I just read a Backpacker article by Shey Kiester (March 1, 2014) about the types of people with whom you don’t want to backpack.  That sounds pretty harsh, but the author has fun type-casting the hiker who “tailgates” you on the trail or the “moocher” who conveniently eats all your food. It was an enjoyable read, and caused me to reflect on our hiking group and our habits while on the trail.

This may seem hard to believe, but we have developed our preferred order on the trail. It varies occasionally, but for the most part it is Jenae, Julie, Wendy and Kristen. I believe we are all the most comfortable, especially with long stretches of trail, when we are in this order. Jenae is our mountain goat. She is like the trail dog who covers twice as much ground as everyone else because she is chasing squirrels. Ha! She will appreciate that reference, but more accurately stated she is chasing that next amazing photograph and isn’t afraid of a few rocks or hills to climb. And please remember that Julie has physics in her corner. Her stride is exponentially longer than any of ours and she is a good pace-setter for us all. She also has a keen sense of what our group needs – do we need some shade, a water break, to do some stretching, to play some music, or to ask Wendy to pose another silly question we can all ponder in order to take our minds off of the steep climb ahead.

Kristen prefers to bring up the rear. In part because it fits her “clean-up” style of friendship. She would do anything for her friends, and I feel like she is making sure we don’t accidently leave something behind. She is also an avid observer, and I think her hiking fourth is another way for her to take everything in and be at peace with it all.

So perhaps my going third just happened because the other spots were taken? That isn’t true. I don’t want to be first or second.  Why? Because Jenae and Julie are busting through a million spider webs per day, clearing them out of the way for my safe passage. I don’t like spiders. In my imagination the eight-legged thing that created that intricate web that I just walked through is definitely crawling all over me or my gear. Nope. I am fine in third.

Many of the other type-casts in Kiester’s article deal with “in-camp” moments.  I’ll save that for another post. But I certainly appreciate the reflection on the comfort we all find in what we are fortunate by now to call “our norm.” Third place for me.