What motivates you?

[PrestonSands]

What motivates you in choosing your next hike or other outdoor activity? I'm not referring to your everyday, local "workout" hike, but something bigger. Do you seek out new places to explore simply for the thrill of adventure, or do you feel driven to complete a certain goal (like hiking the Arizona Trail, for example)? Perhaps you live in the moment and go for whatever sounds good at the time? Or is it something else entirely?

[garyc57]

To see things I've never seen, to go places I've never been. To enjoy the out-of-doors, and to stop and hear the quiet!

[chumley]

I just go to places where I can get new pins on my haz map. ;)

[winotron]

Mainly to get away from other people. And of course the scenery. If it's not a local hike I'm usually more concerned with the scenery than if I'm getting a workout or not.

[The_Eagle]

I just go to places where I can get new pins

So is that called HAZ Flair?

[Al_HikesAZ]

;)

to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.

[The_Eagle]

@skillpore

[SpiderLegs]

I usually split my hikes/trail runs in half. Half the time I am trying to see how much faster I can run and/or hike a trail that I've already done. Half the time I try to find something new to do and explore. Either way the end result is that I seem to clear my head from a week's worth of work, electronic device overload or general life BS.

[big_load]

I want to use up all the fun before it's too late.

[PhilMW]

For me it's a few things. It's about getting away from the noise of "civilization." It's to find and explore new places. It's to live out the adventurous spirit. It's to reflect and look into my own life to see where I am in life, where I've been, and Where I'm headed.

[gummo]

I hike because I don't have tv. But what really motivates me is showing people how special and beautiful wildlife is thru photography in hopes of people wanting to preserve and protect it. I want to open people's eyes and mind up to the world beyond the concrete. Often, I try to challenge their beliefs that wildlife should be feared and avoided. I come from an area of the world (Pennsylvania) where wildlife is removed or killed regularly by yahoos who think it's okay to selfishly kill anything if that they don't like. They often think that they are doing a public service when in fact they are robbing others who want to see and enjoy native species. I figured that if I continually fortify the internet with snakes, spiders, and other feared critters, that the view would grow to appreciate them and may desire to see them in the wild.

[BobP]

I'm not entirely sure but....presumably for the memories and leaving without a trace
Oh...and to educate people on Geology ;)

[skatchkins]

Photos and seeing something new or differently.

[PatrickL]

Seeing new places and more challenging hikes. Every hike is training for the next. The more endurance I have, the more I can do and see. It's a cycle.

[chumley]

I'm motivated by the goodies I stash in the cooler at the trailhead. Always makes me finish quicker.

[imike]

baseline; off and away in a celebration of movement...

Secondary: the joy of simple moment, away... sitting on bedrock slabs, encountering animals... the surprise of aesthetics around a new corner.

...and... the wonder of age and effort; challenging self and exploring and discovering self in and through the efforts...
and... in a small way, the social moments.

It is enough to get me out the door now for seven hikes a week.

[RedRoxx44]

At this time in my life the out doors world is who I am.

[SpiderLegs]

I'm motivated by the goodies I stash in the cooler at the trailhead. Always makes me finish quicker.

I'm quite a fan of the goodies stashed in your cooler as well.

[Jim]

Sometimes I like to have that feeling of being in the moment on a great fun hike, and sometimes it's the AEG. Being in the moment is rarer, but much more fun.

[Trishness]

Just being away from everything and everyone