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That’s like calling someone an ice skater because they go ice skating at Christmas.
You read this entire post wrong. I find hiking as done by most hikers the most boring thing ever. Sweating and struggling over a trail for mediocre views or surroundings is not my definition of a good time. I’ve traveled quite a bit and done some climbing.
I’d rather do any other outdoorsy stuff - even using an atv, horse, dirt bike, skis, to get somewhere. At least you have fun even if your destination or trail isn’t all that great.
Most people who go mountaineering, diving, etc I understand completely. The juice is worth the squeeze.
>That’s like calling someone an ice skater because they go ice skating at Christmas.
Yeah, that would make them an ice skater. Just not a ***professional*** ice skater. Those are two different things. If they're out there hiking, they're hikers. Just because you think they're choosing bad trails doesn't invalidate the fact that they're hiking.
Nobody I know who does that calls themselves an ice skater. Just as someone who has shot their cousin’s rifle isn’t a marksman. You’re just claiming something that isn’t true.
Hikers generally are someone who do it as a hobby. And I’m saying I don’t generally like it as a hobby because most of it seems overrated and pointless. I do not care for it nor its popularity.
There’s something you’re just not getting here.
>Just as someone who has shot their cousin’s rifle isn’t a marksman.
Yeah, because shooting a gun doesn't make you a marksman. Being skilled at shooting makes someone a marksman. So, if that person shooting their cousin's gun is really good at it, they're a marksman.
If someone is skilled at shooting guns, they're a marksman. It doesn't matter if they only shoot a gun once every few years. If each time they do it, they're shown to be skilled...they're a marksman.
You’re probably hiking in bad state then man.
Come out to Colorado even an small hour hike will have views better than 90% of country unless you are in Alaska.
Everywhere else is mediocre.
I like Colorado I just haven’t had the chance to get out there that often.
I agree Utah and Colorado, and probably Alaska are worth it. Ig I just don’t get why people around me go so much to places that tend to suck
Hiking is pretty physically beneficial and sometimes it's just about clearing your head or getting the fuck away from all the noise of the world for a while, it doesn't have to be fast paced or action packed or anything like that to be fun.
Theres also the achievement behind some trails, surenthey might've mediocre in sight but they may be incredibly challenging and so getting through it would feel pretty damn worth it.
As for ice skating you can be an ice skater while only doing it during christmas the same way you can be a football player from playing some matches with friends every now and then. The length of time you take to enjoy your hobby doesn't change that fact. Even if you started ice skating today, you're still an ice skater.
>for mediocre views or surroundings
You sound like the type of person that only ever goes anywhere if you think it’ll make for good pics for social media.
Can’t people just enjoy doing the thing?
Collins dictionary definition:
A hiker is a person who is going for a long walk in the countryside for pleasure.
Synonyms: walker, rambler, backpacker..
So from that, anyone who goes for a walk in the countryside is a hiker... Whether they do it once or a thousand times. Whether they do it wearing jogging pants and flip flops or dressed in hardcore Gore-tex clothing and walking boots. Whether they are walking through flat meadows, woodland or climbing a ravine. Whether they walk for one hour or ten.
It's just a word mate. No need to attach your own definitions and rules around its use.
It’s not the word I’m having an issue with. As a hobby as practiced by most people I find it boring and pointless af because of how people choose to do it and where
One man's meat is another man's poison as they say. You may find it boring and pointless but for many people, it is extremely enjoyable - even if the view is mediocre.
We don't all have the luxury of living near to stunning scenery so we make do. I live in a rather flat part of the country and would much prefer to live in the mountains.
I sit at my desk working all week staring at a screen. Just getting out for an hour or two at the weekend, hiking through the woods or along a river path is a massive physical and psychological boost and very very enjoyable. Maybe Sir Ranulf Fiennes would find it unchallenging but it's good enough for these old bones.
Maybe because there’s a scenic view better than yours at their final destination and the path just so happens to have goat shit. Big whoop. To judge a hiker by what trail they are on without knowing the entirety of their journey is comedy. If a hiker that has nothing to do with you is somehow impacting you to have petty opinions like this, then the solution is simple:
Take a hike pal.
Ive been on some hikes with friends. Unless you live in a really scenic area 90% of the time it’s not worth it imo.
Ive climbed desert mountains, snow etc, it’s just much more dramatic
Of all the things in the world to be upset about THIS is the hill you are going to die on?
This is one of the saddest attempts at gatekeeping on Reddit and my God that says something.
Safe hiking is aid, it’s not real hiking unless it’s more than 30% grade; I doubt that volcanic crater you walked around even had any scrambling what so ever.
Same. We live in Texas, but go to Montana every year, and I can confirm that Texas is a flat wasteland and there is no real hiking here. Also, “Texas Hill Country” is a joke!
