Thomas Erickson
October 2023; April 2024
Not long ago, during an email exchange, a friend asked me why I like hiking. He put “hiking” in quotes, indicating, I believe, that he was baffled as to why anyone would engage in such an activity. I began to write an answer along the lines of enjoying being out in nature, and being active, and getting into a somewhat meditative state – but found that I didn’t really believe my own words. Not that any of that was untrue; it just didn’t get at the ‘why.’ I deleted my response and told him I’d think about it.
I was soon to depart for a week of solo hiking in Yosemite and figured that would be a good opportunity to reflect on the question.
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A few months ago I read the essay “Stickeen,” by John Muir, which describes his adventures during a trip to Alaska. He writes:
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