Which is Worse?

[bandana4me]

Ok I have a question.

Is it better to live in the mountains, ( I drive through Franconia Notch to and from work ) and not have time to hike?

Or is it better to live away from the mountains and not have time to hike?


I was thinking of that on my way to Carrigan (36 mile ride) yesterday. I have been working 6 days since the begining of April and have had no time to hike(until yesterday). Every day though as I drive through the Notch I watch hikers putting on their packs and heading into the woods. Always wishing it was me heading on another journey.

 

[Mark_151]

Ok I have a question.

Is it better to live in the mountains, ( I drive through Franconia Notch to and from work ) and not have time to hike?

Or is it better to live away from the mountains and not have time to hike?


I was thinking of that on my way to Carrigan (36 mile ride) yesterday. I have been working 6 days since the begining of April and have had no time to hike(until yesterday). Every day though as I drive through the Notch I watch hikers putting on their packs and heading into the woods. Always wishing it was me heading on another journey.

I guess it's more of a question of the hours you work, rather than working itself. I work close to little mountains (Wapack Range), and am blessed with floating hours. So, I often come in early, leave early and hike/bike or ski as much as I can handle or want.

 

[Barry Sr]

I have floating hours too and I live right next to the Blue Hills.
If I have to hike the same trail over and over though, I am missing something new somewhere else.

I just had my AT Berkshire weekend Memorial day pulled out from underneath me by the Missus.
I wish I lived a little closer to the AT or the Whites like when I was a kid.

(the grass is always greener,.. but you have to mow the lawn)

 

[Grumpy]

I live and work far away from the mountains. It does not get worse than that.

On the other hand . . . I don't get mountain jaded, either.

The latter is a thought that provides some solace as I suffer through my sorry everyday life.

G.

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

On the other hand . . . I don't get mountain jaded, either.

Grumpy,

I have the good fortune to live within 25 miles of at least a dozen trailheads to 4,000 footers, and also to be retired. Funny, I don't seem to be "mountain jaded"

 

[Grumpy]

Thanks for rubbing it in, Mohammed!

G.

 

[sp1936]

I live several hundred miles away from the mountains, on Wrong Island. Flat and uninteresting. I'd much rather live in the mountains, even if circumstances prevented me from hiking as often as I'd like.

Mohamed is my hero, and I intend to follow his example as soon as I can.

Steve

 

[Willie]

I live and work in a city, but sometimes, if I use my imagination, I can make myself believe that I'm hiking in the mountains. During my hike to/from work, I walk through the caverns of the skyscrapers. Unfortunately, its crowded on the sidewalk trails because everyone seems to hike at the same time. Sometimes I wish I had a bear cannister while I hiked to/from work - to protect my spare change from the panhandlers and crackheads. There are other dangers, too. For example, while making a street crossing during times of high volume traffic, you must be careful to avoid the aggressive taxis and other nuisance vehicles. But the best part of the hike to/from work is when I close my eyes and smell and listen - I can smell vehicular emissions, stale urine, and sometimes decaying fish in the polluted river; I can hear car horns, construction noise, and people yelling at the top of their lungs "you mother f*****."

Yeah, its better being away from the mountains.

 

[Rick]

Welll......
I do a lot of road biking after work, so to me it is better to live further from the mountains in flatter land.

 

[daxs]

I live far away from mountain hiking - 250+ miles to Catskills and 350+ miles to ADK region. Sometimes I really miss being close to the mountains and just hiking anytime. My trips require planning, long drives both ways, usually alone, and $$$ for gas, tolls, campgrounds or motels. I live in a fairly rural area so its a bit of a drive to get anywhere (ok Philadelphia is only 1 1/2 hours away). The plus to my dilemma is that I live at the beach and when I am not hiking I can be kayaking, bike riding, tanning and blobbing on the beach and doing other beach related activities. I think you need to weigh out would you actually take advantage of being close to hiking. I know that going to the beach as often as possible is not as important as it was when I first moved to the beach. Other life priorities/activities are always there which need to be taken care of and can prevent you from hitting the trail. Its a tough choice.

 

[mavs00]

Alpine...........

well put.

It's the "The grass is greener (lawnmower ref), theory".

I say now that It'd be a dream to move next door to Mr. & Mrs. Summit. However, I admit tho, if I did, I'd probably whine about not being literally 5-10 minutes from everyday "life" needs (and a job), like I am now.

