Mike and I take a lot of walks together, often during the week after we are both done with work for the day. We find it relaxing and a way to get our legs moving and some fresh air in our lungs after being indoors all day. It doesn’t necessarily provide us with an excessive amount of exercise, but it does feel good. We have several different “favorite” paths we take around our neighborhood, or we sometimes take the trail that is located behind our house that heads to the lake near us. It is not a very long trail, maybe a quarter of a mile at most, but I like it because it winds through trees and almost makes me feel like I am away from the city on one of our beloved hiking adventures. Well, at least I can pretend for a few moments while we are making our way down it anyway.
Recently, while on this back trail of ours, I got to wondering, what is the difference between hiking and taking a walk? If I walk out my front door to the sidewalk to go around my neighborhood, am I simply taking a walk? But if I walk out my back door to the trail, am I taking a hike? Curious, I googled the definition of “hiking,” and the first result I got was from Oxford Languages, stating, “the activity of going for long walks, especially in the country or woods.” Well, our trail certainly does not provide a “long walk,” nor is it in the country, but it is in the woods. So, am I hiking or walking when I go down it? I decided to google again, but this time asked Merriam-Webster, and the result I got was a bit different – “a long walk, especially for pleasure or exercise.” I can take a long walk around my neighborhood, for sure, and it does give me pleasure, but I can’t wrap my head around calling that a hike. That definition didn’t quite seem to give me a definitive answer to my initial question either. So, what IS the difference between hiking and taking a walk?
At this point, I’m not sure the denotation of the word “hiking” really makes a difference, and I guess there really isn’t a big defined difference between taking a walk and hiking anyway, according to the great dictionaries out there. No matter…I think I will just stick to what I believe to be true. For me, hiking is a bit more than simply taking a walk because it should involve being surrounded and immersed in nature. Give me trees, wildlife, and a winding path, and I am definitely hiking, even if it is a short quarter mile. Nature is what makes hiking so special because it gets you away from your everyday life, gives you time to breathe in a natural space, and offers you the opportunity to appreciate the great wonders that are uniquely created in our world.
This truth was emphasized for me this week, as we received some snow and ice that closed schools and businesses. The landscape definitely changed in our neighborhood and around our house, and after being cooped up for a day, I was eager to head down our trail to see how it looked all wrapped up in several inches of snow and ice. We pulled on our snow boots and warm gear and headed down the trail. The ground was a radiant white, the tree branches glittered with ice, birds hopped through the snow, and the world was silent on our trail. We walked down it in wonder, we hiked it in awe. Yes, witnessing and breathing in this natural beauty set my soul at peace and gave me great pleasure. Hmm…a walk in the woods that gave me great pleasure and exercise. Maybe Oxford Languages and Marriam-Webster should put their heads together and come up with a better definition of the word “hiking.”
