekend before was a series of short hikes with my kids. B4 that 27 AT miles etc etc..

My first goal would be to pound out a lot of strenuous miles as I get back into shape, however I do enjoy some company on the trail. One of the things I like about hiking with the TT's or the other club I'm with is that at the end of the day, even if the group has kind of split up, we will be meeting at the campsite for an evening of comradary.

As for views, I notice that I definately hike a lot faster if it is overcast, and there is nothing to really look at..

'32oz

"I tend to enjoy an element of danger......"


Lost in the Smokies surrounded by hungry bears?

heh. Smart Aleck.

Great food, nice campfire, weather doesn't matter. Distance not a issue.

Hey-hey!

Pretty much all of those things, Dawg.

I agree with Muddy, I like to get away, get out with good friends, enjoy the solitude of being away FROM. And I kinds like the realization that this is not something everyone does.

I don't know. I hate uphills, downhills, long stretches of flats, sleeping on the ground, rocky trails, sandy trails, root filled trails, trail food, chub rub, hot days with low water, cold days with snow, warm days with fog.

I guess I like the people, the views, and getting back to my car.

TD.....interesting post and one that intrudes on a number on characteristics which are mostly derived from your inner self although those that are not as devout will lean towards the more materialistic shallow traits of backpacking such as being able to hike 79 miles in 3 hours which happens to be utterly meaningless and is a nonexistent attribute amoung the spiritual...and you may as well throw "bag nights" in there as well.....one response which quickly surfaces is that your survey list is too limiting....and without meandering down a path of an absurd diatribe....i'll keep it at that....

For what its worth and whoever cares...my distintive qualities I tend to seek out when backpacking don't depend on whether i'm solo or not or whether scenery is present which is all relative, are the following:

1. GOD

2. Truth

3. Fellowship with Nature

4. Serenity

5. And most important of all........LOVE.....

#1 thing I look for is pure enjoyment.

I like the simplicity. Not having 5,000 things to do. All I gotta do is get from point A to point B, enjoy everything between the two points with others or solo.

I completely agree with stratus

all of the above.

I appreciate your list stratus and see where you are coming from, however I disagree with you about the materialistic shallow traits.. The five things that are importantant to you (with the possible exception of Fellowship with nature) can be enjoyed doing almost anything. They can also be pursued while hiking 79 miles in 3 hours or accumulating bag nights...

The question was what do we look for in a hike (ie the physical characteristics). Your list is more towards the emotional/spiritual end.

One of the reasons that I hike is that I am not materialistic.. I enjoy getting away from all of the BS.. I doubt very few posters are trying to one-up people on the number of bagnights... Its just a fun thread...

Again, I appreciate your list, I just think you went a little overboard with your use of shallow and materialistic..

'32oz

I remember one time I was hiking with God and he was complaining about all the hills. I said, "dude, you're the one that made them so deal with it, ya big baby." It started to thunder and lightning right after that so we had to head back to the car.

God: 1
Me: 0

Another time we were hiking and I asked God what his favorite post-hike meal was. He says, “deviled eggs and hot wings.” He’s always joking like that. I didn't think it was so funny.


Me, I like the scenery, the quiet, and the post hike meal.

To all. I won't say that God is not important. Of course he is. It's just that I don't hike to the mountaintop to "see God" and receive his message.

That's not to say that I haven't had those experiences. In fact some of my most intense meetings with God have been on the mountaintop. To Mark's point, a couple times my most intense meetings with God was when I was lost.

I am happy for everyone that put God on the top of their list. It's certainly on mine as well, but it's not WHY I go backpacking, and it's not the criteria to which I judge a good hiking and backpacking trip.

God is everywhere, and I don't need to be on a mountain to feel his power and his might, and his leading. I loved your post Hyway, even if you do lie. We all know that some of the most difficult hikes with the most horrible conditions most likely are some of our favorites.

Thanks for the pleasant reminders of what we live for, and what is important, but at least in my mind, it wasn't an answer I expected.

I think you are also right, Stratusloop when you said, 'one response which quickly surfaces is that your survey list is too limiting."

It's good to know we have started a thread we can continue to talk about. Several of you are really close and good friends of mine. Let's talk some more, because this is fun.

32OZ and anyone else for that matter....sorry if I have offended you with my choice of words and/or perspective on the traits of backpacking whether they be qualitative or quantitative...I'd rather not use this landscape as a launch pad to disagreement or argument so i'll leave it at this...

For me...from a completely spiritual perspective, the essence of keeping track of bag nights, miles hiked, etc have absolutely no significant relationship with traits of spiritually and belong in the category of materialism. A philosophical indiffernce. These material concerns live autonomously in another realm of being....they'll never intersect...

My $.02 and carry on...........

I don't have to go to a mountain top to "see God" because he's in everything around me. Just my little tid bit...

And I just noticed Town Dawg said the same thing :)

no no.. I wasn't offended. I was just pointing out that we all have different points of view.

:)

c'mere.. we can group hug now.


and I don't want to ignore NC's post either.. that was brillant. Did you just make all of that up?

stratus, its all good.. I just don't think its as black and white as you made it seem...

