I love the trail, and I hike. "Want to" doesn't so much come into it. Every one of these events that I go to means time and money taken away from actual hiking, which is what I like to do when I have time and money.
The only real reason for me to go to hiking events is to see friends that I've made along the way. I am almost completely uninterested in the activities associated with them. I don't want to square dance. I don't want to sit in a class room. I don't want to be lectured yet again on "Leave No Trace". (I'm pretty sure I learned that one as a six year old in Camp Fire. Although I would like somebody to explain to me how we're supposed to dig 6-8" holes in caliche, or rocky soil, or through rhododendron roots. So far everybody just pretends that trowel is doing the job, or they give up and claim that if bears shit in the woods, so can they. It's only natural, right? Not. I do my best with the trowel but seriously we need like a Star Wars light saber setup. Or something. Maybe a backhoe.)
On the other hand, I can't exactly round up fifty of my favorite hikers and go backpacking with them. That's not good backcountry practice. You need to move about in much smaller parties - definitely under ten.
Maybe it's that I'm not now, and never have been a party girl. Nor do I like mandatory fun. I just like to go do my own thing and enjoy whatever happens.
I like hiking. I like hikers. I just don't like "events". I think my ideal gathering would be a bunch of folks just hanging out with nothing scheduled other than perhaps some meals.
Although, I must say, if it weren't for hiking I wouldn't have spent any part of my evening doing this:
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| It felt like thousands of tiny needles. Or being licked relentlessly by a kitten. |
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