Because it’s there.
That seems to be the most common explanation moutaineers why people climb mountains. It’s cliché actually.
But it’s fine. We are naturally curious. We want to find out what’s up there and how the lowlands look from up high.
The usual reasons: fresh air, sunshine, escape from the city, etcetera. And of course, there’s quiet and serenity that one can feel hiking for long hours under the sun or the canopy of huge trees.
Besides the chirping of the birds and the rustling of the leaves and the blades of grass, it’s so in the mountains that one can even hear one’s own thoughts. Hiking up the mountains gives the trekker the time to think through many things, including the meaning (or lack of it) of life.
Next to boxing or martial arts, hiking is one of those activities that tests one’s stamina and will, as well as resistance to pain. Crawling on all fours while traversing a 70-degrees ground of mud and rocks going up to the summit, the hiker is forced to determine the limits of his physical strength, wits and determination.
In the process, the climber knows himself a little bit more. “I went deep into those forests and mountains, and came out feeling like a different and hopefully better person,” says one mountaineer.
I agree.
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