Like I said, I need distance and strenous miles to get myself back together.. It doesn't have anything to do with being able to say that I did it...

As for your list, indirectly I get most of those as well when I'm hiking, I just don't hike to get them.. if that makes sense...

Wasn't trying to start an argument.. I was fed up with all of THAT crap over on the other side..

'32oz

geez. Xians sure are sensitive. ;)

I like choices 1-4.

Being back at the car after a good hike sucks.

I like to be waaaaay in the mowntins for menny days wher ther is lots of aminals I can look at and stinky theengs to smell.

Beleef it or not but I get like a woof. I smell reel good and look reel good and lissen reel good. My daddy sayed that is the call of the wild.

I think that your daddy was wrong...

'32oz

Thank you Sarabelle. You always make us smile.

"One of the reasons that I hike is that I am not materialistic.. I enjoy getting away from all of the BS.. I doubt very few posters are trying to one-up people on the number of bagnights... Its just a fun thread..."
32oz

Stratus, you are just plain wrong about those of us who celebrate our love of the wilderness experience. There is no one-up-man-ship in the "Bag Nights Thread". We love what we do and we share that love of what we do with others who love the same things. These are anything BUT "material concerns".
Dude, you are sounding condecending here.......tsk, tsk!

I hike to "slip the surly bonds of earth" in a manner of speaking.
In the case of backpacking it is to slip those surly bonds of civilized life and touch the face of nature. For me it is a spiritual retreat, inspite of having no deity in my life.

High Flight
by John Gillespie Magee, Jr.

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds...and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of...wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up, the long, delirious burning blue
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, nor even eagle flew.
And while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space...
...put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

My son likes to find branches that make letters. I take pictures of them and then we put the pics together and see if we can make words. We're working on "hello" right now. That's what he's looking for in a good hike :)

32oz....I hear ya on all points especially ones referencing crap....and to your point, I don't hike to get those either and maybe my use/choice of words were misdirecting the point...that's the problem with this sort of medium of expression....

Anywho.....its almost time to hit the trail of rush hour....so until later.........peace out!

tenjen....now that's so cool....I love it!

I have to say...that I agree with so much of what was said. I answered quickly when I first saw TD's post...but there has been much thought put into some of the answers and I apprcieate them all.

I have to add...yes God is everywhere and no I don't have to go to the woods to find Him but when I was in Honduras I was so surpised to find how close He was to me. After I came back to the US and continued the hustle and bustle of our life here...I realized (once again) that it is usually ME that is out of sorts....and it was when I was quiet and didn't have all the distractions of my every day life that God was so near.

Just a little PS :-)

OH...and Tenjen...I didn't realize you have a son! How old? I think that is the most awesome thing in the world that you are doing with him!!!!

Way to go gf!!!

Thank you very much, crazygurl. He just turned eight this past Friday. It's just us two so we're pretty close :) Now, if I could only get him to talk less and listen more when we're on the trail.... :)

I would have to say 1 and 2. I really don't care about big miles or being by myself.

I know what you are saying Jen...but enjoy the talking...about the time they hit 15 their mouths start to close and they can only answer in two word syllables. :-(

Marko--LOVE that poem, thanks. I go out to experience all of it. 10 or so years ago I went on my first long day hike in the Sierra. I was alone, and was in thunderstorms, rain, hail, snow, then blinding sunshine, then repeat all over again. It was the first time I felt safe from an abusive relat. I felt wonderful. I touched the face of God. I've been hiking ever since, started backpacking last year with John Muir Trail. Speed, bag nights, will come. I know God is everywhere. Just think my eyes and ears see clearer out "there". Coming back to the car sucks.

MarkO....big Thanks for the poem....I love it!

Condecending? Not at all my old friend. Before you go off giving me the tsk tsk treatment...hear me out brother. I'll attempt my best effort to explain how I understand this view of "bag nights" although I tend to be pleonastic in this regard....

First, to say there is "no" one-up-man-ship contained within this concept is illogical. On a tangential note, I studied Logic way too much back in my collegiate days (25+ yrs ago or so) which always drove people around me nuts whenever I debated an issue such as this one....just ask stikmon. Anywho, not to sound like a lecturer, but the use of words like no, always and never imply that the condition will return an outcome either in black or white, hence gray's existence is absent. Logic only cares about on or off, 0 or 1, yes or no. So, when you say there is "no" one-up-man-ship, you're saying that every person posting is NOT posting to one up another. Sorry, that's a fallasy. Simply put, if only one person posts a number on that thread with intention to brag nullifies your statement. Will you guarantee that "every" person into infinity (timeline speak) posting a number on that thread will NOT be bragging? It can't be done.

When I see threads like that, questions come to mind such as:

What do I do with this information?

Does it have value? If so, what is it?

Is a higher number better or worse than a lower number?

Am I suppose to write these numbers down and input them into a spreadsheet?

I haven't a bloody clue....

