Hobby Types – Hiking

Those who love nature, hiking is their first choice. In fact from the love of hiking, one creates a love for mountaineering and even skiing. It is also one of the most popular outdoor hobbies around the world. Hiking does not necessarily involve climbing mountains, as some may think that way, but it is usually a strenuous walk with special hiking boots as one would often encounter rough terrain, which normal joggers cannot sustain. Normally hiking is undertaken on difficult and rough terrain to add the tinge of adventure in one’s hobby.

Hiking is often a day long strenuous physical exercise amid raw nature. Thus beside improving one’s health and physical fitness, hiking also brings one close to the nature. Hiking can also be coupled with camping, if one intends staying a night out. And when staying a night out on a beach or a lakeside, it may also trigger a love of fishing or astronomy or simply the sky gazing.

As I said before, one enjoys more if the terrain gets tougher. Therefore hikers normally choose dense jungles, forests, heavily bushed areas, semi mountainous terrain, cross country undulations or even places where one has to wade through knee deep streams. Bushwalking is walking through dense vegetation and may even require chopping tools to clear way ahead. When hiking is undertaken in mountainous terrain or highlands, it becomes trekking. A long distance trail is called thru-hiking.

Due to closeness of nature, hikers normally develop a love and affection for nature and environment. It is for this reason that avid hikers usually join hands against pollution and littering of country side and raise voice to help keep the nature and environment clean and free of pollution.

Pakistan is an ideal place for the hikers as its varying terrain. From deserts dunes to rugged and barren mountains slopes, farmlands with broken grounds, vast stretches of barren lands with no water and a soul to be seen, and of course valleys amid towering mountains. I will introduce to my readers the many hiking and trekking adventures that can be undertaken as individuals or as part of groups in my future posts.