Archive for the 'motivations' Category

Summit Stones in the San Gabriels

Published
by
Modern Hiker
on August 22, 2008
in motivations
. 2 Comments

I am very excited to announce that I just received a small package filled to the brim with Summit Stones.

Early on in this small world of hike-blogging, one of the first and most dependably great sites I stumbled upon was DSD’s Summit Stones & Adventure Musings. The closest thing our little online group has to a wandering sage, DSD painstakingly handpaints outdoor scenes on stones, then leaves them at summits for other hikers to discover and interpret.

It’s a project I have always loved, but never thought I’d be a part of — as DSD’s haunts are more up in the Pacific Northwest. But now I am excited and very proud to be the SoCal Operative in this ongoing project of his. I’ll now be spreading some Summit Stones along my various routes and tracks, and hopefully inspiring other hikers to stop and enjoy their surroundings in a new way.

Keep your eye open on those San Gabriel summits. You might stumble across one of these little beauties.

Summit Stone!

Many, many thanks to DSD for looping me in on this!

Runners Live Longer, Better

Published
by
Modern Hiker
on August 15, 2008
in motivations
. 2 Comments

nullA new study by the Archive of Internal Medicine has found something we all could have probably pieced together on our own — runners live longer and healthier lives than their lazy counterparts.

The study concluded that runners have a significantly lower mortality rate (15% vs. 34% over a 21 year period), don’t experience any more knee or joint problems, continue to have beneficial results - even from modest exercise - into their 80s, and start having age-related disabilities a full 16 years later than non-runners.

Wow.

If that doesn’t get you on the treadmill, I don’t know what will.

Via Backpacker.

Image by ghecko13.

Looking for the Meaning of Life? Climb!

Published
by
Modern Hiker
on July 10, 2008
in climbing, hiking and motivations
. 1 Comment

nullThe next time you find yourself in a bit of a philosophical rut, questioning why we’re here and what’s it all about, you may want to put down the Tao and pick up some rope — because a recent study from New Zealand concludes mountain climbers have “a good grasp on life.”

Lee Davidson, a senior lecturer at the University of Victoria’s museum and heritage studies program, spent some time interviewing and socializing with some Kiwi climbers to find out their outlook on life. She found that overwhelmingly, climbers had “a strong sense of identity,” and that this identity most often came from having “an opportunity to test yourself in an environment where making a mistake means you pay for it.”

Focus on a singular, achievable goal is also important:

“Many said the mountain became (the climbers’) point of reference, it gave them a solid grounding, a core to life where everything else revolved around it.”

The study was also sure to note that climbers aren’t necessarily adrenaline-fueled wild men, and that most were cautious outdoorspeople who took calculated risks and learned from their experiences.

While the study focused on mountain climbers, I’m certain these same qualities would apply to the vast majority of hikers out there, too. Seeing a peak from a trailhead and then working to get to that summit is one of the most rewarding things I do — and the problems of the workaday week and urban existence rarely enter my thoughts when I’m hiking.

Have any of you stumbled upon the Meaning of Life while scanning for rattlesnakes or doing tick checks? I haven’t yet, but I feel like I’m on the right path.

Until then, I’ll just defer to DSD.

via Backpacker

Image by argreen.

Lost Data

Published
by
Modern Hiker
on June 24, 2008
in hiking and motivations
. 0 Comments

nullOver the sweltering weekend, I suited up, packed plenty of water, and drove out to the Devil’s Canyon Trailhead for some creekside hiking and cool-pool soaking.

Unfortunately, when I got to the trailhead, I noticed my camera felt a lot lighter than it usually does. The reason? I left the battery in the charger at home.

After yelling at myself and thinking about getting back in the car, I instead made the right decision and went ahead with the hike anyway, making it a “non-working hike.”

The good news? I had a wonderful, relaxing hike in a beautiful area I hadn’t seen yet. The bad? No write-up for the site. Oh well. There’s always next week.

Or, I could spend a few minutes later this week and make some Crow-style trail illustrations …

Incredible Nature Photography

Published
by
Modern Hiker
on January 25, 2008
in Photography and motivations
. 1 Comment

The venerable photography-blog All Day I Dream About Photography has awarded it’s “Photographer of the Week” to the incredible nature photographer Daniel Ewert.

The man knows how to capture a landscape:

Of particular interest to us Westerners are his collections of Pacific Northwest photos and pages of Zion shots, but they’re all worth looking through … especially if you’re stuck inside because of the rain this weekend.

