Broke Back Trail in Lassen National Park was the hike with no view. I got so close, 350 ft from the top and ran into warm bear scat. I had to hit hard descending. It was high wind and threatening a thunderstorm. I was so determined to get to the top. It was the last hike I took solo before the Dixie Fires... and now I'm living vicariously through you... until I move west again.
I will certainly do so. One view I'm interested in is Shasta. It's a goal - although I may be too old by the time I get back out there... but I'm still holding on to that glimmer of hope we all share: to get back on the trail "one more time."
It's funny how the more memorable trips are the ones where something went wrong. It probably has to do with our built-in negativity bias - pay attention to the bad things and learn from them. I remember bushwacking with frame packs in December, only to have Andrew fall flat in the freezing river we forded; the time the rope got stuck in a crack as we pulled it down from a toprope, making us walk out in the dark; the time my friend wrecked her bike badly enough for us to call an ambulance. They're all memorable, and what our family termed AFGEs (pronounced af-gee, standing for Another F*#@ing Growth Experience).
I’m definitely a view hiker. I prefer hiking/walking places where I don’t have to constantly look at my feet so I don’t trip and so I can experience the expansiveness of all that’s around. In other words, I’m more a desert hiker. Give me Sedona or New Mexico any day!....
Broke Back Trail in Lassen National Park was the hike with no view. I got so close, 350 ft from the top and ran into warm bear scat. I had to hit hard descending. It was high wind and threatening a thunderstorm. I was so determined to get to the top. It was the last hike I took solo before the Dixie Fires... and now I'm living vicariously through you... until I move west again.
I will certainly do so. One view I'm interested in is Shasta. It's a goal - although I may be too old by the time I get back out there... but I'm still holding on to that glimmer of hope we all share: to get back on the trail "one more time."
It's funny how the more memorable trips are the ones where something went wrong. It probably has to do with our built-in negativity bias - pay attention to the bad things and learn from them. I remember bushwacking with frame packs in December, only to have Andrew fall flat in the freezing river we forded; the time the rope got stuck in a crack as we pulled it down from a toprope, making us walk out in the dark; the time my friend wrecked her bike badly enough for us to call an ambulance. They're all memorable, and what our family termed AFGEs (pronounced af-gee, standing for Another F*#@ing Growth Experience).
I’m definitely a view hiker. I prefer hiking/walking places where I don’t have to constantly look at my feet so I don’t trip and so I can experience the expansiveness of all that’s around. In other words, I’m more a desert hiker. Give me Sedona or New Mexico any day!....