"climb for the wrong reasons"

[alpinista]

There was a time a few years back when I feel I started to hike for all the "wrong" reasons _ that NH48 list became a chore, I was hiking just to notch off another peak. It really nagged at me, weighed me down in my pursuit. But eventually, I started to get out and hike to really enjoy the moment, to see something new and experience it.

The end result: I'm still pursuing lists, I'm still hiking but emotionally, for me, I feel as though I'm hiking for all the "right" reasons.

Someone who doesn't know me or know that battle that waged inside of me may think nothing has changed since they'd see me still hiking mountains on a list. But I know it's a different goal and a different pursuit.

So with all of that ... I agree with what all those other folks just said!

 

[HAMTERO]

it's all about the socks

I hike so I can put on dry socks at the end.

 

[forestgnome]

I have come to accept the "list" concept of other hikers. It is totally bewildering to me, but I've decided that it is just another thing that makes me a unique person. What still makes my skin crawl is when someone says something like "glad to be done with Owl's Head, that sucked!" I can't imagine hiking through the heart of the Pemigawassett Wilderness for a check mark on a list, and not enjoying it.

I wouldn't judge that as 'wrong', but I think it is sad. To judge another hiker's motive as 'wrong' is elitist.

Happy Trails!

 

[Neil]

I racked my brains to come with some wrong reasons for hiking and found a couple I think.

1-Hiking trailless peaks over and over for the express purpose of forming herd trails.
2- In order to deliberately destroy one's hip and knee joints so as to receive permanant disability payments.


BTW, I think completing lists is cool. I also think ignoring lists is cool.

My favorite lists: summits I have stood upon. Ponds I have bushwhacked to. Slides I have climbed. Gatherings I have attended.

 

[alpinista]

I hike so I can put on dry socks at the end.

That's as "good" a reason as any!

 

[SteveHiker]

I can't believe no one has mentioned beer. What better reason could there be?

 

[audrey]

I agree with forestnome, it's sad to hear someone say the view stinks, or the trail is boring. You either have a passion or you don't. I have a friend who is a good hiker but will never go unless I cajole her, and afterwards she tells me what a great time she had and she's got to do it more, but she doesn't.

It's natural to want people to hike your hike. When someone rushes past a flower or steps on it, I feel they are missing out on much of the experience. But I do understand it's also exhilarating to "knock off" a bunch of peaks and many miles in a day.

There's way too much judging and moralizing going on in the world already!

 

[funkyfreddy]

Wrong, wrong, is my song!

There's way too much judging and moralizing going on in the world already!

That's for sure, it's like an addiction for a lot of us!

Let's see..... some would say I hike for the wrong reasons.....
because I hike to escape from REALITY, the reality that my species has created....... the reality of greed, litter, toxic waste, noise pollution, air pollution, over population, the 60 cycle hum and web of paperwork, wires, and satellites that enslave us all.........

I hike to experience the small crumbs, bits, and parcels of the natural world we have left to us.... before they too are sold out to the developers, divided up with roads.......... before our mountains, fields, and pastures are paved over with housing developments, strip malls, and wind factories and the star light is blotted out from the night sky by human haze and man made light.......

I hike to escape from machines, the vid screens, TV and telephone, the traffic jams, the mediocrity and trivia of our culture......

I hike to experience natural rhythms once again, the rhythms of the earth and my body, to get up with the sun.......

I hike to experience natural sounds again..... the birds, the wind, the water....

Oh dear, I'm afraid I'm getting a little carried away here, aren't I!? Oh yes, I also hike for happiness, love, and my sanity.... that too!

 

[Skyclimber]

I agree with forestnome, it's sad to hear someone say the view stinks, or the trail is boring. You either have a passion or you don't.

I agree with you Audrey. NO Mountain Sucks or Stinks! Every Mountain holds some sort of beauty in it's own way, whether it be the trail, the surroundings or the summit view. The beauty comes, within the eye of the beholder and how one perceives it and puts it into perspective.

 

[pilgrim]

I can't think of any wrong reasons to hike.

I can think of wrong reasons to stay home.

