hike
v. hiked, hik·ing, hikes
v.intr.
1. To go on an extended walk for pleasure or exercise, especially in a natural setting.
2. To rise, especially to rise upward out of place: My coat had hiked up in the back.
v.tr.
1. To travel over on foot for pleasure or exercise: hiked the Appalachian Trail.
2. To increase or raise in amount, especially abruptly: shopkeepers who hiked their prices for the tourist trade.
3. To pull or raise with a sudden motion; hitch: hiked myself onto the stone wall; hiked up her knee socks.
4. Football To snap (the ball).
n.
1. A long walk or march: went for a hike to the lake.
2. An often abrupt increase or rise: a price hike.
Ewa posted a link to an article on hiking goals on FB yesterday, and one of the suggestions was for doing 52 hikes in a year, which immediately appealed to me, so after a couple of back and forth comments with Ewa, we both decided we were going to try to do this, and post about it!
But then I was thinking about what differentiates a real hike from just a regular walk. I would never think of walking around the block to the bakery, or walking downtown to the library, as hikes. But would most of my longish walks on local paths with my husband count as a hike? Or would it only count if I had my hiking boots on and a topographical map in my hand? How long would it have to be?
So to be sure I looked it up in the dictionary. What a relief! A hike is simply an extended walk for pleasure or exercise, especially in a natural setting. So for my purposes for this challenge, a hike should be:
- in a natural setting (so it needs to get me out of the urban setting where I live)
- extended (it needs to be a least 30 minutes)
- for pleasure or exercise (pretty much all my walks count, in my mind, towards exercise, so if it hits the other two criteria, it works)
So, my first hike was very simple. Yesterday morning, with the winter sun shining brightly, and before we had to get ready to visit all my in-laws, which is the big tradition here on January 1st, we took a walk to the cemetery and back, to stretch our legs and erase the cobwebs from staying up late on New Year's Eve. It was beautiful with the frost glazing the bushes and trees, and even though we had to be careful not to slip on the path, we were able to walk briskly enough to complete the four kilometers there and back in 50 minutes. It felt good!
1 done, 51 to go. This is going to be a fun challenge! Anyone want to join in?
9 comments:
What a great idea to check the dictionary, all of a sudden this goal seems a lot more attainable.
Happy hiking, Amy.
That IS a super fun challenge! And thank you for sharing the definition of hike! I thought it was something similar to what you first thought - hiking boots and hilly terrain. LOL! Which is fun, but every day walks to run errands or for pleasure are great too! :)
You are beginning your blog in 2015 with a great post! (Thanks for sharing the definition of the word "Hiking").
Completely agree with you, Amy!
Someone who is doing shopping or going to work can't think that she/he is hiking. In my opinon, we can't talk about hiking when we are walking along a sidewalk or a pedestrian area.
In addition, I think that hiking is a long, vigorous walk, in the countryside or through the wood. Of course, as you mentioned, more than 30 minutes.
I have learnt, thanks to our blogging community, that most people who live in the Northern side of the U.S., such as Maine, Vermont, and Minnesota, love hiking in Fall. October is their favourite month for hiking. When the colours of the Leaves change from green to orange, brown and red the scenery becames stunning. Perfect for hiking.
I hope you'll enjoy your hiking (and walking, why not) in 2015. Happy New Year, Amy!
I like your definition of hiking. I totally agree. If one day you will come here I show you many beautiful places to do it. Great challenge!
Good luck with your goal. You're off to a great start. It's certainly a very achievable goal. One hike a week - I think I could manage that and Toby would love it.
Enjoy! And please post pictures. It seems very doable.
I love this challenge and I look forward to reading all about it. I thought about doing it myself but since I already have set some goals I don't want to put pressure on myself with another challenge. But I will sure give it a try.
Hiking is so underrated both as a way to keep fit and improve people's happiness, good goals!
52 hikes will sound easy to some but I'd imagine more difficult to get a Walk jn every week than one would think!
Good luck!
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