In the comments to yesterday’s post, Kevin Kim gave me a well-deserved kick in the ass some much appreciated advice regarding my reluctance to be on trail alone when I’m hiking in unknown terrain. He included a quote from a well-known hiker, Colin Fletcher, whom I’d never heard of previously. Those words really resonated with me and deserve to be highlighted in a post of their own:
“But if you judge safety to be the paramount consideration in life, you should never, under any circumstances, go on long hikes alone. Don’t take short hikes alone, either — or, for that matter, go anywhere alone. And avoid at all costs such foolhardy activities as driving, falling in love, or inhaling air that is almost certainly riddled with deadly germs. Wear wool next to the skin. Insure every good and chattel you possess against every conceivable contingency the future might bring, even if the premiums half-cripple the present. Never cross an intersection against a red light, even when you can see all roads are clear for miles. And never, of course, explore the guts of an idea that seems as if it might threaten one of your more cherished beliefs. In your wisdom, you will probably live to be a ripe old age. But you may discover, just before you die, that you have been dead for a long, long time.”
Well, hell yeah, that’s exactly right. I knew that at one time and it was a good and timely reminder. Life is for living and living in fear defeats the purpose of living.
And so today I spent some pleasant time hiking on a trail I call My Bitch, letting go of the worry and enjoying the moment each step of the way.
Colin Fletcher
“Every walk of life falls under the Testicular Imperative: Either you have the world by them, or it has you.”
Oh, and speaking of walking, one of the La Union Hashers is also a YouTube vlogger, and he posted a video of Saturday’s Baguio Hash. Your humble correspondent makes a cameo appearance. Give it a watch–the scenery is great.