 

[TheChez]

I set out 30 years ago to climb the White Mountain 4000 footers and the ADK 46, but then I found places that I fell in love with and visited over an over. I love the hike to Keene Valley from Big Slide over the Brothers, I have spent a dozen restful days watching the ravens on Phelps, many a Friday night has been spent at Garfield ridge. I would hike over Isolation again in a heart beat as it is a wonderful way to spend the day.

I finished the New Hampshire 4000 footers (with my 6 year old son climbing Moosilauke, his first 4000 footer) -still haven't applied to get the patch. I'll re-hike a lot of the Adirondack peaks before I finish the few I have left to accomplish my goal as I take my son "peakbagging" for his 46.

There is no wrong reason to go hiking, but I understand the statement that started this thread. I try to get across to my Boy Scouts that they will find something rich and wonderful in treating the trails as a place to be, not merely as something to get you someplace.

It just doesn't happen much anymore that I meet another hiker after a couple days alone and we fire up a pot of tea on the trail and chat for a while. That was a very good reason indeed to hike.

Wayne

 

[Pig Pen]

I hike so that I can eat more big steaks. It also keeps me in better shape so that I may better oppress the poor and downtrodden.

 

[Rik]

I agree with the socks and beer. I will also add sandals. And while I'm at it my body feels better, food tastes better, and my dogs sleep better.
Wrong reasons: to feed the black flies. (that would be wrong for me but whatever anyone else wants to do just do it)

 

[the starchild]

I have come to accept the "list" concept of other hikers. It is totally bewildering to me, but I've decided that it is just another thing that makes me a unique person. What still makes my skin crawl is when someone says something like "glad to be done with Owl's Head, that sucked!" I can't imagine hiking through the heart of the Pemigawassett Wilderness for a check mark on a list, and not enjoying it.

I wouldn't judge that as 'wrong', but I think it is sad. To judge another hiker's motive as 'wrong' is elitist.

Happy Trails!

i agree with forestnome!

while i will someday complete the 48 and w48 and maybe the 46 etc etc, i have always hiked to just be outside and enjoy it. i have always loved backpacking to disconnect and reconnect with the real world. i found out about the lists much later and it is a tradition i would like to take part in.

i think i understand what someone might mean when they say, "hiking for the wrong reasons." they probably are saying people who hike just to check-off mountains on a list are missing something and not seeing the forest for the trees nor enjoying all the beautifulness between the summit and trailhead. but hey, i will agree with !12climbup who agrees with Stinky, who agrees with Seema, who agrees with Postr Boy, who agrees with Timmus about who cares...just enjoy yourself, its all good!

personally, i cringe a bit when i see trip report or hear someone refer to mountains ONLY as #43 or #20. i find that kinda disrespectful to the mountain. its soooooo much more than that. (to me atleast) the summit is only a small part of the mountain. a few weeks ago i spent two weekends camped at monadnock hiking, whacking and exploring the mountain. there's much, much, much more there than the summit. thoreau's bog, lost trails, forgotten history, the minor summits, the spellman trail, and fun stuff you just stumble upon off trail.

i think there are alot of differences between:

someone who loves to hike/backpack and is wanting to complete a list
and
someone who wants to complete a list and hikes/backpacks.

not making any judgements, but i think there is a difference and there's room for everyone, if we were all the same the world would not only be a boring place...it'd probably wilt and die.

william

 

[Skyclimber]

personally, i cringe a bit when i see trip report or hear someone refer to mountains ONLY as #43 or #20. i find that kinda disrespectful to the mountain. its soooooo much more than that. (to me atleast) the summit is only a small part of the mountain. a few weeks ago i spent two weekends camped at monadnock hiking, whacking and exploring the mountain. there's much, much, much more there than the summit. thoreau's bog, lost trails, forgotten history, the minor summits, the spellman trail, and fun stuff you just stumble upon off trail.
william

That's someone who wants to complete a list and hikes/backpacks.

Part of a right reason to hike, is to solely be respectful towards the mountains, trails and summits. Enjoying the challenge and getting satisfaction within the hike for whatever reason you might have.

