Finding joy: Hiking

So. I was never an outdoorsy child.

I'm not entirely sure why that is.  I was always an athletic child -- I played soccer and ran in all sorts of weather.  Loved it, too.  And my brother and I grew up on five acres of land, so we played every outdoor game you could think of from kickball to run sheep run! to hide and seek to baseball and basketball and etc., etc. But outdoorsy?  Walk through the woods?  I was never filled with a sense of peace, just a sense of fear that a huge-ass bug was crawling on me or that I wouldn't be able to find a bathroom in a reasonable amount of time.  So hiking?  Not one of my normal activities.

For a long time, this was* me.
(*is)

For a long time, I guess it was a waste for me to live in the Northwest.  I've said it before but it bears repeating -- I freakin' love the Northwest, and the more I travel, the more I'm convinced that this is the place I want to be (save the few years I want to live abroad once I have kids, which makes my mom very VERY upset at the thought). But in the US of A? Forget the heat and humidity of the East, the emptiness of the Midwest -- not to mention the idiots of the South -- give me the Northwest -- mountains, trees, lakes, and men in socks with sandals.

Okay.  Not that last part.  That's wrong on so many levels.

When I moved to Seattle eleven years ago (aside: now I feel old -- eleven years?), I had never been camping.  Or windsurfing.  Or ziplining.  Or [insert any outdoorsy activity that wasn't a sport].  Sure, I liked getting outside and walking around.  But hike?  No.

Hiking together over the Snoqualmie River! 

Something that I've been playing around with for the past year is my own identity -- not in a weird, dissociative-personality-disorder way, but in a positive way. Were I still in grad school, I'd start throwing out research on subjects such as agency or available roles or hegemonic ideals and tell you why, from a learning standpoint, it is important for me to explore, play, and learn, yada yada yada. Academic bullshit aside, the question that I have often pondered is this one: How do I stay true to who I am while still exploring who I would like to be?

See, what I've learned about myself as of late is not only am I likely to bend towards the wills, desires, wishes, and practices of others, but I'm likely to lose myself in what is important to someone else.  It's easy for me to follow the siren song of another person's passion, hobby, or way of life and just carelessly toss away my own.  I'm not suggesting, however, that I want to live a static life, one where I just do the same things I've always done.

This eats away at my self-confidence.  I can't do it anymore.

Simultaneously, I'm trying to explore and try new things that interest me, to stretch and grow and live that vital life I was talking about not too long ago.

Enter from stage left -- hiking!

It's the perfect Seattle summer activity because it's (generally) not too hot -- and if it is, just hike in the trees!  There are hundreds, thousands of trails for every difficulty, and many of them are just thirty minutes outside of the city.  It takes pretty minimal equipment for the after-work/Saturday afternoon hiker, like me, and it is an opportunity to stay in shape.

Action shot! 

The real problem is this -- hiking gear is quite possibly the ugliest clothing ever created.  A part of me dies every time I visit REI.

For some reason at some point in history, someone, who should be smacked, decided, Hey! Let's make this clothing functional, but not just regularly functional, let's make sure  it's uber-functional to withstand extreme environmental conditions.  How will we do that? a second person asks.  Simple! the first responds.  We'll make sure it's so damn ugly that at a glance everyone will just know how functional it is!

And thus REI was born.

So it's not just the clothing that is a deterrent for me (but I DID find a super-cute pink hiking backpack!) -- it's also the bugs and lack of nice restroom facilities.  And food! Anyone who knows me well knows that I am NOT a fun person to be around when my blood sugar is low.  But, thus far, Sergio has been a great hiking buddy, and we've hiked in four states this season already!  He was very patient for our first hike in Sedona and has been good ever since.  See, the thing about new activities?  It's great when you can go with someone who would rather help you than haze you.  Since when is it fun to torture someone when they are stepping outside of their comfort zone into something new?

Never.  That's the answer you were looking for.

The saddest part about hiking in Seattle?  It's a short season for casual hikers, so it's only another two or three months until the hiking year ends.  I've been on the road too much to start checking more hikes off, but hopefully August will be filled with many more fun hikes in the forests outside of Seattle!

xo
Sarah

More over the Snoqualmie

More hiking to come!