2kno» hiking http://2kno.com/norman Norman Bringsjord Wed, 22 Sep 2010 00:58:09 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 The Zen of Rock-Hopping http://2kno.com/norman/observations/the-zen-of-rock-hopping/ http://2kno.com/norman/observations/the-zen-of-rock-hopping/#comments Sat, 21 Mar 2009 02:10:22 +0000 Norman http://2kno.com/norman/?p=307 billy_goat_trail_bouldersDespite the ubiquity of the Internet, I still get a few printed magazines in the mail. One of them is Electronic Design. My favorite part of the magazine is the last page which is written by Bob Pease, a senior engineer who often writes about things other than electronics. His column is always interesting on some level. In the current issue, he talks about rock hopping. That reminded me of doing just that when I lived in Alexandria, VA. I used to go up to the C&O Canal near Old Angler’s Inn which is in Maryland, but not far from where I lived. There is a hiking trail there called the Billy Goat Trail the beginning of which is just a short walk from the Inn. The sign cautions hikers that proper footwear is required. Along this trail is a stretch that consist  of huge boulders.

I enjoyed this stretch very much and I finally figured out why. You had to jump from boulder to boulder, but it required all your concentration (and I mean ALL) to decide what boulder to jump to next. Once your foot landed on that next boulder, you had to devote ALL your attention to finding the next since it was not possible to stop due to the inertia of motion in your body. It was nice for a while to clear your head of everything during that stretch of trail. Kind of like Zen meditation only you are burning calories and risking bodily injury.

You can read the full article here. Drop Bob a note if you know of any cool rock-hopping spots. He is on the lookout.

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