We All Start Somewhere

 A game changer

The passion for hiking comes early in life to some and later for others. When it does finally happen it’s a life changing experience for most of us.

Some folks will never get that feeling or understand it. They may even think you are plum crazy for wanting to waste time walking in the woods.

my hiking experience was so bight i had to wear shades

my hiking experience was so bright I had to wear shades.

Who would have thunk it..

Spending time on Face Book, playing video games or watching marathons on Netflix seemed like a great idea at the time but I slowly want to remove myself from that. We have all done it at some time or another in our life. This is not how I want my life to be, it hurts my soul.
Recently I have been looking back on my life and tried to recall little things that may have shaped me as a person. I can say without a doubt I thought my father was a hard ass hippie. He was always telling me I should learn to tie knots, build a campfire, care for the land, be a responsible person, respect what Mother Nature has given us and appreciate the beauty of the land. I thought he was full of crap.LOL.
What he had been doing was instilling in me the whole leave no trace back in the day before it was a thing. Who would have thunk it..

 

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Cheryl Strayed ( Wild) and my dad must have bought the same Backpack..even his was a monster in the day.

Abundance

Growing up in Oregon was the perfect setting for learning about the outdoors. There are mountains, lakes, rivers, an ocean, wide open spaces, plenty of trees and an abundance of wildlife.
My weekends were not spent at home watching TV. (We only had 3 channels and pong had just come out and that was not even on my radar). Our family time came in the form of nature and it was plentiful. My father even decided at one point that we needed a time out from life and we spent 6 months living in a teepee in the woods. (One too many mountain man movies I guess. I blame Robert Redford aka “Jeremiah Johnson”).

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A home in the woods Indian Style.

Home

My mother finally had had enough, and we went back home where comfort was in abundance. (Back to a real house with a real bathroom, where pooping was good again)

Dad and I still continued to hike a few times a month after we moved back home.

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Moving On

We later relocated to California. I got older and things changed (teenage hormones). Hiking was not the thing to do anymore. (It was the 80s and big hair was in. That did not bode well with hiking)

When I met my husband things changed for me and we both started to enjoy doing the outdoor stuff again. (Yosemite was our favorite place to go on weekends).
My children have fond memories of us camping, hiking and learning about nature. I am so glad we were able to give that to them.
The passion for hiking is not new to me. It’s always been tucked away, waiting for me to return. I never gave up thinking about hiking in so much as I’ve kept my first back pack. To this day it sits quietly in a corner in the attic waiting to be dusted off for one more hike.

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“You know, at that age you want to show everyone else how wild you are. its a combination of being bored, looking for a cheap thrill and being really Stupid- Dangerous combination”.

( quote by Mike Judge)

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Comments 2

  • Karl Barefield : Nov 18th

    Haven’t seen those pics in so long. Brought back good memories. I still have all the gear from then. I set up the tent the other day to air it out. Very primitive and heavy. I can’t let you outdo me so I will be leaving in the morning for the AT…lol I have my medic alert bracelet on so you will be hearing from someone before dark…lol

    Reply
    • Tracy Cherf : Nov 19th

      So how far did you make it…did you get out of the driveway yet..LOL 🙂

      Reply

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