Why do we backpack?
We could give you a bunch of words explaining why. Or, you could watch this quick video capturing our latest GetBackpacking! trip, the second weekend of May 2021, to the Shining Rock Wilderness Area of North Carolina’s Pisgah National Forest.
It wasn’t so much an “ah-ha!” moment. It was more of an “ah-ha!” day.
Saturday, our GetHiking! group spent the day exploring the Shining Rock Wilderness region along the Pisgah Ridge west of Asheville. The wilderness itself is 18,483 acres; the immediately adjoining Pisgah National Forest (including the Middle Prong Wilderness) is at least three times that. Shining Rock is known for its high elevations (our travels ranged from 5,000 to over 6,000 feet) and its never-ending supply of views. On a day like Saturday, mostly sunny with clouds scudding in the distance, it is a rare hiking experience in the Southeast. It’s also why we hike.
There are some things you do that you just don’t think about — you just do. Hiking is one of those things for me. Hitting the trail is just a part of life, as natural, nearly, as eating and drinking, sleeping and breathing. But every once in a while it’s not a bad think to look at why we do the things we do. For the three days, I will, quickly (in about 500 words) look at what it is that makes me hike.
Tuesday: The Outdoors
Wednesday: The People
Today: The Challenge
There are things you do that you just don’t think about — you just do. Hiking is one of those things for me. Hitting the trail is just a part of life, as natural, nearly, as eating and drinking, sleeping and breathing. But every once in a while it’s good to pause and think about our motivation, to look at why we do the things we do. For the next three days, I will, quickly (in about 500 words) look at what it is that makes me hike.
You could explore standup paddleboarding at Wrightsville Beach this weekend, you could take a yoga hike near Charlotte. Or, you could join us on a GetGoingNC/NCHikes-sponsored, day-long hike along the mile-high portion of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail through the Pisgah National Forest.