Hiking and the impact others make #4

 Our talks over the course of the semester about the AT and other trails around the world have shaped many different views that I have had about hiking and the community and what it can do for a person. One of the most intriguing stories that we heard this semester was the one about the women you ran into again on the trail. You were hiking on the complete opposite side of the country over a decade later and ran into someone you had briefly met on the AT. It is amazing to me, not just the fact that you two happened to be in the same place at the same time again as almost complete strangers, but the fact that you both recognized each other at that moment. You have to think about how many people you meet while you are hiking. How many people you pass and say hello to on the trails, share a meal with. Not only to remember one person but remember that person so far into the future just says how deeply those trails and the people that you meet on them impact your life. You change as a person on those hikes and that encounter reflects it. We also had talked about how the youngest girl had been hiking and she loved the people most. They are what make the experience of being alone have many disadvantages. You need someone else there to truly be able to experience the trail and know that you have done it.

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