I used to think this sucked.
My life has been chock full of switchbacks. But I think that’s ok now.
Running straight to the top is nearly impossible for anyone, and certainly will burn through all your energy super quick if you happen to manage it. Yes there’s a gondola for wealthy people, but there’s no personal gratification from taking the easy way, and everyone else thinks they suck for literally hanging over us and not helping any of us climb faster, instead throwing rocks at us to slow us down.
But the thing about taking the hike, even with all the switchbacks, is that… there’s a lot of really cool stuff on that hike, no matter which path you start from or which mountain you are climbing. Those amazing things are mostly nestled where your path whips you back around. You won’t experience any of those things if you go straight to the top. And where’s the satisfaction in that?
Besides that, it turns out the top isn’t always the best place to be anyway. You get sunburn up there, there’s not a lot of room, and the air is thin. Once you make it up there you spend all your time trying not to fall down or get hurt, and maybe even building a rickety tower to go even higher, making the problem even worse.
I’ve made it what appears to me to be about halfway up, a nice stable spot with big open inviting areas and a view of the rocky expanse I’ve already crossed, and I really like it here. It may only be 1/8 the way up in reality, but I think I’m done with my hike for a while. It’s not the goal I’m “supposed” to be aiming for but this place makes me happier than continuing to work toward someone else’s goal. Toward the top of a mountain I’ll never crest because I started too far away.
I see switchbacks as engineered trails these days. By that, I mean it is even more challenging to hike where there isn’t a lot of interest in hiking and there aren’t many curated trails. When I see switchbacks now, I understand someone more knowledgeable than me has put in some serious effort to help guide me along on a more reasonable grade than just bushwhackin straight up the hill. On my bike, switchbacks can be a godsend.
This is beautifully written
Panel 2 misses one of the attractive points of hiking for me: a healthier sense of perspective. When you can experience the vastness of wilderness and realize your relatively microscopic relationship to such an overwhelming scale, you can begin to realize your little rat-race anxieties down below are something you can shed entirely.
Also if you don’t look down you miss out on a lot of the beauty as well. The big picture is often beautiful, but the little things that create the big picture are worth admiring as well.
I know a place that has switchback footpaths on the hillside. The gradient and terrain mean that it’s usually possible for anyone of rudimentary fitness to get down by taking a short-cut and heading straight down. Takes less than a minute.
Coming back up is hell either way. If you try the straight line, you need way more fitness than going down. It’s not a 45° slope, but it feels like one. If you take the switchbacks, it feels like you’re making no progress for far too long.
It might only be two or three minutes of strain, five or six for the switchbacks but it’s a real drag.
Goodness, I love all this.
:)
