For years, I thought I wasn’t a hiker. I mock my Marine father for it, for he’s the ecstatic Aussie shepherd who nipped at my heals on forced marches up mountains, and so he killed my love of the hike with his unending enthusiasm and zest. In my more contemplative moments, I remember my exasperation with only fondness. What I didn’t understand when I was 6 is that he was 6, too. Not once upon a time. He was exactly 6 when I was exactly 6, for we are, each one of us, every age we ever were, all at once, such that, although he appeared to be 31, he wasn’t. He was a 6-year-old scamperer, scurrying up the mountains, eager for me, his daughter-peer to bound with him. I, of course, was Reluctant. I simply, fundamentally did not understand why we had to romp when trudging was an option. Why gambol when we could plod? Why frolic when we could lumber? Also, why go Outside at all when Inside has couches and pillows and books? WHY?

So, I thought for years I just wasn’t a hiker. Turns out, I was wrong. Oh, not about everything. I AM a trudger and a lumberer and a plodder. I just didn’t realize that my gait and hiking were compatible. My favorite pace for mountaineering is a good, deliberate saunter. Did you know that’s allowed?? 

I hiked this weekend with friends.

I warned them they might have to ditch me because I move at my own snail’s pace, but they said they’re slow hikers because they stop to look at birds and moss, and I thought, “Perfect.” And it was. We stopped for everything. Every. Thing. Wild ginger, and the Pacific wren, and Oregon manroot, and salamanders, and candy flower, and witch’s hair, and every other fairytale plant and creature along the way. 

I thought I ought to throw this out there for two reasons, as follows:

1. So the 6yo inside my dad will be proud of me.
2. So, in case you think you’re not a hiker, you can reevaluate.
3. So you know you can hike with me this summer at Camp Rewind. These very friends and I are hosting camp for grown-ups in the fairytale Oregon forest where we each do whatever we want at our own pace in an inclusive community. It’ll be rad. And you’re invited.