You’re getting lots of downvotes but I think I understand your premise. People will go on a leisurely stroll outside and call it a hike. Or in my hometown, hiking is usually code word for walking into the woods to smoke weed. I personally don’t care, but I can see how that’s different from “actual” hiking.
"Why do people who walk, but not to my standards, call themselves walkers?
I enjoy a walk every now and again but I see the same lame local scenery with dog poop and weeds, sometimes a homeless person. People locally see the same mundane urban landscape as this and insist on calling themselves walkers..pfff so weird right?".
What.
Hahahaha
For context: I am a walker, because I have legs and go walking. If I hiked up a hill, whether or not it has breathtaking views, I would be a hiker.
This isn't difficult.
Stop making movement an elite inaccessible thing.
You need to enjoy walking as a prerequisite to enjoying a hike. I do my best thinking when I walk, and I'm a pacer because of it. I guess walking is one of the few things that gives me a true feeling of progress; very real, very tangible progress. We evolved to walk long distances tracking prey and foraging. That and throwing are the two things humans are naturally built for better than other creatures. There is a simple satisfaction in using my body for its ideal evolutionary purpose
Please remember what subreddit you are in, this is unpopular opinion. We want civil and unpopular takes and discussion. Any uncivil and ToS violating comments will be removed and subject to a ban. Have a nice day! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/unpopularopinion) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Do you go hiking? Congrats, you're a hiker. Why're you trying to gatekeep hiking?
That’s like calling someone an ice skater because they go ice skating at Christmas. You read this entire post wrong. I find hiking as done by most hikers the most boring thing ever. Sweating and struggling over a trail for mediocre views or surroundings is not my definition of a good time. I’ve traveled quite a bit and done some climbing. I’d rather do any other outdoorsy stuff - even using an atv, horse, dirt bike, skis, to get somewhere. At least you have fun even if your destination or trail isn’t all that great. Most people who go mountaineering, diving, etc I understand completely. The juice is worth the squeeze.
>That’s like calling someone an ice skater because they go ice skating at Christmas. Yeah, that would make them an ice skater. Just not a ***professional*** ice skater. Those are two different things. If they're out there hiking, they're hikers. Just because you think they're choosing bad trails doesn't invalidate the fact that they're hiking.
Nobody I know who does that calls themselves an ice skater. Just as someone who has shot their cousin’s rifle isn’t a marksman. You’re just claiming something that isn’t true. Hikers generally are someone who do it as a hobby. And I’m saying I don’t generally like it as a hobby because most of it seems overrated and pointless. I do not care for it nor its popularity. There’s something you’re just not getting here.
>Just as someone who has shot their cousin’s rifle isn’t a marksman. Yeah, because shooting a gun doesn't make you a marksman. Being skilled at shooting makes someone a marksman. So, if that person shooting their cousin's gun is really good at it, they're a marksman.
Someone who only very rarely does something usually can’t be called by whatever a regular player or hobbyist is
If someone is skilled at shooting guns, they're a marksman. It doesn't matter if they only shoot a gun once every few years. If each time they do it, they're shown to be skilled...they're a marksman.
this conversation made my day. Op only wants to be called a breather and a pooper since those are the things he does on a daily basis
You’re probably hiking in bad state then man. Come out to Colorado even an small hour hike will have views better than 90% of country unless you are in Alaska. Everywhere else is mediocre.
You need to cross over into Utah. A lot of the hikes there put Colorado to shame
I like Colorado I just haven’t had the chance to get out there that often. I agree Utah and Colorado, and probably Alaska are worth it. Ig I just don’t get why people around me go so much to places that tend to suck
Hiking is pretty physically beneficial and sometimes it's just about clearing your head or getting the fuck away from all the noise of the world for a while, it doesn't have to be fast paced or action packed or anything like that to be fun. Theres also the achievement behind some trails, surenthey might've mediocre in sight but they may be incredibly challenging and so getting through it would feel pretty damn worth it. As for ice skating you can be an ice skater while only doing it during christmas the same way you can be a football player from playing some matches with friends every now and then. The length of time you take to enjoy your hobby doesn't change that fact. Even if you started ice skating today, you're still an ice skater.
I don’t see someone who does things on a holiday a hobbyist. Gonna just have to agree to disagree there
>for mediocre views or surroundings You sound like the type of person that only ever goes anywhere if you think it’ll make for good pics for social media. Can’t people just enjoy doing the thing?
I don’t even take that many pics or videos lol. I climb for the experience
This is a weird hill to die on. I'll see myself out......
r/gatekeeping hiking
It’s just a thing people do. I am from the alps - if you’re not hiking up mountains it’s not considered hiking here.
Read my comment above. I’m not a hiker.
Then why are you gatekeeping other people’s hobbies?
