Family Hiking
August 19, 2015
Chamouni, John Ruskin
HISTORIANS say mountain hiking as a recreational activity did not begin until the 18th century. But it’s hard to believe that human beings weren’t always drawn to mountains for purely aesthetic reasons and didn’t find them appealing places to walk and climb much farther back in history.
The first recreational mountain hiking trail, among those which are still is use, was completed in America in 1819, at Mount Washington in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Today, there are trails throughout the two major ranges, the Appalachians and the Rockies, and the continuous maintenance of these paths, often by volunteers, attest to how much the mountains are loved by Americans.
Mountain hiking is one of the best activities a family can take up together, in my opinion. I say this fully realizing that hiking is not always a pleasurable activity for children and that it can’t compete in terms of instant thrills or social status with amusement parks.
But hiking has the following advantages:Inexpensive. If you have decent shoes or sneakers, hiking only involves the cost of driving to the mountains and possibly staying or camping somewhere nearby. Compared to a day at an amusement park, which can easily cost a family of five $300, it is cheap.
Togetherness. You’re stuck with each other on the trail. Mountain trails are strangely private places.
Tedium. Hiking involves long stretches of tedious walking or climbing. It teaches children endurance.
Natural history. You can find it everywhere in the woods.
Exercise. There are not many pastimes more physically healthy.
Meditation. The rhythm of walking and the quiet induce reflection.
The Sublime. Perhaps John Ruskin was right when he said, “Mountains are the beginning and the end of all natural scenery.”
When we first started hiking in the White Mountains with our two sons about 18 years ago, they didn’t always enjoy it. We were insensitive parents: we took them anyway. We bought candy and gave it to them on the trail. Well, wasn’t that fun? Not fun enough. There were some dramatic meltdowns on the trails. One young member of our party sometimes refused to go any further. It got ugly at moments. Still not hiking was not an option. Fun is a complicated thing. It was fun when we got on a trail that was much too difficult for us, but persevered, climbing up the face of a craggy waterfall without adequate shoes, and reaching the top just as the last tram of the day was heading down. We cheated and took the tram. It was kind of fun when we packed a great lunch and then realized once we got to the trail head that we had left it home. We found a couple of doughnuts in the car and climbed the mountain anyway.
Sometimes we don’t appreciate an experience until it’s over, when the glacial boulders and trees and sky are part of us.
Today, the situation is much different. It’s not that we have meltdowns exactly. We just sometimes reach the point where we refuse to go any further. We are older, but not hiking is not an option, if the opportunity is there.
Our sons can go on ahead without us.
— Comments —
Bruce B. writes:
I’ve read an article somewhere that claimed that prior to 200 years ago or so people did not find mountains beautiful. They were practical-minded and looked upon mountains with dread – they were obstacles to travel and infertile, inhospitable, places. The implication was that loving mountains is a modern luxury.
But, like you, I love mountains and mountain-hiking. We haven’t been able to afford it the last couple of years, but our yearly family vacation has always been a trip to the Southern Appalachians. Our favorite time is mid-October when it’s cool and the leaves are changing. We visited Grayson Highlands State Park one year and were fortunate enough to see and pet the semi-wild ponies there. The kids loved it. Imagine beautiful mountain scenery as a backdrop for beautiful wild ponies.
