A friend recently asked why I love hiking so much.
"The bugs, the sweat, the heavy pack…I just don't get it."
While I admit it does sound like a real bummer of a time, there are few things I love more than a journey through the mountains. The longer the trip, the more centered I feel and here's three reasons why.
1. Perspective on Life. Life is a difficult journey, and a good hike often feels like the weight of life in miniature. There are the bugs and the sweat and the heavy pack. The trail goes on endlessly, and you often wonder just where you are. You expected that landmark to have arrived already, and yet you're still climbing without a signpost in sight. With the bugs, and the sweat…and the heavy pack.
And then there's the tree line, where the sky breaks through and you can see where you are and the beauty of your journey. On the ridgeline you can see your path laid out before you, and the appreciation of the climb sinks in.
A hike feels like a mock-up of life to me – with its peaks and valleys and rough terrain. It is a renewing and centering process that grants a perspective on life that only God could give. Hiking gives me hope.
2. Stress Relief. Exercise has long been touted as the best treatment for stress. I think this is because exercise is hard. And whatever causes stress is hard. So then exercise connects our physical exertion to our mental/spiritual exertion and opens up an outlet for it to all flow out. To process. To let it go.
The longer the hike, the more stress can be processed and released. The irony of carrying a heavy pack in order to get rid of a heavy load is not lost on me. We often have to get to the end of ourselves before we're willing to let God take our pack. Hiking gives me freedom.
There are no negotiations with the elements. There is no way around a lightening strike on a ridgeline, or the extremely real perils of hypothermia or dehydration. It's you and the wind and the ledge. It's humbling.
In a world where I can command the "universe" from my phone, it's hard not to feel like a god. Hiking reminds me that God is not tame, but he is good.
So that's why I love to hike. What do you love to do?
