Why Walk? -Kristen Gladfelter

A few weeks ago, a few of us decided to hike part of the AT. As we started on our journey, we were first greeted with the sight of colorful trees changing for the fall weather. Traveling further up the mountain, people from all walks of life emerged from the trail, some young, old and even the ever cranky teenagers being drug by their parents. As we kept walking, I kept thinking about the different reasons that people hiked the trail. For me, it was clearly recreation, but as I kept walking, I wondered why do people hike the trail? If not for recreation, then what? I continued to walk up the mountain and kept running into people with huge packs on, ready for the what ever the trail through at them. They obviously had a different reason for hiking the trail than I did. As we reached the summit, the view stretched 360˚. I felt small in comparison to the mountain that held me high above all else. I felt man could never recreate the sublime feeling of being on the mountain. Then I realized, what if man hikes the trail to prove that there is some more than just man? To find God perhaps, or another being that puts into perspective what it is like to be human. A deeper meaning in life, or just a closer connection with the spiritually unknown. In reality, I will never know why each person hikes the trail. However, I do know that a deep connection is found to life and the holy. Regardless of why man travels through nature, they will discover more than what they bargain for.