Hiking can be a great adventure and very vitalizing. It is disconnecting from the daily world and using the body to move along while accessing the faculties of sight, smell, sound, taste and touch. This is stimulating in a different sort of way. The senses become more attuned to one’s surroundings, such as the sounds made by bugs, birds, or quaking leaves in the breeze. The smell coming from blooming flowers is more pronounced. The feel of tree bark can be smooth or very rough on the fingertips. The striking sights in view are endless when really looking…vivid blue skies at high elevation or foliage on deciduous trees that has turned summer green. Even a PB&J tastes better at the top of a mountain.

“Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive, and even spiritual satisfaction.”–E.O.Wilson