Hiking Heaven (in reply to 'Random Recollections'
Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2018 7:19 pm
A reply to Shelley's 'Random Recollections'
Hiking Heaven
There is hiking and there’s camping, and they are not quite the same.
Hiking’s an exhilarating, grand, enthralling game.
You need to camp when hiking (or you mostly do) that’s true,
But when I think of ‘camping’, it’s a static thing to do.
Hiking takes you places where your car can never drive.
Hiking makes you feel so vibrant, energised, alive.
Hiking takes you places where not even bikes can reach.
Of all outdoor adventures, simple hiking is the peach!
You’ll stumble on things hiking you will find no other way.
Forget those fancy holidays that make you pay and pay.
Perhaps it is a mountain-top with views that never end.
Perhaps it is a valley where a bubbling creek might wend
Its cheerful way, unhurried, through smooth stones and tussock grass,
Where you might stop to let a small echidna slowly pass.
Perhaps you’ll find an ancient hut that’s steeped in history,
Or a gold mine long abandoned with its rusty battery.
The calling of the shy whipbirds will make the ranges ring,
And you’ll fill your water bottles from a cool, deep mountain spring.
Of course, you will be camping, but that’s almost on the side,
And all you’ll need, you’ll carry, which will fill your heart with pride.
Camping in a campground, I’ll agree, is not that great.
It’s second…third…or fourth…well, no it’s really SEVENTH rate
Compared to hiking in the bush, and following your map,
And as for four walls, roof and floor, they’re nothing less than…inferior accommodation!
© Stephen Whiteside 09.02.2018
Hiking Heaven
There is hiking and there’s camping, and they are not quite the same.
Hiking’s an exhilarating, grand, enthralling game.
You need to camp when hiking (or you mostly do) that’s true,
But when I think of ‘camping’, it’s a static thing to do.
Hiking takes you places where your car can never drive.
Hiking makes you feel so vibrant, energised, alive.
Hiking takes you places where not even bikes can reach.
Of all outdoor adventures, simple hiking is the peach!
You’ll stumble on things hiking you will find no other way.
Forget those fancy holidays that make you pay and pay.
Perhaps it is a mountain-top with views that never end.
Perhaps it is a valley where a bubbling creek might wend
Its cheerful way, unhurried, through smooth stones and tussock grass,
Where you might stop to let a small echidna slowly pass.
Perhaps you’ll find an ancient hut that’s steeped in history,
Or a gold mine long abandoned with its rusty battery.
The calling of the shy whipbirds will make the ranges ring,
And you’ll fill your water bottles from a cool, deep mountain spring.
Of course, you will be camping, but that’s almost on the side,
And all you’ll need, you’ll carry, which will fill your heart with pride.
Camping in a campground, I’ll agree, is not that great.
It’s second…third…or fourth…well, no it’s really SEVENTH rate
Compared to hiking in the bush, and following your map,
And as for four walls, roof and floor, they’re nothing less than…inferior accommodation!
© Stephen Whiteside 09.02.2018