On The Trail, So In Life

by Mark Cooper

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The backpackers I’ve met are big hearted people. Sure they like their space, but in time of need they’ll be there for you. The very choice they make when hitting the trail indicates a inward desire to experience life more intimately, and more intensely, yet they remain tuned to the needs of both their traveling companions and their surroundings. The trail often brings out the best in people and there are valuable tenets in backpacking that translate well into a more rewarding life and a better world.

Hike Your Own Hike - To thine own self be true. We’d all do well to remember that we have the power and pleasure of charting our own course. There will never be discovery without differences. On the flip side, keep your mind open to new ideas, and the fact that others are hiking their own hikes. If we can’t admire the differences, we can, at least, respect them.

Leave No Trace - If we all hike our own hikes, but we are not careful to tread lightly, we will leave a wake of debris that slowly degrades the experience for future travelers. Restore rather than deplete. Try to make the places and people you touch in your life better for having met you. And don’t forget that often there is nothing we can do to improve what is around us because it is already perfect.

Lighten Your Load - You can’t take it with you. Well, ok, you can, but not that much. Try not to carry too much baggage. We can really weigh ourselves down with all the gear we come across in our lives. Avarice may blind you of the beauty around you right now. Some experiences also weigh us down with heavy hearts. Guilt, sorrow and melancholy have their places in our lives but they are poor partners on the long thru-hikes. Don’t let your collections haunt you.

Gather ‘Round the Fire - The campfire warms the body and the laughter and conversation warms the soul. In our busy lives we forget to put the chores of the day behind us and relax with those around us.

Rhythm - Feel your wrist, your temple, your heart. The involuntary beating keeps us alive. After a few days on the trail we fall into the comforting cadence of a simple life in motion. The backpacker’s spirit is released in the discipline of repetition; the days and the nights, the rising and the resting, the water and the food, the up and the down, the left and the right. Relax in life’s meter that allows us to forget the paces and enjoy what is changing. With each step, even though it may seem like the one before, the people and the places change.

Don’t Mess With Bears and Snakes - This seems to hold true almost everywhere.

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