I'm sure I will be flamed for this one but a wrong reason would be for just finishing a list for the sake of doing it and getting a patch for doing so. Then never hike again. This brings to mind a quote from Paul Jaimeson, "It's easier to become a Forty Sixer than to be one."

 

[bill bowden]

Right and wrong reasons for hiking and doing lists

No annoyance taken at use of my line to start a discussion. To try to respond seriously to the question of "wrong" reasons and putting some words in the mouth of some old friends:

The 4000 footer and at least some of the other lists began as an effort to spread out the environmental impact of hiking. At that time a very few mountains such as LaFayette and Lincoln were getting a very high level of foot traffic and it was hoped that having a formal list of peaks would divert folks who were already hiking and spread the impact. for example, neither the Hancocks nor Owl's Head had a trail at that time.

So doing a list of peaks for the "wrong" reasons might be hiking just to have done the peaks rather than enjoy the act of hiking and the experience of the New England woods and alpine communitities.

 

[cbcbd]

It's beginning to sound like some people feel that the mountains go unapreciated by some.
Truth is, there will be always someone who is probably enjoying the mountain on a deeper level than you are.

I could make an effort to study and document every plant and animal on my hikes, then meditate on the meaning of the mountain for hours on the summit, and then make a sacrifice to the mountain gods, and then I could say that anyone who did less was not appreciating the mountain the way it should be appreciated.

If you are there and I happen to be there I will smile and say hi, because I know that both of us took the effort to be out here - and then we can laugh and complain together about the people who took the auto road...

 

[mavs00]

So doing a list of peaks for the "wrong" reasons might be hiking just to have done the peaks rather than enjoy the act of hiking and the experience of the New England woods and alpine communitities.

That is the exact sentiment I was trying to get at when I said

"So long as a healthy respect for the mountains we climb are in all of us, than the reasons we climb them are not all that important. It's about respect and humbleness (is that a word). It does not mater whether you stroll slowly, or run willy nilly over every summit, as long as you understand each summit and mountain is greater than you (and act that way while you are there), then it really matters not the specific reason for being there. "

Only done so much more articulately.

It's beginning to sound like some people feel that the mountains go unapreciated by some. Truth is, there will be always someone who is probably enjoying the mountain on a deeper level than you are.

Without question. No doupt about it, people won't be as sapy and spiritual as I may feel it about it. I never expect that, but there certainly should be a minimum baseline of respect that all can appreciate. We've all see a few that carry themselves in a manner that shows an utter disrespect for thier surroundings. That was how I saw it anyway.

 

[Jasonst]

I hike so that I can eat more big steaks. It also keeps me in better shape so that I may better oppress the poor and downtrodden.

Ok, I thought that was funny...

I order to call a motive "wrong", don't we need to define the word? I think this topic is really silly - we are climbing piles of dirt and rock and questioning others motives for doing so. Why do we need to get so philosophical? I suppose I am one of those who would admit having climbed to the summit of Owl's head and thought "boy am I glad that's over." I hike for the exercise and the views and get my religion elsewhere. Why judge someone elses motives?

 

[giggy]

we could debate this issue to death - I will sum it up by saying to each their own -

I have not hiked the 48, 46 and most likely never will. Why - becuase I have no interest in hiking wooded summits for the most part - I like that top out with majestic views as a reward at the end - thats what gets my blood pumping. Others get theirs by getting their scrolls - both are accomplishments.

I have done the mountains above 5K multiple times, most routes, and in every season. (minus baxter) - why becuase thats what I am into -

I am into snowfeilds/ice, and everything above treeline has to offer much more than checking off a list - climbing washington for the 14 time in winter via a route I haven't done is way more interesting to me than hiking mt hale for the first time in winter.

Its just my opinion and hiking the lists is goal focused for some people and thats 100% great as well. Again - its what your into.

whats annoying is others telling you what is right and wrong and what you should be doing to make it official, correct and by the book and ethical, - thats feckin' lame!!

do what you enjoy - there is no right or wrong - if someone wants to do webster to check off a list - I say have fun. If someone wants to hike adams for the 20th time if thats what they like - I say go out & have fun and toss down a few brews after