Rob Chaney of the Missoulian posted an ambitious thought piece . . .
You’ve talked your friend/spouse/child into shouldering a heavy pack, enduring a painful blister, incurring dozens of mosquito bites, foregoing a soft bed and questioning his/her self respect and your good/evil intentions.
All for a turn in the trail that explains everything. An “ah-ha” moment of revelation. An encounter with God, some would say.
Can a wilderness waterfall or wandering grizzly bear really deliver all that meaning? Or is it just a fantasy humans impose on dirt that might hide gold and trees that might become houses in a place that Great-Grandma can’t reach anymore?