THE VALUE OF HIKING A WILDERNESS

Quathlamba

“A mass of Spears. Named thus by the Zulu warriors before the white man came. Today called the Drakensberg, Mountains of the Dragon, a name given by the Voortrekkers. Evocative names, both equally applicable to South Africa’s mightiest mountain range with its spear-like peaks – reminiscent of the saw-toothed spine of a gigantic dragon.”

Panorama April 1966

“Listen to the streams as they gurgle from their cradles and you will hear the story of the mountains. You will hear fascinating tales if only you listen! Lie next to a stream and listen to the song of the mountains. The smiling faces of the flowers, dancing in the wind. Venture into the remote valleys or stand on a peak at sunrise or sunset, after snow has fallen, and you will hear a song that you will never forget - the Song of the High Mountain". (DA Dodds)

DRAKENSBERG WILDERNESS PHOTOS © WILLEM PELSER

“HIS WALK IS AN ADVENTURE AND HIS DEPARTURE AN ESCAPE. HE HAS A KIND OF TURBULENT PLEASURE, BETWEEN FEAR AND ADMIRATION”

DR. S JACKSON

THE VALUE OF HIKING A WILDERNESS

After a hiking trip of a few days one always return with a sense of being refreshed and with new enthusiasm for one’s work. One feels as if one has undergone a physical and spiritual rejuvenation. This is so because hiking does not merely involve the movement of one’s legs – it involves the sum total of one’s being.

Hiking helps you to get to know yourself

Man is a being that can be counted – he is this or that special, unique being. In our mass society, however, man becomes a mere number, and you can list them: ID number, student number, passport number, tax number, car registration number, bank account number and at the end…….a grave number.

Man is not a cypher, though. Each human being is a unique, special creature. Each person needs time to get to know himself, apart from getting to know the world around him. If you are always on the run you cannot discover yourself or your unique abilities or qualities. There is no better form of relaxation which can promote the “turning inwards” than hiking in the wilds. The restful manners in which this type of recreation is practiced and the environment in which it is done are perhaps the most important reasons for this.

Hiking will allow you to breathe again

Man does not only have a spatial dimension, i.e. inhabit a specific space. He also experiences space – or the lack of it.

Many people’s living space has nowadays become very limited: an office by day and a room in a flat by night. Some become so used to it that they develop a fear of open spaces when they drive through vast open landscapes. Others, who were used to more space, suffer from persistent claustrophobia.

It can also be dangerous when one begins to experience the small space in which one finds oneself every day as the real world. Physical, spatial limitations can add to spiritual impoverishment.

If you have ever been tempted to think of yourself as being something special, look up to the heavens and reflect on the following: You are not even a speck on the face of the earth. The earth itself in turn, is an insignificant almost burnt out planet of an unimportant star floating in the immeasurable distances of space. The distances are so enormous that they are not measured in kilometers but in light years.

These spaces are so enormous that they threaten to overwhelm one completely. Fortunately we do not experience these distances, which completely surpass our limited intellects, in this way when we are out in the open at night marveling at the beauty of the stars. The small amount of space that we can experience is just enough to let us breath again.

Hiking brings you to life, real life

Together with the animal man rises above grass, flowers, and trees, because man also has senses. Man is a physical being, who can hear, see, small, taste, and touch. Plants do not have these senses and therefore cannot experience pain or joy.

Psychologically hiking allows a renewal of one’s humanity. It teaches you to realize anew the privilege of having these senses and to be able to use them. Somebody has rightly observed that “Nature is filled with wonderful things which are patiently waiting for our senses to be sensitized to them.”

You are filled with a child’s sense of joy and wonder that you have eyes to drink in the beauty of color and line.

Sit down quietly for a moment, and you will hear sounds which have never penetrated your awareness. In the wilderness, where the silence is almost tangible, there is always the rustling whimper of the wind or the noise of a stream – talking to itself to exorcise the solitude!

In the wilderness you discover that you still have a nose. Hike through the forest and grasslands and smell all the herbs growing wild around you.

You feel the scorching sun and the bite of the cold.

What you eat tastes good again. To hike literally adds savor to your life.

So-called modern, civilized people have to be taught how to use their senses again. This does not happen by itself – it is an art which our primitive ancestors knew far better than we do nowadays.

Furthermore, one acquires self-control, discipline, and perseverance on the hiking trail.

This is apart from the fact that most of us – often unconsciously – carry excess baggage of emotional tensions and stresses. Hiking purifies you of this and creates a new sense of balance.

Hiking makes you think clearly

In spite of what evolutionism wishes to teach, man is not simply a highly-developed primate. Apart from the facets already mentioned man has at least nine more dimensions, which make him tower above the animal. His reasoning ability does not only differ a little from that of animals – it is totally different.

Not much can be said about the value of hiking for our intellectual ability – why do you think philosophers and other learned people liked walking so much? You have probably experienced this personally. Perhaps you have also sat struggling with a problem for hours, finally to give up and go for a walk around the block. The result? You are suddenly able to think clearly again – problem solved!

A hiking trip is not only good for one’s legs but also for one’s brain. Apart from which it also gives you a new perspective on matters. And it is important to retain perspective because however interesting our work might be, we easily fall into a glum and monotonous routine.

The End.

Safe Hiking.