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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 2018)
CONTACT US Erick Bengel | Features Editor ebengel@dailyastorian.com WEEKEND BREAK FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorian THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, OCT. 5, 2018 • 1C Photos courtesy Ed Hunt Ed Hunt on Saddle Mountain. NO MEAN FEET It’s always a good day for a hike By ED HUNT For The Daily Astorian Such was the case with hiking. Vistas to discover “In the beginning was the foot.” —Marvin Harris, American anthropologist S ome of my greatest memories are uphill. “Let’s go for a walk,” my dad would say. With the sky turning golden in the late summer sun we would hike up the trails to the top the hill, dad smoking his pipe tobacco as the sound of the diving nighthawks low-whis- tled in the crisping air. In the hills of the Columbia River Gorge, all trails went uphill eventually. Where I lived the scrub oak would thin out toward the top as the trails doubled back and grew steeper. At last the view would open to reveal white-topped moun- tains and vistas worthy of postcards. Climbing a trail through a forest — hiking to that payoff at the top — is a pleasure I’m continually rediscovering. My hiking days started with my dad when I was young. Wherever he lives, he always knows the local trails. We were never formal hikers, with special boots and backpacks and planned excursions. It was always, “Let’s take this trail and see where it goes.” Walking is older than man. “In the beginning was the foot,” famed American anthropologist Marvin Harris wrote. “Four million years ago, before speech or con- sciousness, our ancestors already walked erect on two feet.” We walked with our hands free to hunt and gather. We walked to follow game and lost the hair from our bodies in the African sun. As we walked, our brains grew bigger. As we walked, we spread across the planet to almost every corner — on foot. Long before the com- mon modes of horse or cart or car or train, we walked. We walked to the top of mountains — in the Andes, the Alps and the Himalayas — and built cities in the clouds. Anything that ceases to be necessary soon becomes either art or recreation. In rural areas, walking a trail through the woods is still often a necessity — for hunt- ing or fishing, for work in the forest. Walking a trail for the sake of the experience is differ- ent, a byproduct of the increasingly urban land- scape that developed with the Industrial Rev- olution. In Europe the Pilgrimage trails and market footpaths that lead from village to vil- lage became embraced by pioneers like Philipp Bussemer, who promoted and published some of the first hiking guides through Germany’s Black Forest at the end of the 19th century. In some ways, hiking is a true “swords into ploughshares activity.” In this country, it was the surplus of sturdy shoes and camping equip- ment after the Civil War that first led to a dis- covery of the outdoor pleasures of hiking in the wilderness to an increasingly urban and afflu- ent America. The creation of the National Park system and the construction of trails by recre- ation clubs and, later, the Civilian Conservation Corps ensured that these vistas were preserved and trails were maintained. Interest in hiking has increased after each subsequent major conflict, with a boom partic- ularly after World War II. Special equipment replaced the surplus gear, guidebooks mapped out trails and advised trekkers. Generations of scouts discovered the joys of walking in nature. Some have argued that the more divorced and urban the lifestyle, the more novel and enrich- ing the experience. These days, of course, have progressed beyond written hiking guides to internet sites with detailed photos and videos of the hike. Now you know what you are getting into even before you leave the warm comfort of your home. Yet there are still surprises, still vistas worth ascending to discover. Vistas to which no photo can do justice, because the hike itself is some- how integral to the experience. Lia Willenbrock, left, and Grace Hunt, behind a waterfall on the trail Goat Rocks. Amy Hunt on the trail at Coldwater Lake. See HIKING, Page 2C John Hunt, at 80, pauses to enjoy the view at the top of Stone Mountain in North Carolina. Mount Rainier from Sleeping Beauty Trail.