Digital Staffer Micah Shannon looks out on the Blue Ridge Mountains from Preacher’s Rock in Georgia. Shannon has found hiking in the Appalachian Mountains to be a valuable way to experience the natural world and collect his thoughts. “Hiking provides an outlet for me, a way to experience the natural world and get away from my otherwise mostly manufactured environment, as well as giving me the time and space to think about my stresses without having to simultaneously deal with them,” Shannon said. Photo by Jerry Shannon
Over the past few months, hiking in the Appalachian Mountains with my family has been one of my favorite activities.
Aside from being an excellent complement to one of my other favorite activities, rock climbing, hiking offers me a uniquely valuable experience.
The most direct way hiking benefits me is the exposure it provides to some of Georgia’s most beautiful natural flora, fauna, geology and most surprisingly, man-made structures.
Almost all of my favorite hiking experiences have involved man-made structures.
Perhaps my favorite hiking experience was when I and my mother hiked around three miles to the top of Albert Mountain in North Carolina, where we were rewarded with an old, rusting fire tower.
Another favorite was my mother and I’s two-mile trek to the Hickory Flats Cemetery, a 150-year old cemetery sitting along a mountain ridge.
Due to its often strenuous nature, and my asthma, I often find maintaining conversation while hiking difficult, and have to focus on my own thoughts to distract from the physical pain that hiking can cause.
“This, combined with the beauty of nature, the repetitive nature of walking and the often misty, cloud-veiled mountaintops, creates an almost meditative experience, allowing me to consider the rest of my life.”
— Micah Shannon,
Digital Staffer
This, combined with the beauty of nature, the repetitive nature of walking and the often misty, cloud-veiled mountaintops, creates an almost meditative experience, allowing me to consider the rest of my life.
This has been particularly helpful throughout the last few months, as it has allowed me time to rest and digest all of the stress from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 election and the world generally.
Hiking provides an outlet for me, a way to experience the natural world and get away from my otherwise mostly manufactured environment, as well as giving me the time and space to think about my stresses without having to simultaneously deal with them.
While the mountains are my outlet, you can experience beauty almost anywhere. From the Georgia State Botanical Gardens, to the many trails and parks around Athens, to the UGA’s campus or even the streets of downtown, there are so many places to experience our beautiful world.