 

[TomEske]

I live at the eastern end of the Catskills and about 7 miles (or 3 hills west of Kingston). 16 years ago my wife and I made s concious decision to move here. We made some big sacrifices (mostly on the income side) to make the move. but my kids have been raised here and I never had a regret, except perhaps with respect toward employment opportunities.
To that end, I work lots of hours to make a living, and take lots of stuff that I would have never taken before, because there are precious few jobs in my field around here. Consequently, I can't get 'out' as much, but I do get the benefit of watching the mountains change daily throughout the year, and when I come home at night and see those hills it "restoreth my soul". Yes, I would have to say that living here is better than not. I also get to make a last minute decision to get out because someone else is going or the weather is just right. Then there are those times when work or family issues just get to be too much and I can escape for a day to regain my sanity. All these things are hard to do when you live 200 miles away. Oh yeah, and I can go hunting or fishing on my way to work and just work an hour later if I want.
This whole thread reminds me that everything is relative. Last weekend I went out to a buddy's house to retrieve some gear I had loaned him. He lives about 20 minutes west of here, further into the center of the Catskills. His driveway is 1/4 mile of gravel and he lives a 1/2 miles from his closest nieghbor. I found a note hanging on his front door when I got there, it said:
"Tom, we have gone to the country for the weekend, your gear is out in the shed. Have a beer while you're out there. ..."

Everything is relative,
Tom

 

[forty8]

I live and work 2 to 3 hours from most traiheads in the Whites. In my opinion, if there's no time to hike, it's better to live and work among the mountains. But then again, as Willie does, I can step outside of my office, close my eyes, and suddenly there are no more traffic sounds. I am on the summit of Lafayette, looking down at Owl's Head and accross the Pemi to the Bonds, and beyond, there's Mt. Washington. It's a beautiful day.

 

[Tuco]

daxs pretty much summed up my hiking situation. Near beach, not mountains. I think the problem for me is not so much location but work and family responsibilities. I'd drive 5 hours each weekend to get to a trailhead, just don't have the time.


Thank goodness for Northwest NJ

 

[brianW]

Time seems to be the limiting factor for hiking trips. Lucky for me I live in the Monadnock area with some nice short to long day hikes in the area. When I do not have time for hiking I tend to walk through the woods near my house.

Another thing is that if time does not permit hiking I can at least look out my backyard and see Gap and Monadnock a few miles away. Then again that does not stop the hiking craving.

 

[Jim lombard]

I live 85 miles from the closest 4,000 footer in NH and only manage to visit once a month. It makes the times I do get up north more precious and appreciated.

 

[bobmak]

I live about 2 1/2 hours from the mountains and about 20 minutes from the ocean. I just love being outdoors, whether it's kayaking, cycling, skiing or climbing. I also like to visit other places besides the northeast. If I lived in the mountains I'd probably still be driving a couple of hours to go kayaking in the ocean in the summer, but wouldn't be able to take the amount of time off that I do now. Bottom line: I think I'd rather be where I am at and have the time to travel.

 

[afka_bob]

I used to live a short walk from downtown Boston; now I'm an hour closer to mountains. I miss walking downtown (which was almost a daily activity, especially spring/summer/fall) more than I like being closer to the much-less-frequent (but more special for it) hikes in the mountains.

Until now, I never lived more than about a mile from tidewater in my life and I miss that more than I thought I would. I like where I'm at now, and I look forward to exploring it more. I don't mind people all that much. I rarely -- make that never -- hike alone these days, and sitting and watching people is almost always a low-key good time. Sitting and talking to friends is even better.

I guess I would rather live away from the mountains and visit them as often as I could, but not because seeing them when I can't hike would be painful. Now, thinking that Barcelona is still there and I'm not, that's closer to pain....

 

[dave.m]

for me, it's more about the culture and small stolen moments and places that fill in the gaps of life.

I'm living a pretty surburban life currently and find it totally devoid of life compared to the times that I lived in the mountains. It's not that I hiked more up there. In fact, I hike more now. But back then, when I looked up from putting the groceries in the car, I saw the moon rising over Camel's Hump. Now, I might see some gang-banger wanne-be and discarded Dunkin' Donuts bags. Then, 5 minutes on a bike would put me in farm land. Now, 5 minutes on a bike is a desperate game of survival. Then, people said hello. Now, you got a half second to determine if somebody is a threat or harmless enough to ignore.

I'm probably tipping my hand here, eh?

 

[pocahontas]

We live in Rhode Island, & tho' there are 400 miles of beautiful shoreline here, we love to hike in the White Mts of NH!!!

The ONLY day we have available together to hike is Sunday, so 'weather-permitting' we get up @ 4:30 am & drive 200- 250 miles (one-way) , hike a six hour hike and drive home!

Its such a long day , but to us
That's the "PRICE WE PAY" just to be able to hike!!........ Yes, we are addicted!
{hiking also helps us to keep our sanity for the rest of the work-week!!}

It is SO worth it to us!!!
I guess you have to really WANT it , in order to make it happen!

AND WE DO!!