Make Hiking Great Again

Putting one foot in front of the other isn’t the most extreme activity, but damn if the original outdoor pursuit isn’t the sexiest.

- Ted Alvarez

It of course, in blunder, Colorado, in a boutique café festooned with prayer flags. As two scruffy-chic climbers wrapped up recounting their weekend adventures, the taller one admitted that Sunday contained “just” a short hike in the Indian Peaks Wilderness instead of a ballsout multi-pitch climb.

“You mean an ‘approach,’ but, like, without the climbing at the end?” his friend interrupted. They both snorted. Then they left to go clean their cams or do pinkie pullups or something.

Sadly, such derision for the greatest outdoor discipline of all time is not rare. In fact, it’s common. In fact, hiking is often treated as the fallback, the annoying younger sibling, the safety school.