I've been going on a lot of hikes lately. I've always liked being outdoors, and it helps keep me in passable shape. All in all, I don't think it's all that bad a deal, so I try to do it as much as possible. And as it turns out, I know quite a few like-minded people, so I've had plenty of opportunity to enjoy this particular activity in the last few months. In fact, I've enjoyed it so many times lately that it's led to all manner of shenanigans.
Fittingly enough, an old coworker of mine actually started up a series of summer hikes. At some point, someone forwarded it to a friend, and she then forwarded the invitation to me. Long story short, I ended up hiking with some coworkers. That whole series has been interesting, to say the least. The first time I did it, I carpooled with someone from work, but we were running late. That meant we had to hustle to try to catch up with the rest of the group. She assured me that this was feasible, but she neglected to tell me that the very first part of the trail was a steep uphill climb. I don't mean that we walked a quarter mile in a slope and then we hit a hill. No, we stepped onto the trail, and about six steps later, we were climbing up a very noticeable incline. That was fun. (For the curious amongst you, we did manage to catch up to the rest of the group)
A couple of weeks following that, a couple of people that went on these hikes decided that the trail itself wasn't challenging enough. So they decided to run a mile before even getting to the hike. I was riding with these people, so I decided to join them. I was driving so I could have very easily skipped out, but somehow that seemed ... antisocial? Or maybe that's not the right word, but it seemed like I should partake. Regardless, there I was, pregaming a hike by running. I couldn't help but laugh at myself for that.
My favorite hiking-related story, though, involves a weekend hike with the Mild Ex. She and I have started going on periodic hikes throughout the area. It's an activity we both enjoy, so we even bought a book that lists trails to which we can easily drive. The book has been incredibly helpful, since it lists some trails that I'd never have considered otherwise. On one such occasion, the Mild Ex picked out a hike, we both decided it looked promising, and we headed out. As I pulled up to the parking area, though, I started to get a little bit of deja vu. When we got to the trail head, the feeling got stronger, and I started to suspect that I'd somehow been there before. And when we reached the halfway point, I definitely knew that I'd seen this trail before.
You see, I'd gone hiking with a large group many months ago, but I hadn't done any of the planning. In fact, we'd carpooled up to the trail, so I didn't even have to worry about driving. All I'd had to do was get to a friend's house. That meant that I didn't exactly remember the name of the trail. So when the Mild Ex and I looked through our handy hiking book, I didn't recognize the name, even though I'd already hiked it once before. I felt pretty sheepish when I realized that I'd completely missed that detail, though it also helped because I knew where to go (last time, we inadvertently added an extra couple of miles by taking the long way back).
Still, the hiking thing has helped me get some exercise in, and it's led to plenty of laughs along the way. I'm going to have to keep it up, I think. It seems to give me all sorts of material to write about.
Fittingly enough, an old coworker of mine actually started up a series of summer hikes. At some point, someone forwarded it to a friend, and she then forwarded the invitation to me. Long story short, I ended up hiking with some coworkers. That whole series has been interesting, to say the least. The first time I did it, I carpooled with someone from work, but we were running late. That meant we had to hustle to try to catch up with the rest of the group. She assured me that this was feasible, but she neglected to tell me that the very first part of the trail was a steep uphill climb. I don't mean that we walked a quarter mile in a slope and then we hit a hill. No, we stepped onto the trail, and about six steps later, we were climbing up a very noticeable incline. That was fun. (For the curious amongst you, we did manage to catch up to the rest of the group)
A couple of weeks following that, a couple of people that went on these hikes decided that the trail itself wasn't challenging enough. So they decided to run a mile before even getting to the hike. I was riding with these people, so I decided to join them. I was driving so I could have very easily skipped out, but somehow that seemed ... antisocial? Or maybe that's not the right word, but it seemed like I should partake. Regardless, there I was, pregaming a hike by running. I couldn't help but laugh at myself for that.
My favorite hiking-related story, though, involves a weekend hike with the Mild Ex. She and I have started going on periodic hikes throughout the area. It's an activity we both enjoy, so we even bought a book that lists trails to which we can easily drive. The book has been incredibly helpful, since it lists some trails that I'd never have considered otherwise. On one such occasion, the Mild Ex picked out a hike, we both decided it looked promising, and we headed out. As I pulled up to the parking area, though, I started to get a little bit of deja vu. When we got to the trail head, the feeling got stronger, and I started to suspect that I'd somehow been there before. And when we reached the halfway point, I definitely knew that I'd seen this trail before.
You see, I'd gone hiking with a large group many months ago, but I hadn't done any of the planning. In fact, we'd carpooled up to the trail, so I didn't even have to worry about driving. All I'd had to do was get to a friend's house. That meant that I didn't exactly remember the name of the trail. So when the Mild Ex and I looked through our handy hiking book, I didn't recognize the name, even though I'd already hiked it once before. I felt pretty sheepish when I realized that I'd completely missed that detail, though it also helped because I knew where to go (last time, we inadvertently added an extra couple of miles by taking the long way back).
Still, the hiking thing has helped me get some exercise in, and it's led to plenty of laughs along the way. I'm going to have to keep it up, I think. It seems to give me all sorts of material to write about.
Comments
Post a Comment