By Donna Shea & Nadine Briggs
I (Donna), spent the last week on a vacation that was predominantly centered around hiking the White Mountains in New Hampshire.
I’ve noted the camaraderie among hikers before. This time though, I really saw the kindness and connection that exists out there in the middle of nowhere. Everyone says hello to each other. People stop, wait and smile if someone is a little slower going up or down. We stop and chat to find out where other folks are headed or have come from, and share stories for a brief time before heading off again.
Hikers check on each other, offering water or snacks. I can remember a particularly tough summit where we noticed a couple of hikers waiting above, just to be sure that we were okay and going to make it to the top. We exchanged a thumbs up but didn’t get a chance to thank them. We talked to a family that was on their first big hike and answered all their questions. People gave each other the heads up about what we were running into as far as safety concerns on the trails. We were giving a hand up out of a rushing stream bed when we were soaking wet. You can trust each other out there. You can leave your pack on the trail to go off and do a short spur and find it right where you left it, untouched.
We had the pleasure of running into several through hikers who were hiking the Appalachian Trail. One was a young guy, just turned 21, from Billerica, MA, not far from us that we met in one of the high huts where shelter and food are offered and fresh water can be had. These guys operate on a pretty tight budget, so he was able to purchase food, but we could hear him talking to himself about passing on the decadent chocolate cake that was sitting on the table. We told him to go right ahead and help himself to the cake as it was on us. He joined us while we all ate and listened to some of his adventures on the trail as well as how he was getting lonely homesick and wanted to finish.
What strikes me over and over, is that there are no strangers on the trails, just fellow hikers. And then it gets me to wondering why there is a need to act like strangers anywhere. Aren’t we all fellow humans? Shouldn’t it really just be a piece of cake?
