It is with a tired, weary, and joyful head that I ask you this question: ?Ya ever hiked?? If your answer is, ?Yes?, then you surely have anecdotes of pitfalls or triumphs. If you answered, ?No?, then I must ask a second question: ?Why the heck not?!?

You either love or hate hiking. It's not for everyone. No, wait, it is. If you can walk, you can hike. Even the handicapped hike. Frequently. If you're a timid beginner, there are hiking trails that little kids and the elderly can do. I'm not elderly or a kid, but I am a wimp and out of shape person who loves hiking and frequently have the elderly and kids pass me on trails, and I'd have to say that one of the best hikes for ANYBODY of ANY ability is ?Staircase? in the Olympic Mountains in Washington State, USA. This hiking hot spot is not too far from Shelton, WA, and just a skip and jump from Hoodsport, WA. The drive there is GORGEOUS. I take the undemanding 1.5 mile hike, which is lined with beauty bark, breathtaking in natural beauty, clearly marked, and the sign-in sheet that you sign at the start of the trail daily boasts signatures of hikers from France, Holland, England, Italy, Japan, Connecticut, Toronto, you name it! The cascading waters fall in stairs, thus the name ?Staircase?. The colors of the rapids are the amazing aquamarine/turquoise color you'd see in an ocean shot for a Corona Beer commercial that occurs beachside'So clear and fresh and the same feeling of getting away from it all. Oh, and the white foam of the rock-smoothing white waters, or as I like to call them, ?waves?, from which a light spray invigorates even the most weary of souls. Rock jumping is fabulous here, as is wading and picnicking. The wading waters are abolutely and perfectly clear. The colored stones beneath your feet stimulate your soles. Hikers hike up their pant legs and feel the sharp pain of cold as the water numbs with each caress. On the trail, each hiker you pass on the trail treats you like an acquaintance with a warm smile and, ?Hello?. As you continue, where the hiking crossroads meet, you run into the more daring hikers coming down off the 3-day hikes, who readily share their stories of tranquility and accomplishment as you shake your head in amazement as you listen.

So, as you sit in your cubicle in front of a computer, day after day, making excuses to yourself as to why it's OK to fill your weekends with obligation and duty to run errands for the household ?good?, I ask you to raise one hand into the air-- and slap yourself. ?Snap out of it!? Live a little. Do something for yourself for a change. Stop nursing those stupid, dumb anti-depressants and anti-anxiety pills mixed with diet suppressants and sleep aids, and get off your badonkadonk and get back to nature. I'm not saying to stop taking those pills, I'm saying for you to stop making excuses as to why you can't go take a hike. We had a great expression not too long ago, when someone would irk you and you'd say, ?Go take a hike, buddy.? Well, all of ya'll sittin? around on your keisters, you're irking me if you're not taking advantage of our National Parks. Go take a hike!