The Road Less Traveled

Have you ever grown to love something you thought you would always hate? In this memoir piece, Kit Thompson takes us on the path that led to her love of hiking.

Hiking

by Kit Thompson

Growing up with the thrill of downhill skiing and galloping my horse along the wild Skagit River just west of the North Cascade Mountains, I was not a sedentary girl. I once hiked up a small mountain with a friend. My sweat contained little beads of loathing for hiking, so I could not forget. There was no boat, no ski, no horse to carry you. You were the only one to lug yourself up a rugged steep hillside. Switchback trails were visually lovely, but long. It just drew out the pain for a longer distance to get up to the top. It was too hard! Gravity is cruel.

Thirty years later, and not so long ago...... Those mischievous black eyes of his, shining, that sly crooked grin, he was a devil lover in disguise. I wanted to impress him, so I faked enthusiasm for the sport, while holding a secret disdain for it. Oh, what we do for love! We went on multiple hikes in the Columbia Gorge, both Washington and Oregon sides of the river. I remember Rowena Hills in the early spring, dressed in brilliant green dotted with purple lupine, kittentails, and calming blue flax. 

"Look!" he said, when we reached the top. "Its a glacier lily!" The perfect wildflower. And then we'd rest. We picnicked on almonds and oranges. He would fall asleep, while I leaned against a tree, blissfully watching the clouds. 

This lovely man, whom I had such a passion for, went by the wayside on my journey. My real true love became hiking. Mountain climbing, alpine swims, identifying wildflowers, rock climbing, geology, how not to get lost, ALL of it, I loved. I hiked various legs of the PCT for a week at a time, long enough to be lusciously disconnected from the trivialities of everyday life in the city. My hikes varied as much as the people I hiked with; backpacking journeys with snowstorms in August, star gazing trips,and cathartic teary missions on not doing this sooner in my life. It was the best ever party; hikes in the Gorge, hikes in Montana, Washington and California.

Sometimes we try things, and don't like it. It gets shucked away onto the "no go" pile. My success with this challenge as well as my love for it proved that it may be worthwhile to revisit that old "used" pile one more time.