I didn’t realize that I was part of the hiking scene until yesterday when I took a non-hiker up to Garibaldi Lake. From having grown up hiking there’s certain things that I take for granted and assume that other people know. It turns out that being able to differentiate the sound of chipmunks from birds is not a skill common to most people.
When inviting a non-hiker to participate in a day hike it’s important to first ensure that they are well prepared for all conditions. When you do this it’s important to stress that all these precautions are just in case. This will do nothing to quell the non-hikers fear that she is about to be dragged on some long and painful journey. So with the invitation I instructed that it would be appropriate to wear pants that can get muddy and to bring a touque, gloves, mitts and water proof winter jacket.
The next puzzling thing about hiking is that it’s an all day event that usually starts early. I’ve been accused of starting my recreational activities absurdly early before so being sensitive to this I thought 10am would be compromising. To the non-hiker being ready to go at 10am on Sunday is early, I was instructed that noon might be more appropriate but that 10am would do.
So upon arriving at the parking lot that non-hiker comments on that the $3 to park all day is a pretty good deal for admission onto the trail. I complain that the wilderness shouldn’t have user fees to a confused look.
After about 30 seconds up the trail we pass a couple going down and they smile and say hello. The non-hiker shoots me a look after they pass that says “Do you know those people. Why did they just talk to us?” I smile and realize that there is etiquette to hiking and so explain that when passing people on a trail it’s polite to say hello, good morning or good afternoon. I also explained that as we approached our destination people would become friendlier and begin give us words of encouragement on how much farther we had to go. This was proved as not a minute later another couple passed and said “good morning”.
The rest of the way up passed without too much else happening. Upon picking a picnic table to eat at we chose one beside an old couple. The old man starts into talking about the hikes in and around the area. I busy myself with the tea and so he takes up the conversation with the non-hiker. He rambles on and receives not response from us. After a brief period of silence he declares in Saskatchewan type tones, “Yep beautiful country”. After which the I struggle to keep the sides of my mouth from curling into a grin.
Another custom I’d forgotten was offering that if you see someone else with a camera you should always offer to take a picture of them and it’s expected that in return they will take a picture of you. The old man hinted that he’d love a picture of the glacier blah, blah, blah. Before non-hiker realized what was going on I was asking about whether they’d like themselves or the glacier to be centred.
Now as we brought out the food the whiskey jacks began to attack us. Now whiskey jacks are a common alpine bird of which I can never remember not being able to identify. Yet to the non-hiker this skill of identifying birds was worth a chuckle. It was compounded after lunch when, looking over the water the silence was broken by the call of a loon. She looked over to me with eyebrows raised as if to say “and what bird may that be” to which I replied that it was a loon but really I don’t know much about birds these are just very common birds.
She remained unconvinced that I wasn’t a closet birder and searched for further evidence. On the way down a high pitched call was heard from the forest floor. She again looked over haughtily and asked what type of bird that was. My response that it was a chipmunk and not a bird was greeted with roaring laughter and a “shut the fuck up it is not”. But sure enough I pointed to the place where the chipmunk, who had been warning his colleagues of our presence, was scurrying away.
As we took a break a couple passed us and one of them was wearing gators. By this point the non-hiker was becoming more cautious with the questions she asked. After seeing my puzzled look after asking if the lean-to at lunch had running water she was trying to phrase things a little more diplomatically. So instead of asking why this guy was wearing leg warmers she asked what the reason was for those “things”. I laughed at my response as I said “it’s to keep the bottom half of your pants dry and clean, like if you were going through a dewy meadow in the morning”. Yes I uttered the words “a dewy meadow”.
The hike was fun and I think we’re both the better for having done it but I’ve never laughed so hard on a hike before in my life. The cheeks on my face are the sorest part of my body today.
This picture was from a different day at Lake Garibaldi, it was sunny yesterday ... and well I haven't busted out those glasses yet.
Ranger Deac.
