Hiking, Climbing, Getting Lost (and why I’m a little like Frodo)

Breakneck Ridge
Beacon, NY

This past weekend, I manged to kill two birds with one stone.  I got the best sleep I’ve had in months and  made good on my goal of reconnecting with nature and getting fit .   The stone: Breakneck Ridge .

My partner and I decided that the 94 degree weather on Sunday was the perfect weather for what he termed a “vigorous” hike.  Vigorous indeed.  The scramble up the first set of rocks confirmed three things.

Courtesy of Josh Giunta

1. I am out of shape.
2. I’d like to learn how to rock climb.
3. No, rock climbing is not one of my “hidden” talents (I believe I have some…I just have to figure out what they are, ergo the “hidden” part)

The hike lasted almost 5 hours and was mostly fun — except for the getting lost part.  Sometime after lunch, just past the last rock scramble, we found ourselves off the trail, surrounded by tons of kamikaze bugs (one of which successfully landed in my eye), and kicking ourselves for not bringing the extra bottle of water.  Luckily, “there’s an app for that” and we were able to get back on track before the sun went down.

The 40 minute detour provided a golden opportunity to reflect on what type of person I am in a hiking bind.  I think there are four main types:  Screamers, Frodos, Guides, and The Eaten.  Humor me on this…

The Scream – Edvard Munch

The Screamer – 10-20 minutes of being lost, this is usually the person that starts to shiver before erupting into an oxygen-deprived wail that may last anywhere from a few seconds to hours.  Their shouts may include a mix of both optimistic cries (“Somebody, help us!) and pessimistic sentiments (“We are all going to die!).  You can count on the Screamer to relay the obvious (“This riverbed is completely dry!”) and alert the group to unknown dangers (“I heard a growl from over there!”)  As frustrating as Screamers might seem, I think they serve a crucial purpose as they are able to both inform anyone in the area of a) the situation and b) the status of the group.  This comes in particularly handy if you have the next type in the group.

The Frodo – For those of you familiar with Lord of the Rings, you may recall Frodo as being the brave Hobbit who carries the burden of The Precious with little more than the occasional yelp of pain or sigh of discontent.  While hiking, Frodos will not complain much as they plow through uncharted territory and their lack of speaking up may add some sense of calm to an otherwise stressful situation but, you often won’t notice the Frodo until s/he has collapsed 50 yards behind the group.  They’re generally not a pretty sight at the end of the ordeal.

The Guide – This type is pretty self-explanatory.  Guides will often take command of the situation with varying degrees of success.  I think there are a number of sub-types within Guides, ranging from the Democratic Guide who attempts to utilize a voting system within the hiking party, the Cheerleader Guide who provides frequent check-ins and updates on progress to the group, to the Vigilante Guide who will make quick decisions and spit bark and anyone who stands in the way.  Of course, there are always the Directionless Guides who have no sense of what to do but continue to move the group – possibly in circles – just for the sake of doing something.  In general, Guides tend to be quite useful…until they’re not.

The Eaten – (I’m using the term tongue-in-cheek here.)  This is less of a type and speaks more to the outcome of what happens when any one type takes it too far.  There are probably some other contributing factors including but not limited to: BMI score, fighting skill, and general likability but, overall I think the types that fall into this category can be decided upon by the following formula:

Usefulness – Ineffectiveness/ Group Survival Rate = Eat, Abandon or Keep

Overall, my experience in the mountains allowed for some interesting insights.  I recognized that I’m more of a Frodo-type and that speaking up sooner rather than later might be a good trick to learn (silently trying to conquer a fear of falling while on a hot rock only leads to burnt palms).  Partnered with a Cheerleader Guide, the experience was far less stressful than it could have been were I lost in the woods with any of the other types.  While it takes “all kinds” there are some folks I would prefer not be lost in the woods with.  I plan to hike it again and will remember the following:

• always bring the extra bottle of water
• gym sneakers are not appropriate for settings that are not in a gym
• bring a bottle of eye wash for bugs that hit their mark
• wear pants not prone to rip on rocks
• take a before and after photo for humor and/ or blackmail purposes

Work/Life (im)balance

For the next few months, the end goal is fairly straight forward: reclaim life.  Being a student and a working professional has created an unhealthy work monster with no sense of what *down-time* means.  The word relax only serves to bring up memories of an 80s era full of synthesizers and classic music videos.

Somehow, I got it into my head that filling up every hour with “productive” tasks would be just the thing that would help me accomplish career and personal goals quickerfaster thus leading to a great big dose of Happy.  Instead what I’ve earned are poor sleeping and eating habits, silent wishes for germ inhabitants so that I can have a valid excuse not to do anything, and a blank-eyed expression when asked the question, “So, when are you free?”

Where is the Happy in that??

I’m not the only one who experiences the work/ life imbalance and I’m often one of the first to chastise others for not taking enough time for themselves.  Just a little hypocritical, perhaps.  So, I’m working on taking my own advice and the words of wisdom from a TEDx Talk: Shawn Achor: The Happy Secret to Better Work.  This time around, I’m not just nodding emphatically to the concept of change but seeking to implement a true change in behavior and in mindset to create more room for Happy.

Could I… Carve out some time for a positive journal writing session?  Make time for exercise?  Take a drive to a nearby park for some outdoor meditation?  The answer is a simple “yes.”  There’s time for work; why not find time for writing, sweating, meditating?  The tips are simple enough yet so often they get pushed to the sidelines by the idea that working longerharderfaster will ultimately lead to some pleasurable sense of being.  The truth?  It doesn’t.  Having a positive outlook and an internal sense of well-being are the things that happiness is made of and more happiness leads to far more productivity, creativity, and success than all the 16 oz cups of coffee and multitasking devices in the world could ever bring.

Change the lens through which you view the world and change your life?  What a novel idea.

“[It’s] the lens through which your brain views the world that shapes your reality. And if we can change the lens, not only can we change your happiness, we can change every single educational and business outcome at the same time.” — Shawn Achor