A List Of Reasons Why People Enjoy Hiking

Hiking is one of these sports that have a real community of enthusiastic people behind it. So many people go out to nature for hikes every year. Buy why do people enjoy hiking?

1. Physical activity

Hiking is a challenging physical activity, especially for beginners who haven’t developed the fitness level required to complete challenging trails. Especially if you’re hiking for more than a day, carrying a heavy backpack on the trail can be pretty intense.

Most people enjoy being active, even if it’s hard at first. You move your body and get into a rhythm.

I have some friends who hiked a lot when they visited South America, mainly at high altitudes, and they always rave about how much it improved their fitness level. Other physical activities seemed relatively easy afterward because they improved their fitness a lot.

Hiking does burn fewer calories than running per hour((Healthline, How Many Calories Does Hiking Burn?)), but most people hike for a few hours at a time. Hiking can be intense, but it feels really good after.

2. Nice views and fresh air

When you’re in your day-to-day life, you’re probably not spending as much time in nature as you’d like. Hikers like to spend time outdoors, see nice views, and get a breath of fresh air.

On a hike, you get some time to connect with nature. If you’re hiking for multiple days, you’re even spending time sleeping outdoors. But even if you’re hiking for a single day at a time, you get to spend some quiet time surrounded by nature.

There are amazing views you can only see when hiking. Many mountain tops, lakes, and forests are only accessible on foot. This helps to preserve the destination’s natural space and keeps the place more enjoyable to walk at.

If you like seeing wildlife, you can go out and watch animals live in their natural state when you hike. Obviously, what animals you may encounter is a seasonal matter, and timing does play a big role in that. You’re more likely to see wildlife on less known trails, which fewer people visit.

3. Quiet time

A good hike can be an escape from day-to-day life, where you spend time in nature, away from your routines and responsibilities. It’s an opportunity to relax and spend time with yourself, or with someone close.

Being out and exploring new natural places really helps you recharge your batteries. It’s all about mentally slowing down, and having time to think and talk to your friends.

When outdoors, you’re very likely to spend much less time on your phone and on social media, so you can focus on the experience. Disconnecting from these things really helps you relax, and being in the present moment helps you experience things more deeply.

4. A nice challenge

While hiking on a long trail is a physical challenge, it’s also a mental one. Especially if the weather conditions or the terrain are rough, completing the hike can be quite difficult. It’s sometimes hard to push yourself farther and keep on.

But completing a difficult hike is very rewarding. It builds character to know that you’ve been in a difficult situation and overcame it.

When you go out on a hike, it’s an opportunity to test and challenge your limits, to see what you’re able to accomplish. It’s a challenging non-competitive sport.

5. Connecting with a community

Many people meet friends and partners through the hiking community. It’s amazing how many people are into the sport – I’ve seen hiking Facebook groups of around 100K people, who engage and share their experiences and recommendations.

I also heard about people specifically organizing hiking trips as an opportunity for people to meet friends, develop relationships and even meet a romantic partner. But many people just meet along the trail, even if they originally planned to hike by themselves.

A hike is also an amazing opportunity to connect with your friends. When you go on a hike together you get to spend a lot of time with each other, talk a lot, and connect. Spending time together, especially if you’re doing an activity, is really important for friendship forming((Hall, J. A. (2019). How many hours does it take to make a friend?. Journal of social and personal relationships, 36(4), 1278-1296.‏)).

Conclusions

Many people are into hiking, enjoying the benefits of the sport. Some are into the physical and mental challenge and love the feeling after you complete a difficult hike. Some are more into relaxing in nature and having some quiet time for themselves.

If you’re considering hiking, you should try it out for yourself. People find different reasons why they love it, and you might find a reason too.