I don't know what it is i'm suppose to draw from the information. Here's the issue. What is the rationale for positing a number? Is is to express the love of what you do (using your thought process)? Is it goal oriented? Or is it to brag? Or maybe someone just wants to post a number in case they forget. I don't know! The point is, there are too many rationales or better yet, motivations why those numbers are posted. So, I draw conclusions which are classified as hollow inconsequential information....condecending? No, illogical.

So, on a personal note, I haven't a clue how many bag nights I have. Why? Because I don't think along those lines and it has no value to me.

Well, I hope this explains my loopy way of thinking and whether ya give a darn or not....oh well....it's now written in black and white!

PS....Towndawg, sorry to hijack your thread....you can now carry on with what ya'll were doing....peace out!

1) Scenery?

2) Good friends?

3) Solitude?

All of the above. I love the relaxation. I never feel more grounded than I do on a nice hike. Nature is the perfect place for me to leave behind life's problems and stresses.

stratus, it isn't your opinion of what you like in a hike that is offensive, its your condescending opinion of what other people like that is.

Posted by: Hyway (IP Logged)
Date: April 29, 2008 02:13PM
I don't know. I hate uphills, downhills, long stretches of flats, sleeping on the ground, rocky trails, sandy trails, root filled trails, trail food, chub rub, hot days with low water, cold days with snow, warm days with fog.

I guess I like the people, the views, and getting back to my car.

LOL...hahahahahahahahaa

This is my problem...it seems that no one can express their opinion withouth someone else getting there panties in a wad. There was a question presented about what we think....someone replied what THEY felt and then others start calling them condescending or arrogant or blah blah blah.

There have been A LOT of post on this board that I've not agreed with...and there have been times that I've felt that they are serving no purpose but to start an argument and rile the troops but instead of giving attention to them I just ignore.

I wish I was as good at expressing myself as some folks on this board but I'm not and if this makes no sense I'm sorry. It just fries my fanny that someone can't exprss their opinion ... and isn't degrading anyone or mean and milicious and gets hammered but someone who is mean and milicious gets by with it!

Amazing!

crazygurl, this is what he said ...

although those that are not as devout will lean towards the more materialistic shallow traits of backpacking such as being able to hike 79 miles in 3 hours which happens to be utterly meaningless and is a nonexistent attribute amoung the spiritual...and you may as well throw "bag nights" in there as well..

tell me why that statement is needed when discussing what a person feels about THEIR hike. Its a kick in the teeth of anyone who doesn't do it their way. If this is being spiritual and godly, then heaven is going to be a horrible place to spend eternity.

Stratus.... I now understand your funny/witty (sarcastic?) posts to the bag count thread.

I will admit one thing, when I first started hiking/signed up on TT/Latta Outdoors// I was curious as to just how serious everyone was as to hiking/backpacking etc. I was alomost intimidatd as my first trip with these guys neared as I figured I would be hiked into the ground..

I arrived at the shelter at 9:00 pm knowing only CD and Himaintenance, and what a pleasure it was meeting down to earth people. Even the hikers whom I would consider 'experts' (fridge for one) seemed to want to gain any knowledge that they could. Far from a 'look at me here's what I have done/I can do' mentality. it was a 'you've hked that trail? tell me about it, you use that approach to something, does it work? etc'. In fact many of the hikers on that trip would actually make fun of their hiking abilities in a joking matter. We all set our different paces and hiked. At the end of the day, me met at the shelter and BS'ed it was awesome.

While I don't personally know every poster who has ever posted on the bagnight thread, from what I can tell from those whom I have met, its not a competition. I sometimes use it as a way of announcing my upcoming ones, in case anyone is goiong to be in the same area..

Hopefully one day we can get in a hike together... Have a great day...

32oz

some of us also commented on our LACK of hiking abilities.

Hyway..

I was trying not to be too harsh... LOL
I'd hike with you anyday!!!!

'32oz

Fine !

.. I ain't gonna hike with NONE of you any more. ;)

32z's, where you at in Virginia?

Ever been to Wolf Gap, 12 miles west of the Woodstock Exit (Rt 42) off I-81?

Who's up for some bag nights?

What's for tea?

OK Stratosaurus, you win.

based in richmond... most of my miles in the SNP... I'm either heading there or St Mary's Wilderness this weekend.. decision, decisions

'32oz

let's all take a break and spell words with tree branches, shall we?

Amen tenjen!

Wolf Gap is a nine-site no-charge National Forest campground sitting right in the gap on the state line at just over 2,200 feet and built by the C.C.C.

It is a great place to car camp and day hike two miles north to Big Schloss and 1.5 south to Tibbet Knob, which commands the view looking NNE from the south end of Trout Run Valley. Both of these excellent viewpoints are are at about 2,900 feet.

There is a 22 mile circuit hike starting in the gap that takes in both viewpoints and circles Trout Run Valley on the West Virginia side.

A spur trail of a little over one mile leads to Half Moon Lookout(2,800 feet) at the north end of the valley with it's view looking toward Tibbet Knob, 6.5 miles in a straight line to the south-southwest.