‘Take a hike,’ indeed!
Hi, Kevin,
We were delighted to receive the communication, some weeks back, from you and the Appalachian Trail Conference about the campaign to get dictionaries to change the definition of “take a hike” from “get outta here” to something more like “let’s go out into the woods and undertake a great, healthy, restorative walk.”
After all, we here at the old emeritus editor’s chair have enjoyed what, on Valentine’s Day, became 22 years of every-weekend hikes with The Greatest Day Hiker Of Them All, including the 557 miles of the Appalachian Trail in Virginia, all in day hikes. More on hiking Virginia in a moment.
First, we got stuck a little on the place of the idiom in the language and in your campaign. “Take a hike” is a relatively benign one, overall. And, by the way, does not appear as such in the giant “Random House Dictionary of the English Language” over there on the table. Nor in the print copy we have of the big red Merriam Webster.
But it got us thinking about a few others. “Pump the brakes,” for example, drives my brother crazy. Taken literally, it’s unsafe, and is thereby uncalled for, in his view. And “stick a fork in it” gets literally dicey when you think about carrying it out on each member of the New York Jets, say. And where does “get a life” end up at its core?
But we digress.
Kevin, we’ve watched a few of your fabulous Hiking with Kevin YouTubes, with the likes of Tom Hanks, Zac Brown, Sheryl Crow, Julian Lennon and scores more.
Which is where we get back to hiking in Virginia, the Queen State of the AT, with more than a quarter of its total miles. Not to mention, right here in the backyard of our offices, Virginia’s Triple Crown, featuring Tinker Cliffs, Dragon’s Tooth and the most-photographed spot on the entire trail, McAfee Knob.
So c’mon, Kevin. Herewith our warmest invitation to stop by this way when you’re back east and, you know, take a hike!
The story above first appeared in our March / April 2026 issue.
