So you've taken an interest in !Hiking! have you? Well, first of all, let me explain certain important things in order that you don't waste your time here. Most importantly, we have to be on the same page. When most people hear about 'hiking', they assume some sort of day hike, or a walk through a park outside their home city. Some are ignorant enough to actually confuse 'hiking' with camping. This situation must be cleared up for the common good. On this site, 'hiking' does not mean 'day hike' and most certainly is not synonymous with camping. Don't get me wrong, camping can be incredibly fun too, but it is not the same as 'hiking'.
'Hiking' as defined for the purposes of this site is a multi-day trek through remote wilderness, covering vast stretches of land, as far away from populated areas as possible, with all equipment needed by each member being carried by that member. The degree of difficulty, combined with the duration in both time and displacement of this 'hike' will henceforth be referred to as how 'hardcore' the hike is. As an example, one of the most hardcore hikes available to man is found in the annual EcoChallenge races.
Ok. Now that that's out of the way, the second topic in need of addressing are my credentials. Sounds like I'm trying to sell myself. Well, it's really for your own benefit. After all I could be making all this up. And at the same time 'hiking' could really mean 'invasion'. I guess you'll just have to decide what to believe and what to ignore.
As for my credentials, they start with my birth, but the important things start four years ago. I've always been an outdoor person. 'Woodsy' if you will. Ok, so four years ago was my first 'hiking' experience. It happened after the previous year's camping trip turned out to be too civilized. I wanted something more extreme, something to test my ability to fend for myself and to survive under any circumstance. While some people take survival courses to prepare for the odd crisis, I went out with two friends looking to create and test myself against the extremes. This search led us to the Voyageur Trail in northern Ontario.
In any case, the first year there were three of us, and it turned out to be a somewhat painful and bloody test, but it was the most rewarding experience in my life up to that point. We suffered some commonly experienced troubles with our shoes, rashes, bugs and especially the sheer exhaustive amount of walking and having to carry everything we depended on strapped to us. However, these were really only minor annoyances, and even without having done any real research or spoken to pros, we did not have any major problems. In fact, the cons were outright inexistent compared to the pros. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking and the animals were a wondrous site for city boys like us. The greatest reward however was the empowering sentiment of accomplishment. The feeling of having subjected ourselves to conditions outside our normal functioning parameters and having succeeded without any outside help was euphoric.
The second year we lost a member of the team to conflicting schedules. However, we still went, and while this time it was only a week long as opposed to the first year's two week hike, we covered nearly twice as much ground, and gained even more valuable experience in our little growing game. We had cut down the weight of our equipment, and also acquired better gear. Still, the second year we had a test that we managed to avoid completely the first year. Rain. The second day into the trip, it rained, and while this didn't stop us that day or the next, our clothing and boots were wet, and walking in wet boots is one of the worst things to do, especially putting them on in the morning. Still, 'veni, vedi, vici'! And so by the second year we got almost everything right.
The third year I was unable to go in the fall, so instead we went this spring. This was our first spring hike, and we had to be far more careful with our planning because we were dealing with far lower temperatures. We still managed to lighten our packs even more, and overall had a flawless trip. We again had rain early in the trip, which caused us to lose a day, and since this was our first return trip, we were unable to go all the way to our destination. Nonetheless, we proved to ourselves that we could not only hike fast on snow covered trails, but that we were independent of any form of fire (we forgot our lighters). Overall, it took us three trips spanning three and a half years to get it perfect without any outside help, meaning that with the right advice anyone with an affinity for the natural world would be able to have a perfect second trip (you have to account for disbelief and over packing). The first trip doesn't have to be a disaster, but it won't be perfect. If possible go with a friend who knows what they are doing to get the best first experience.
Check out the 'Equipment' section to see how to pack lightly, or take a look at some of the 'Pictures' from the Spring 2003 hiking trip, or read the 'Tips' section for a good start. Also keep an eye out for full accounts of the Summer 2000, Fall 2001 and Spring 2003 trips.
