May your trails be lonesome, crooked, winding, and dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. --Edward Abbey
Every year, tens of thousands of Boy Scouts flock to a ranch in New Mexico. They spend upwards of a week hiking from place to place, taking everything they need on their backs. Up, down, along, across, through the rain, hail, elevation, heat, cold, sometimes snow. And yet with all this effort, they might only go 80 miles. Why do they do it?
It is an experience of slowing down, of seeing. Two things are seen better when seen slower: Our landscape and ourselves.
When you spend an entire day moving 10 miles, you pay attention to the way the landscape changes as well as details along the way. You have a better understanding of the landscape, not just what it looks like from the parking lot you stopped at, but the way the soil is different at 11,000 feet than at 7,000 feet. The way the flowers are scarcer higher up. The way the trees only have branches on one side when they cling precariously to a wind-blown crag.
Intentionally travelling in an inefficient and strenuous manner is extremely conducive to self-reflection. Seeing and feeling, mile after mile, the scale of the earth leads to thought on how small we are physically, but also makes us think of the size of our impact on the world and others. The best thought on self is often had after many miles, rough weather, lonesome crooked trails, and late nights. The mental battering causes you to look at yourself clearly and honestly. It leads you to the best view of yourself.
Additionally, it gives you a better understanding of place. Often, people are praised or derided for where they are, giving no consideration to where they're going. Place matters, but direction is more meaningful. You may be in a good place, but if you're getting worse it's all for none. If you're in a bad place but heading towards better, you have everything to look forward to. Where you are on the trail is unimportant, whether or not you're bound to rise above the clouds is.
Benedict Gorman