2007 in Numbers

Published
by
Modern Hiker
on December 20, 2007
in hiking, motivations and site news
. 5 Comments

Well, I’m about to fly off to New England for the holidays, which means it’s probably the end of meaningful Southern California hiking for the year.

Although I didn’t get to all of the places I wanted to, I still had some pretty impressive milestones — I went on several long-distance day hikes, qualified for the Sierra Club’s Hundred Peaks Chapter, and had my fair share of backpacking adventures — both ill and well fated.

My mileage for this year was actually a bit lower than last (I’ll blame hot summers, fire closures, and my new discovery of ‘The Beach’ for that one), but I almost doubled my elevation gain numbers for ‘06. Peakbagging will do that, I guess.

Total Mileage: 209 miles.
Total Elevation Gain: 89,090 feet (15.2% average uphill grade)
Total Time Spent Hiking: 3 days, 22 hours, 18 minutes.

The site itself has taken off a bit, too. From a lil’ ol blogspot site to some adventures on my former host to the current, sponsored-hosting, I’ve been lucky to find myself a little web-niche and gain an audience of tech-savvy outdoorsfolk — as well as (hopefully) some Angelenos who are just learning our sprawling megalopolis has some great nature nearby. Traffic has been steadily increasing since I launched last November, and I’m grateful for everyone who reads and explores.

2008, hopefully, will hold more improvements and adventures. I want to get my Map working again, and continue tweaking the site design to make information easier to find and access. I also have a nice chunk of Paid Time Off stored up, and want to hit up those elusive Utah National Parks — as well as bag San Gorgonio, San Bernardino, San Jacinto, and (maybe even) Whitney.

I’ll be doing some sporadic site work from New England — and hopefully going snowshoeing, now that they have seasonal weather again.

So congrats to everyone who laced up a hiking boot this year — let’s get ready to do it again in 2008.

Times Can Be Rough

Published
by
Modern Hiker
on December 5, 2007
in motivations
. 0 Comments

But folks like Nathan Colishaw know what’s up:

Life is good you know, but times can be rough. That’s why sometimes you have to get out and smell the juniper and pinion, and listen to the wind whistle and cut through pine needles. It is a healing song almost, just to hear the wind and the creaking wood of those old trees.

More wonderful writing and photography at the West Desert Journal.

200 in 2007

Published
by
Modern Hiker
on December 2, 2007
in hiking, motivations and site news
. 3 Comments

Just hit my 200th mile for 2007, hiking Iron Mountain in the western San Gabriels. I’ll have a full write-up soon, and it will have the honor of being the first major post to come from my shiny new Mac. We’ll see how it goes…

Year to Date

Published
by
Modern Hiker
on July 2, 2007
in hiking, motivations and site news
. 1 Comment

Over the weekend, I climbed Mount Hillyer - my 25th peak over 5000 feet - and now qualify for membership in the Sierra Club’s Hundred Peaks Chapter! That’s one New Year’s Resolution down, several more to go.

But as it’s a big number, I thought I’d take a peek at how I’m doing so far this year. Also, GPS programs make it easy and fun to keep track of all sorts of fun numbers. So here’s the first half of 2007:

Hikes done: 19
Total Mileage: 168.15 miles - 72.23 uphill, 78.07 downhill, 14.96 level
Total Ascent: 66,805 feet
Time Spent Hiking: 5 days, 12 hours, 28 minutes.

To put that in perspective, for the entire year of 2006, I hiked 234 miles with just under 47,000 feet of incline. So I could be doing better, but I’m definitely going to destroy last year’s numbers.

Hopefully.

Here’s to another six months of high-quality hiking time!

The Right to Roam

Published
by
Modern Hiker
on June 15, 2007
in in the media and motivations
. 0 Comments

An article in today’s Daily Mail bemoans how today’s children have lost the ‘right to roam’ in four generations, due to a combination of automobiles, overprotective parents, and an over exaggerated news media.

It profiles a family in Britain whose ‘roaming radius’ from their homes went from six miles in 1919 to one mile in 1950, down to just 300 yards today. And unsurprisingly, this has adverse affects on peoples’ mental states.

According to representatives from Natural England, people are “healthier and better adjusted if they get out into the countryside,” and that “people deprived of contact with nature are at greater risk of depression and anxiety.”

Nothing we didn’t know already, right?