Age Is Irrelevant....In Hiking

“Too Old to Hike?” Said Absolutely No Hiker Ever

When I first started hiking, I was certain I’d single-handedly raise the average age on every trail.

I thought I was truly, an inspiration.

A trailblazer.

A brave, aging icon marching heroically among the youths, graciously elevating the demographic curve with my mere presence.

And honestly? Part of the reason I started documenting my hikes - so people my age could witness this "miracle" in real time, and realise that if I could drag my creaky ass up a mountain, then truly, the gates of possibility are wide open for all.

(The other half was that I needed proof. I forget what I ate yesterday, so remembering what I heroically “summited” the previous week was… optimistic.)

One Time Your Age Doesn't Count

Full disclosure though - I should confess (through aggressively gritted teeth) that I was slightly… okay, violently annoyed to learn that hiking at my age is not, in fact, groundbreaking.

Worse - it's average.

Turns out, the trail is basically a runway for the silver-haired and unstoppable.

So, while I initially believed I was some age-defying mountain unicorn… nope.

I’m just a sweaty, puffy member of the herd, trotting along like the rest of them.

I’ve hiked with people pushing 80.

No shuffling.

No wheezing.

No dramatic pauses to “just enjoy the view” (read: survive).

They’re not hiking - they’re surging.

I’ve been lapped by them.

Repeatedly.

So essentially, I’m not a trailblazer - I’m not even an above-average relic.

I’ve been quietly sorted into the middle of the pack.

Unless, of course, there’s an incline.

Then I’m immediately reassigned to the very back - behind the sweeper, who has clearly assumed I’ve been claimed by the mountain, because I am moving at a pace normally reserved for erosion.

Bottom Line: Lace Up and Go

You haven’t missed anything.

You’re not past your prime.

Stop narrating your own decline like you’re recording the final, tragic installment of your life.

Seriously - get up, get out, and let the mountains change your life.

Odds are, you’ll be smack in the middle of the age curve.

And if not?

Try keeping pace with the octogenarians who make the rest of us look like toddlers in hiking boots.

You’ll be both humbled and inspired.

The hiking community isn’t out there only waiting for the young and shredded.

It’s waiting for the stubborn, the curious, the slightly cranky (or very cranky - don't judge me), and the utterly fearless.

You..

It's waiting for you.