Trails
Hiking
Join ALDHA-West!
Mail Bag
Mail Bag is a response forum.
We encourage everyone to share their experiences, expertise and opinions on topics posted here. Check out this season's question: What is your most effective technique for coping with hiking in the heat?
To submit send to Webmaster
We encourage you to send us some of your images from the trails. We would really like to have a collection that could eventually lead to a photo of the day. To submit send to Webmaster
Why Make Lists?
by Karl Diederich>To some degree, all of us are time-limited. Long ago, I realized my time on earth would be insufficient to accomplish all that I would like to do. Even if I hit the lottery and could pursue full-time what I wish, there are simply not enough days. Probably that’s for the better. What is life if not the result of the choices we make?
Is long-distance backpacking worthwhile? For some, it is. Is it for you? If so, you probably know why it is (even if not easily articulated). After determining long-distance backpacking has importance, you must select where to expend your limited resources of time and money. What hikes will you do? A list is where you start.
A list can
do more than just provide a set of choices. It can help you realize the accomplishment of
worthwhile pursuits. Studies have clearly shown that if goals are written down (as in
long-distance hiking or otherwise), the chances of achieving them are greatly increased.
Without a good idea of what you want to do, what are your chances of getting it done?
A third reason for having a list is that it can better help you evaluate and select from the choices available. You want to pick a trail - but based on what? A written list can greatly aid in applying various criteria that will improve your odds of getting the finest hiking experience for your time invested.
What criteria are important to you? First come constraints such as the season and proximity. Then you try to match hiking time and trail length. But after that, what makes a wonderful backpacking trip for you? Mountains? Canyons? Many lakes? Forested trail? Granite-swept expanses?
New terrain? Flowers and wildlife? Solitude? Comaraderie? Challenge? Climate? Undesecrated trail? The time and distance to mentally "get into the hike"? This month, our topic of the quarter asks what makes a long-distance hike.
ALDHA-West and particularly our Gathering provide a wonderful forum for learning what is available and sharing some of the criteria with which we order our respective lists. How would you profile a worthwhile trail for others who share your love of nature through long-distance backpacking? What treks are worthy of your time? What trails are on your list?