There are many good things about hiking lists including peakbagging lists, high point lists, trail lists, and some bad things. But, on balance, I think hiking lists are a net positive. Still, they do get a bad rap sometimes as being boring, artificial, or a sign that you’re an obsessive-compulsive nut-job.
The Good Things
There are hundreds of hiking lists in the United States that people seek to complete. Everything from the White Mountain 4000 Footers, the Colorado 14ers, and the Adirondack 46ers to the Triple Crown of National Scenic Trails. While they all involve hiking, I view them largely as community constructs composed of people from all walks of life and age groups that share a common set of goals, rites of passage, skill sets, and shared experiences. In many ways, they were the precursors to the Facebook Hiking Groups and Hiking Meetups that we have today.
So what’s good about working hiking lists, beyond the exercise and outdoor recreational benefits?
- They teach perseverance in the quest to finish a challenging goal. It doesn’t matter how old you are, that’s a lesson you can harness in many different areas of your life, including school or work.
- They’re fun, even if it’s type II fun.
- They build confidence as you achieve major milestones in your quest that can also translate to tasks outside of the hiking realm.
- They require new knowledge and skill acquisition like map reading, navigation, or layering in inclement weather.
- You can form new friendships or strengthen existing ones with others working toward the same goal.
- You can learn leadership skills by mentoring beginners and setting an example.
- They can teach the importance of stewardship for preserving the outdoors for future users.
Those are just a few of the gifts that working on a hiking list can provide you with.
The Bad Things
When talking about the bad aspects of hiking lists, I think it’s important to differentiate the physical impact that hiking lists, especially very popular ones, can have on trails and destinations from the negative behaviors that some bad actors engage in to the detriment of a hiking list community.
Concentrated Overuse
Unfortunately, hiking lists, especially very popular ones can lead to unsightly overuse, erosion, and loss of animal or plant habitat. On the flip side, they do at least concentrate the use so that other pristine areas can be preserved. Still, the balance between the two can be a terribly difficult task for land managers to navigate. The reality is that if the hiking list in question didn’t exist, the overuse would probably not occur.
Bad Actors
You may disagree with me, but I think there are a few pathological behaviors that crop up around hiking lists that bear scrutiny. They’re not limited to hiking lists but proliferate widely in our credential-focused culture.
- Grand-standing: Hikers that flaunt their superiority over others who are less accomplished than they are in order to seek attention. This happens on social media a lot.
- Dilution of the challenge: Hikers who deface routes by hacking blazes in trees, taping off-trail routes with colored tape, or publishing GPS routes on AllTrails to make it easier for aspirants to check off a destination rather than requiring them to acquire the skills required to bring it home by their own wits.
The Bottom Line
Net net, I still think the benefits of hiking lists far outweigh the negatives and that they’re a force for good in many people’s lives. What’s your opinion?
