Hiking

[AmyDawn]

Where do you go? What do you do? Do you use any special breathing techniques? Do you use a stick or trekking poles?

I usually go to Olympic or Mt. Rainier Nat'l Parks, in Washington. I've hiked in Alaska, Costa Rica, Hawaii, New Mexico, Texas (yes, they do have hiking trails!), pretty much all the Western States.

I encountered the greatest physical and mental challenge, thus far, in Costa Rica, hiking up Cerro Chirripó. 14.5 km with a 3,000 m elevation gain, in the pouring rain, all alone, with a HANGOVER from cacique the night before. I had a pack, but it probably weighed only 35 lbs. or so.

I work or go to school every day of the week, so I'm missing out this summer. I can see the difference in my butt and thighs, so now I walk more than ride the bus. Though I have a decent hill between downtown and my house, walking on pavement just doesn't cut it. I think I'll take next summer off to do the Washington portion of the Pacific Crest Trail, either with someone or alone.

[irunbarefoot]

I grew up hiking in Colorado. I haven't been hiking in ages though. Just yesterday I went trail running in a park here in Florida. Hardly hiking, but very uneven terrain nonetheless. It reminded me how much I miss hiking.

Also, I'm reading the book "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson and it has me wanting to hike badly. The book is great.

[codemonkey]

My family goes hiking almost every weekend. We're still kind of beginners so we've only done day hiking so far but we'd like to hike to the bottom of the grand canyon next spring. We live near Saguaro National Park so we hike there a lot. We also like hiking in Sabino Canyon in Coronado National Forest on the other side of town.

[AmyDawn]

I went to Saguaro National Park a couple years ago, with my parents and a friend of mine. My Mom hates snakes, and snakes love basking in the trails, so we shouldn't have taken her there. After we saw our third rattlesnake of the day, she went back to the parking area, where the snakes couldn't get her, to wait for us. When we finished our little hike, we came back to the parking area to find Mom standing on bench looking fearfully at the ground. She saw another snake while waiting on us.

Aside from that little quirk, I love hiking with my Mom. She raised me in Alaska (where there are no snakes), and instilled a passion for nature in me from a very young age. I know we started camping when I was eight or nine months old. She's getting on in years, has broken her left foot twice, and weighs quite a bit more. When we hike together now, we do easy trails and take it slow. She is flying up here in September to come camping with me, and I intend to wear her out on the trails.

[karyanca]

Just day hikes for me - usually sections of the Bruce Trail (http://www.brucetrail.org) - but not so often lately. (Pesky mosquitoes and West Nile virus!) No special equipment or techniques other than appropriate clothing and good footwear.

We'll be visiting some national and provincial parks this summer and are looking forward to introducing our dogs to more wilderness.

[jenna]

i'd like to start going once i get better. i've always been on the lookout for a good walking stick as well as some good trails around here but i haven't found either yet; just casually search for stuff every now and then.

karyanca: i've found that a mister bottle filled with water and quite a few drops of lavender oil is a fabulous mosquito repellant.

[karyanca]

karyanca: i've found that a mister bottle filled with water and quite a few drops of lavender oil is a fabulous mosquito repellant.

I will definitely give that a try. Thanks!

[Quinoa]

Great idea for a thread - interesting to learn about beautiful hiking regions around the world, and what kind of hiking other VBers enjoy. :sunny:

The area around my hometown is rather plain, but there is a lot of green, and many opportunities for easier hikes and walks (or running, if you like), for example in the Neandertal (http://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bild:D%C3%BCssel-Neandertal04.JPG&filetimestamp=20071101232236) (Neander Valley - yes, where the famous Neanderthaler was found).

I grew up hiking with my family almost every weekend and vacation.
The less spectacular, typical German way of hiking though called Wandern, meaning day tours, no real trekking or high alpine mountain climbing. Admitted, I did not always enjoy those hikes at the time, but in retrospect I am very grateful for the experience and treasure the memories a lot. Hiking imho is such a rewarding activity.

We’ve explored (like I still do but not quite as often) the nearby regions like Bergisches Land (http://www.naturarena.org/en/hiking.aspx) (Rhine Highlands), Mittelrheintal (http://www.unesco-welterbe.de/en/index.html?staedte/bild_text/mittelrheintal.html~haupt) (Rhine Valley), Eifel (http://www.nationalpark-eifel.de/go/eifel/english/Nature__oder__Landscapes/Ecosystems.html) and various uplands all over Germany such as Schwäbische Alb (http://www.blockhausferien.info/images/lautertal-flugfoto.jpg) (Swabian Mountains), Allgäu (http://www.allgaeu.info/index.shtml?ame_homepage), Bayrischer Wald (http://www.bayerischer-wald.de/?changelang=6) (Bavarian Forest) over the years.
(Assuming that these are probably not so well-known internationally, I’ve linked to a few pictures and info sites for whoever is interested.)

As an adult, I’ve also hiked in the Austrian Alps (http://www.wanderindex.de/images/sommerpanolowgross.jpg) and parts of Switzerland and France, and on a weekend trip from Canada, in the Adirondacks which were incredibly beautiful at the beginning of “Indian Summer”.
I’ve also been to Colorado, but missed the opportunity to hike there :wall: as at the time I was not too fond of it, and staying with non-hikers, who actually drove us up to the summit of Mount Evans (not that I’d been able to climb it anyway).

In the near future, I’d like to walk more parts of the new “Rheinsteig” (http://www.rheinsteig.de/index.php?id=2&L=1) trail and the across the
Hainich (http://www.natureparktravel.com/hainich/hainich.htm) in Thuringia, the largest coherent deciduous “primeval forest” in Germany.

[karyanca]

A few days ago, we did the trail on this map. Not very long in terms of distance, but accurately labelled as "moderate to difficult". I did it wearing regular sneakers (not hiking boots) with no problems, but there was a lot of up and down and a little damp in places from a storm the day before. Our dogs loved it. Beautiful views of the ocean and small forests, grasslands, barrens and bogs. Sorry, no pictures.

http://www.changeislands.ca/map.htm

The island has at least two other trails, but we ran out of time and had to hurry to catch the ferry or be stuck for the night.

[AmyDawn]

Your hike sounds lovely, Karyanca. For easy hikes, I prefer sneakers, but boots ease the pressure on your knees and lower back. In Costa Rica, I even wore flip-flops for most of my adventures. The trails there were steep and rather hazardous; I probably should have worn boots.

As I'm taking summer classes and working, I haven't had a day off to go hiking since June. I miss it so much. One more week of school, then I'll go to the Mountain.

[karyanca]

We also did the hiking trail in Ken Diamond Memorial Park (http://www.k12.nf.ca/glovertown/ken_diamond_park/ken_diamond_memorial_park.htm) several times. It's fairly tame, about 3.5 km long and quite flat except for one side trail that goes up to a look out.

[Melpomene]

I love hiking. But I've only done the day kind of hiking.

There aren't a lot of hiking trails where I live, but a couple hours away along the Mississippi River there are some great trails that my family and I used to hike along. It's just beautiful there.

Some day I'd like to try hiking in the mountains.