Hiking is not an olympic sport. It has no governing body. There is no definition of perfection when it comes to hiking. Which means that no one can tell you there’s a “right” way to do it. There’s a phrase in the hiking community that is used much like a mantra: “hike your own hike”. People pull it out in Facebook threads when someone is critiquing their choices. It’s used as words of affirmation. I remind myself often of this phrase when I compare myself to others (read husband) whose #1 value in hiking is to hike light and hike fast but that just isn’t why I go out for a hike; not every time at least.
Hiking should be the Planet Fitness of activities: a no judgment zone. For the most part I’ve found that it is. Nearly every face I’ve met on a mountain has been a friendly one. I’ve definitely come across ego though as well. Like the man on the top of Hale who asked when we started our 4000 footers and we responded with “2020” making it 2 years prior. He scrunched his eyebrows and said “Oh two years? I’m on the same number and I just started this summer.” I wanted to slap him across the face. We fumbled and explained how, well, we got a puppy, we couldn’t leave him with friends or family, and you can’t hike with a puppy under one year of age, etc.etc.etc. as if we had to explain ourselves to him. Our response should have been “Hike your own hike”.
I think about this phrase a lot when marveling over the hiking challenges people complete, and there’s a lot to come by in New Hampshire. The 48 4k footers, the terrifying 25, redlining, the grid…. While these challenges are quite impressive to complete they shouldn’t be regarded as the pinnacle of hiking. They’re commendable, no doubt, and I even like completing challenges and going for mountain records but they’re by no means the only admirable form of hiking.
So, come this new year, whatever your hiking goals may be, whatever is on your 2024 bucket list, remember just to hike your own hike. As my dad would say when I was a kid, (which infuriated me to no end given that in organized sport there is a definition of perfection) “If you had fun, you won.”
The Wild East 