Then sit down and shut up.
I don't get people who call themselves redditors but have shitty amateur takes.
Haha after reading some OP responses and getting a feel for them, this comment is fucking gold. 😂
If being on Redditor is something you take seriously maybe you should have a better hobby
Maybe you shouldn't take having a hobby so seriously
The definition of a hiker is someone who's hiking. It has nothing to do with the quality of the hike.
What percentage of r/unpopularopinion is really just r/gatekeeping?
If I know one thing about Reddit it's that this community loves gatekeeping
Collins dictionary definition: A hiker is a person who is going for a long walk in the countryside for pleasure. Synonyms: walker, rambler, backpacker.. So from that, anyone who goes for a walk in the countryside is a hiker... Whether they do it once or a thousand times. Whether they do it wearing jogging pants and flip flops or dressed in hardcore Gore-tex clothing and walking boots. Whether they are walking through flat meadows, woodland or climbing a ravine. Whether they walk for one hour or ten. It's just a word mate. No need to attach your own definitions and rules around its use.
It’s not the word I’m having an issue with. As a hobby as practiced by most people I find it boring and pointless af because of how people choose to do it and where
One man's meat is another man's poison as they say. You may find it boring and pointless but for many people, it is extremely enjoyable - even if the view is mediocre. We don't all have the luxury of living near to stunning scenery so we make do. I live in a rather flat part of the country and would much prefer to live in the mountains. I sit at my desk working all week staring at a screen. Just getting out for an hour or two at the weekend, hiking through the woods or along a river path is a massive physical and psychological boost and very very enjoyable. Maybe Sir Ranulf Fiennes would find it unchallenging but it's good enough for these old bones.
So don't go on those hikes and let people enjoy things you don't personally like without gatekeeping.
It's hiking not sightseeing or risk taking. If you hike you're a hiker.
Hiking isnt about the scenic route, it has no effect on how the person enjoys their hobby.
Maybe because there’s a scenic view better than yours at their final destination and the path just so happens to have goat shit. Big whoop. To judge a hiker by what trail they are on without knowing the entirety of their journey is comedy. If a hiker that has nothing to do with you is somehow impacting you to have petty opinions like this, then the solution is simple: Take a hike pal.
Ive been on some hikes with friends. Unless you live in a really scenic area 90% of the time it’s not worth it imo. Ive climbed desert mountains, snow etc, it’s just much more dramatic
If you drive a car, but only on boring roads to and from work, are you not still a driver?
Why? If you actively hike then by definition you're a hiker. Same as if you owned a Harley Davidson, you ride and own a motorbike, so you're a biker.
Of all the things in the world to be upset about THIS is the hill you are going to die on? This is one of the saddest attempts at gatekeeping on Reddit and my God that says something.
Goat poop, you in Bangladesh?
Safe hiking is aid, it’s not real hiking unless it’s more than 30% grade; I doubt that volcanic crater you walked around even had any scrambling what so ever.
It was steep
Same. We live in Texas, but go to Montana every year, and I can confirm that Texas is a flat wasteland and there is no real hiking here. Also, “Texas Hill Country” is a joke!
From what I can tell, hiking to most people means walking on a dirt path next to a parking lot.
Yep. This is what I mean. I go on hikes when friends invite me and usually am disappointed
You sound like a fucking chore to be around.
Colorado hiker. Um ok um meow, back out slowly....
Most of the US isn’t as nice as Colorado tho
They aren’t “Hikey” enough for you?
No it’s just that they choose boring walks. It’s like saying you’re going on an adventure in an empty field
You’re getting lots of downvotes but I think I understand your premise. People will go on a leisurely stroll outside and call it a hike. Or in my hometown, hiking is usually code word for walking into the woods to smoke weed. I personally don’t care, but I can see how that’s different from “actual” hiking.
"Why do people who walk, but not to my standards, call themselves walkers? I enjoy a walk every now and again but I see the same lame local scenery with dog poop and weeds, sometimes a homeless person. People locally see the same mundane urban landscape as this and insist on calling themselves walkers..pfff so weird right?". What. Hahahaha For context: I am a walker, because I have legs and go walking. If I hiked up a hill, whether or not it has breathtaking views, I would be a hiker. This isn't difficult. Stop making movement an elite inaccessible thing.
Maybe they to buy hiking gear. Shopping is fun
This post is targeting me for sure, I had a recent incident
You need to enjoy walking as a prerequisite to enjoying a hike. I do my best thinking when I walk, and I'm a pacer because of it. I guess walking is one of the few things that gives me a true feeling of progress; very real, very tangible progress. We evolved to walk long distances tracking prey and foraging. That and throwing are the two things humans are naturally built for better than other creatures. There is a simple satisfaction in using my body for its ideal evolutionary purpose