High Sierra Topix

Mountain scenery and exploring. But for most of my life, it was mountaineering and rock climbing. Backpacking was just part of getting to the climb.

I often think about this very question. When i do, can't help but think it is a mildly ridiculous endeavor we engage in... Simply put, at this point i have spent thousands to live my life like i have next to nothing.... But perhaps that is another topic all its own.
I can relate with all your points at one time or another, but I always come back to that feeling of exploration. When i tumble this question around it always brings back images of when i was a kid, driving across California, staring out the window for endless hours. I had then and still have to this day the recurring thought of "I wonder what is on the other side of that ridge?" To that add solitude, pure uninterrupted beauty, and all things waxing poetic i could say about fly fishing a sierra lake, and it seems like a worthwhile endeavor after all.

Another motivation is that feeling of simplicity it brings to life, which would tie into the escape from stress type of response. You very quickly fall into this state of being where your options are so few and so immediate, its a feeling i have a hard time explaining but i often think of it as life distilled. I've found other ways to experience this, i.e. living on a beach in Alaska for extended periods, long extended road trips... but a quick jaunt into the back country puts you there with a few hours and a few miles.

Carne_DelMuerto wrote:I was actually thinking about this very topic as I was day hiking in the foothills on one of those amazing days we central Californians are treated to every February."

I'm going to be 'stuck in Lodi' one day next week. Do you have a suggestion for a low-elevation day hike between there and Fresno?

A combo of 2, 5 and 6 mainly. But really it is because it is just what I do. I started hiking in the hills at 9 yrs. old and went on my first Backpacking trip at 11 (45 yrs ago!). By 17 I was making several trips a year, often solo, and that has continued all my life...so, yes I am addicted!

Strider--I'll send you a PM so as not to derail this thread.

I love to learn. I've just got to know. That's why I was a school teacher for 30 years. Having a love of learning, I like to take part in others learning too. I therefor love to explore. I like to fish and eat fish in the backcountry. It gave me a secondary focus for backingpacking. I thought, seemingly 1000 times, I wonder what the fishing's like in that lake (on a map). However I know that I just liked being there and fishing also because I repeated several places many times each.

Backcountry fishing and the sense of exploration.