244. Hiking

I love to hike. That was something I started loving at a very young age. I used to climb up the hills around my home as a kid. I’ve almost always lived in the mountains or very close to them, so going out to see what’s over the next hill has always been a thing I’ve loved to do.

I remember, when I was old enough to drive at fourteen, I would drive off into the woods and go for a hike. I was young and never thought that it could be dangerous, so I would go out often without telling anyone where I was going. I discovered all kinds of alpine lakes in the mountains—the Seven Devils and the Salmon River Mountains.

I also worked at the Priest River Experimental Forest and hiked into the Selkirks with friends past Upper Priest Lake toward the Canadian border. We found a little pond formed by a creek that we swam in. It’s these little discoveries that make the hikes worthwhile. I just relived part of that hike this past week, hiking to the far northern edge of Upper Priest. It was beautiful and I was able to take a quick swim in the lake and pick huckleberries on the way.

I have hiked all over places in Vermont, Maine, Oregon, Washington, Montana, California, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, California, Arizona, Connecticut, and, of course, Idaho. I had never climbed Idaho’s highest peak until I turned fifty and had had a heart attack at 48 and bypass surgery at 49. At that point I figured I had been to the lowest point in the state and needed to see the highest at least once. I still haven’t done it again ten years later, but that’s all right because it’s quite a trip just to get there. Another great mountain top hike is Scotchman peak in the Cabinet Mountains near Clark Fork, Idaho.

All those hikes, whether alone or with friends, have given me time to see the world on foot. I’ve learned how to pack food, water, and all that I might need. It exposed me to the elements and made me think about what really matters in life and that’s important. It makes life bearable because the problems drift away and the air is clean and the world is beautiful. That’s why I love hiking.