“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.” — John Muir
One of the best things about hiking is the community of people that you meet. Many of the trips are unforgettable not only due to the gorgeous scenery but to the amazing companions you meet along the way. Talking to people from different backgrounds is what makes life more interesting and there is no better way to build a friendship and a community than by taking a hike together. Here are some of my favorite communities I’ve met through the various journeys I’ve taken along the way. Each person I’ve met has impacted me with laughter, joy, compassion and storytelling.
Argentina:
We met a wonderful couple from Italy on their honeymoon at Los Glaciares National Park in Argentina. Here we are at the end of a spectacular day hiking returning to El Chalten, a tiny outpost in the middle of nowhere.
Nepal:
We spent two weeks trekking with our two Nepalese guides. Lots of laughs along the way and good times at night playing cards over an ice cold beer. So many memories of this special time we shared together.
Walking along the Annapurna Trail with a local Monk.
The Machu Picchu hiking group at “The Bar in the Clouds”
Our entire group indulged in probably too many Cusquenas on the last day of our trek along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. Yet we had a fabulous time for our last night together. I can’t think of any other bar in the world with a view as amazing and special as this one!
France:
During a six day trek throughout Vanoise National Park we were never short of meeting new friends along the way. Evenings were always the most fun!
Picnic lunch
China:
And how could I ever forget this photo? I had just reached the top of the Great Wall of China and this fun-loving group of Chinese girls invited me as the alien blond intruder to be in their photo with them! How could I refuse?
Guatemala:
Then there was the early morning climb up the sacred Santa Maria Volcano where the local Mayans go to pray. A huge community of them were on the top chanting and picnicking watching the neighboring volcano erupt into steam.
This post was inspired by the Weekly Photo Challenge: Community. To view more entries, click here.
rut!
You get around, don’t you?!?
A friend of mine told me after her vacation that Argentina is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Your first photo in this post tells me she wasn’t lying. 🙂
Yes Argentina is amazing!!!! One of my favorite places of all. Pure magic!
wonderful photos
Thank you!
The spirit of “community” shines through.
Yes it does!!! That is what community is all about!
Love this post and love hiking! I’m still in touch with people I met hiking years ago even though we only knew each other for a brief moment.
Thanks Lucy! I still have my heart set on Kilimanjaro. The timing just never seems to work out right. Still thinking about maybe next October but so much is up in the air right now.
I’d love to climb Kilimanjaro too! I have a friend who went & said what an amazing experience it was! I’m sure the right time will present itself to you. You have other things to focus on at the moment.
Yes indeed Lucy! 🙂 We are leaving today for Florida. Happy Holidays if I don’t check in with you. Then I’m headed to AZ on 12/26 to spend some time with my parents again. 🙂
Thanks Nicole and Happy Holidays to you too! Thinking of you.
Focus on good health for the family first. Kilimanjaro isn’t going anywhere.
Hiking! What a beautiful community of people. I really wish I had my hiking pictures with me in Nicaragua. Most of the photos from Machu Picchu, the Alps, and other places I’ve hiked are not digital photos. Thanks for the beautiful reminders of a lifetime of gorgeous hikes.
You’re welcome! I just love to hike. It is my favorite kind of trip. Love being outdoors and meeting new people and cultures.
awesome pictures…great post indeed !!
Thank you!
Lovely post …. I believe that it is always the journey that is more beautiful than the destination and meeting people make the trips more interesting and fun 😊
Yes indeed! Thanks for your comment. 🙂
Nice post… very unique topic too.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed!
Wow! You guys really get around. I figure I’m doing good if I “hike” around the thirty acres of land I live on. However, I once did climb Mt. Timpanogas in Utah—11,749 feet, if I remember correctly. A group of arrived at precisely the moment it started snowing. I wrote about this trip at
https://oddsandendthoughts.wordpress.com/2012/04/11/peril-atop-mount-timpanogas-an-adventure-to-last-a-lifetime/
You will enjoy it; I promise.
But for a different sort of community, here is my entry for this week’s challenge: Community (and Sub-communities)
http://fstopfantasy.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/weekly-photo-challenge-community-and-sub-community/ 🙂
Nice entries! Thanks for sharing. I would love to hike in Utah. I bet it is beautiful. Too bad your photos were destroyed but maybe it is all better in your memory! 🙂
It would be better in my memory, if I had one. 🙂
I have a few water damaged photographs, but that’s about it. I’d still like to do it again, just not that time of year, say, the middle of summer? Thanks for stopping by and enjoying my trip. 🙂
I am looking forward to meeting my hiking group in April next year when we attempt Everest Base Camp.
Wonderful!!!! I did the Annapurna trek back in 2010 and loved it. I wrote about it quite a bit on my blog and started my blog just after it. I’ve heard Everest Base Camp is a great trek as well. Enjoy!!!!
Trekking – wow so nice, not just for health and fun but sowing down friendship and peace that the world needs.
Yes indeed. Thanks! 🙂
surrounded by rough nature humans for sure notice each other more than in a big city, where there are doing all their efforts to ignore each other. a walking team in the nature is not disturbed as much …
🙂 I like this comment a lot! Yes, it is true in the bigger cities people tend to lose respect and noticing each other. I’m lucky that my community here is rather small and everyone in my neighborhood tends to know one another or at least be friendly! 🙂
These people sure knows how to have fun with hiking. 🙂
Yes indeed! 🙂
Enjoyed your photos today. 🙂
thank you!!!!
Hi there! Just discovered your blog, and I am so glad I did. I am having a wonderful time reading about your experiences (and neglecting school work). Thanks for the insight and the pictures.
Best,
Michelle
Thanks Michelle! I am so glad you enjoy it. I’m going on three years with this blog and really enjoy doing it. 🙂